Which term describes the set of expectations about how women should behave?

• A. Masculinity
• B. Gender roles
• C. Social expectations
• D. Femininity

Answer: (D)

The main idea here is how society defines what women should do and how they should behave. This is captured by gender roles. Gender roles are the socially constructed expectations about behavior, duties, and responsibilities assigned to women within a culture. They shape everyday actions, dress, work, family duties, and interactions with others, and they can vary across cultures and change over time.

Femininity refers to traits and behaviors culturally linked to being a woman, which can be part of gender roles but doesn’t itself describe the whole set of expectations. Masculinity is the male counterpart, and social expectations is a broad term that isn’t specific to gender. So the term that best fits “the set of expectations about how women should behave” is gender roles.