Gender Roles

[DBZgirl88]

[COLOR=#004a6f]I was wondering what people thought of gender roles in society. Do you think men and women are equal? I'm not talking about who's better or more important or who is more respected, just in terms our roles and responsibilities in society. What do you think of the traditional ideas of the women being homemakers and the men being the breadwinners? Do you think we should try to keep these traditional ideas or completely get rid of them?[/COLOR]

[Godelsensei]

Your question as to whether we should try to do away with gender roles has one flaw--the word "try".

Like with many attempts to raise all races to the same platform, to much effort is spent on the theory behind equality. Giving people a job over another person because they are of a visual minority doesn't really achieve anything, as the issue of race is still involved in employment.

Men and women, from when they are boys and girls, need to be educated so they know they have the right to achieve and live as well as any one else. They need to have an understanding of their being equal and be encouraged to live up to it.

There will always be certain positions occupied by certain groups; as long as people have an educated say in any stereotypes they live up to and know they are capable of leaving them behind, we'll all be okay.

[Manic Webb]

I'm going to skip over the typical equality issues, and get right into the issue of money. In today's society, you cannot simply have a bread-winning husband and a stay-at-home wife. Why? Because unless the husband has a [i]really[/i] high paying job, there's no way one income can support a whole family without budgeting issues. My grandparents got together in the late 1950s, and my grandmother has had a career the whole time (even to this day, she refuses to retire). Gender roles of who has to stay at home weren't an issue because both of my grandparents needed to work to support themselves and my mom. My grandfather (note: obviously a man) has been cooking meals for the whole family since the 1960s. If my grandparents had followed the idea that women should stay at home, they'd have never survived the 60s.

Moving on, I also grew up in a household with a single mom. When you're dealing with a single parent, that one parent has to take on the "roles" of both genders. My mom worked, cooked, cleaned, paid the bills, handled any school problems me or my brother had, fixed her own car ect. My brother and I eventually had to start opening all of the pickle jars and reaching things on high shelves, but that's only because my mom is a tiny, 5' tall woman. The only reason my single parent could financially support two kids on her own was because she was getting (what else?) the child support checks from my dad, and had back-up from my grandparents mentioned earlier.

[Pumpkin]

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=2] I dislike the idea of "Gender Roles" and the stereotyping that goes along with it. No one should even hold onto these old "traditional" ideas because simply they are not true anymore. Of course there are some people who think differently. I'm not saying all do, but alot of men still see the ideal woman who "Stays at home, cooks and cleans" I know my boyfriend was raised to think that is. His mother doesn't, me however, I see myself having a busy career. I think back in the 30's it was the norm for guys to work and women to stay at home and cook, but now in this new millenium I think that has changed alot. There will always be certain stereotypes with specific jobs and what not, some people even think if your a woman you'll go "Oh I broke a nail". Boy do I hate that. Especially if your a woman in the automobile buisness, good luck with that! Anyways, its best to just brush it off. I think we're in the day of age where we can change the future, and become anything we want to be. Women can even join the army, which wasn't so accepted a few years back. There are many possibilites, yes its still tough, but not impossible. [/FONT][/SIZE]