"You can do anything you want to do, if you set your mind to it." This phrase gives children a false comfort and reassurance that they can be whatever they want to be. Little boys grow up dreaming of professional baseball and little girls may dream of dancing in the ballet, but these dreams will most likely never come true due to their given situations. America is a free country, where "all men are created equal", people do not have equality. Some are stereotyped according to race, sexual preference, religion, sex, or even weight. Even in the words of the Declaration of Independence, it is men who are created equally, not women. Little girls, who dream of being president, have to face the fact that our country has never had a female leader. In reality, our country has not fully realized its potential for equality. Our government does not fully represent the people of which it governs. Why does this happen in the land of the free, this place we call home, this America? The "American dream" is a large part of the problem. It governs the way our society operates and how we view each other. To know how gender plays a role in the American Dream, we must give thought and analyze the motivations and roles that men and women play in our society. The American dream is unattainable to most people in this country because the roles, which are expected for both men and women, are unrealistic. .
First, to understand the roles that gender play in the American dream, you must have a clear definition of this term and be able to see it's significance. The Webster's dictionary defines the American dream as "the U.S. ideal according to which equality of opportunity permits any American to aspire to high attainment and material success". If we look at this definition piecewise we can make certain assumptions about the American dream. The definition states that the U.S. promise to provide equal opportunity to all of its citizens.