Blog
Gender roles
id: 2393985

Hi again, thanks for reading!
Let's dive into gender roles. Maybe in Ukraine, or for Eastern Europe, for that matter, these are more grounded in old world ideas. I like to believe this is NOT so in the USA.

Equal rights is something women here have fought for throughout most of the last 100 years. Since the world wars of our distant past, women have been called upon to take up male dominated roles in our factories and businesses, to foster the war efforts. Our men were sent to battle, and women went to work making the parts that went into the components needed for our victory. Fast forward a hundred years. Now women are IN those armed forces. They are mechanics, pilots, commanders. In business, they are CEOs, CFOs, and owners.

Meanwhile- 75 years ago, Father would go off to the office, while Mom stayed home to raise the children and care for the home. Dad always drove the car, Mom in the passenger seat, attending to the kids in the back seat. Dad fixed the plumbing. Mom cooked dinner. Dad taught the boys to throw a baseball or how to catch fish. Mom showed girls how to sew a button, and decorate the home.
Back to the future: Moms kiss the kids and head to work, while Dad watches the kids at home, and shops for the dinner ingredients at the market.

Are these new Moms too manly? Are the Dads soft?
NO.
NO. And NO.
Today, gender equality is us realizing we are humans first. Each individual, anatomy notwithstanding, capable of magnificent feats and accomplishments. Do all women fish? NO. Do all men knit? Again, no. But it is the acceptance of every INDIVIDUAL'S ability to strive for whatever they deem their goal, that makes today so wonderful.

Drilling down to specifics examples:
I have 4 children. When each of the first three were born, I worked full time, while my wife took time away from employment to raise the infants, and then toddlers. I came home and cooked dinner. While my wife bathed the kids, I did laundry, and tidied the house. (When I bathed the kids- it usually ended up in a water fight-with everyone in the bathroom soaked to the bone- my being a 12 year old at heart- so this happened less often!) For the fourth child, SHE went back to work, and I took 3 years away from work, so I could experience raising my youngest to school age (maybe the best 3 years I can remember).
So, YES- I can cook. I can clean, do laundry, vacuum, change bedding. I can change a diaper, read aloud children's books to lull a babe to sleep. Conversely, my wife could be a manager(you say administrator) of a large commercially successful restaurant, an adult items store, or a district sales representative to a multi state supplier of wholesale goods (she subsequently had all these jobs).
Did that make me less a man? Or her more so? Of course not. We were a team, and as such, sometimes circumstances dictate the tasks required by each team member. If you don't like my analogy of a relationship as a team, you may not be ready for a successful endeavor.

Look, I don't hunt. I don't like to fish. I abhor camping. (My idea of camping is a nice heated cabin with a cozy bed!)
As a single Father, with two teens still living at home, I work full time -40 to 50 hours, 5 days a week. Then I come home, do dishes, clean house, and make dinner. My reward is to then be able to watch an American NFL game on tv before going to bed. Yes, it sounds lavish, my life. (sarcasm abounds)
What I am trying to give is insight into my life, as it has been shaped in a gender equal world. Do I mind shopping with you? Of course not- it's fun! Time together, I get to watch you in various states of undress as you try on new clothes (actually kind of sexy and stimulating). It's fun at the grocery, at the Walmart buying shampoo and feminine panty liners. Yes I have been sent to buy them on my own, which I TOTALLY OWN, being a REAL man. Do I mind that you work? No- I kind of expect it. America is expensive- and it takes two to live comfortably.
OH- yes, I can change an electrical outlet, install lighting, do carpentry to move a wall in the house, do plumbing, paint, etc (all of which I list from actually having done in my house). There is no right or wrong person for a task. Adults do what is necessary. Maturity in that acknowledgement goes a long way in a relationship.

Back