Gender roles, an expectation within each individual based on the way we speak, act and do things. It's not something that humans are born with, it's not something that comes naturally, it's something that's expected of us, something that humans do naturally. In the past and still today, society had boundaries between gender roles, with man being above women in society due to their expectations in society. Throughout literature, it has been described that gender roles play a decisive role in social status, showing that men are above women in society: this is evident in the novels Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen. a misconception of the term “gender roles”. Society has always seen a gap between men and women and their individual roles, considering men to have always been more dominant. This belief is even found in literature, such as in the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Throughout the novel, it can be seen that Igbo culture has made men the dominant sex in society. Okonkwo, the protagonist, is considered the man of the house, he controls his wives and children. Women are the silent ones, they are the outcasts of society. “It was clear from the way the crowd stood and sat that the ceremony was for men only. Women, but they watched from the sidelines like strangers” (Achebe 87). In the Igbo tradition, women have no say in their world. They are excluded from court hearings of this type. Only men have the right to speak, to address issues, even though women may have important problems themselves. Quotes like these provide more information for my thesis, they show that even in cultures around the world, the gender gap theory is true. T...... middle of paper .......cgi?article=1000&context=soc_facpub>.Achebe, Chinua. Things are falling apart. New York: Anchor, 1994. Print. Chin, Jean L. “Public Policy Forum.” Women and leadership: transforming current visions and contexts (2011): 1-12.ERIC. Internet. March 24, 2014 Ibsen, Henrik. “A doll’s house.” World Literature: An Anthology of Great Short Stories, Poetry, and Drama. Ed. Donna Rosenberg. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2004. 142-202. Print.Beauvoir, Simone De. The Second Sex. New York: Vintage, 1989. Print. Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide. New York: Garland Pub., 1999. Print. Yalom, Marilyn. A history of women. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2001. Print. Chin, Jean L. “Public Policy Forum.” Women and leadership: transforming current visions and contexts (2011): 1-12.ERIC. Internet. March 24. 2014 .