Comparison of Males vs Females in Law Enforcement

Comparison of the Roles of Males Vs. Females in Law Enforcement:

Right, wrong, or indifferent, in the United States, Law Enforcement is socially accepted as a masculine, male dominated profession. In this essay, I will compare and contrast the roles of men and women in Law Enforcement and how masculinity, femininity and sexual orientation affect both men and women in law Enforcement. The goal of this essay is to show how stereotypically masculinity is the perceived desired trait among society for Law Enforcement.

I will begin with discussing Sexual Orientation and its role in law enforcement. According to the American Psychological Association, sexual orientation refers to the sex of those to whom one is sexually and romantically attracted.(www.apa.org) Although this subject deals with a personal choice, it is taken into account and used as a measuring device concerning masculinity among both men and women in Law Enforcement. Unfortunately, our society displays a double standard when stereotypically measuring masculinity based on attraction of the same sex. For women, if a female in a power position is attracted to other females she is considered more masculine compared to a female who is attracted to males. The reverse is perceived among men in a power position. This might be why some individuals are less apt to share their private lives with their peers due to fear of the stereotypical de-masculinity or being viewed as weak.

The second trait used as a measuring device is femininity and its role in law enforcement. Femininity is defined as behavior and traits stereotypically associated with women including being emotionally warm, affectionate, nurturing, and relationally valuing interdependence (Bem 1974, Gardner and Gabriel 2004). If the objective is to achieve high levels of masculinity then it is assumed a male or female should display low levels of Femininity. If a male or female shows high levels of femininity, then he or she is deemed...