Are Gender Roles Really Necessary In Modern Society?

I agree my friend! I may be a female -male chavinist but I do agree. Why should housework be deemed woman's work and yard work man's work? I believe that it should be up to each couple who does what in their household. yo know I don't believe in marriage so each couple agreeig to be together whatever way they choose fit is always been my view.In fact the Only way to force me into the " Suzy Housewife " role is to marry me.For me and me alone, if you are not married, you have a choice and both are equal but as soon as you marry , the scales are tipped one way or the other. In my case i would give up all choice.I tell you when it comes to marriage I am Very, very old fashioned.That's why I will never marry.

Yes, I agree. If more people would do what works for them, the world really would be more harmonious. It's sad, our boys are so young but sometimes they will refuse things because they say that they are for girls. They've never heard that junk from us (well if we might be joking but that's not often) so I am surprised when I hear it from them. The whole gender role thing is taught indirectly at school. Oh, once we knew this lady that wouldn't put any colors that were considered feminine on her baby boy. I remember being amazed because that's so stupid. Colors have no meaning other than what we assign to them. She was serious too, poor thing.

I totally agree with you and I think that those who do not follow the socalled "traditional" gender roles should do exactly what works for them and not what other people think. The world has changed a lot. We are no longer hunters and gatherers, most of the populations in the Western World at least are not small time subsistence farmers where brute strenght was required to push the ploughs and and other heavy machinery and where men and farmhands required three square meals a day. We are past the industrial revolution where men had to slave away in dingy factories and women were asked to work for half the price of a man. We are coming closer to gender equality but we are not there yet. I am not denying that there are still professions and trades that are better suited to one gender than another. For instance fire fighters and police need a certain body build and strenght that most women don't have and I can see that a female nurse in a neo-netal hospital unit would be better suited with smaller hands and fingers to take care of delicate little human lives. There may be others but for the most part gender roles are not necessary in modern society, at least in my opinion.

Well, nursing was considered a male career in the past ,but thank God so many men disregarded the rule. My husband is a nurse ,and in my opinion he is an excellent nurse. People need to do whatever makes than happy ,and forget about the traditional gender roles.

I was just talking about that the other day in an discussion here on mylot. That my mother wants me to help her at home and my two brothers don´t help with anything because i am a woman and they are men. So if they wash their dishes their d... will fall? I think that everybody has to be as independent as possible nowadays. Or do you think you will get a wife to wash your clothes, clean the house, cook for you and stay the whole day home nowadays? I bet not.

I am fighting this myself. Because my fiance has disabilities that have pretty much made it difficult if not impossible to find employment, I am the one seeking employment. My family, who are traditionalists, expect him to not only be the spiritual leader of the home (which I do agree with) but the sole financial provider. They say that if he cannot support himself AND me with his income, he should not marry. In other words, a disabled man should never marry anyone.Thus saying, I think that there are certain jobs that women should leave to men, such as police work and fire fighting that do require a great amount of strength or a woman officer might be put at more risk because of the nature of criminals. I'm not questioning the woman's desire or ability in any other way, but honestly I'd rather see a man try to control a dangerous criminal than a woman, unless that woman is VERY burly.

Even though I happen to be in a classic 'man goes out to work, woman stays at home' marriage - I wholeheartedly agree that roles should be flexible and shared. If the circumstances were different, I would happily stay at home whilst my wife worked. The thing that is sad about modern society is that it is now so hard to pay the mortgage with one income, so both partners need to work and kids don't get the stability of a stay-at-home parent. We believe this so strongly that we are prepared to put holidays and luxuries on hold whilst our little one grows up and we struggle on with just one income. I actually know of more than a few 'house-husbands' - economy is actually forcing the issue in the UK at least since our homes are so expensive.

I never really agreed with gender roles. And I never really followed them that much either. I think each person should do what they are most comfortable doing, what comes easier to them, even if it's completely outside of the role for their gender. I was always more at ease doing some things that were considered men jobs. I loved to fix the electric fixtures, to work with wood, or at a earlier stage play with cars and balls instead of little dolls and dinner plates. By the same token, I am usually quite awful at some things traditionally considered to be my department - ironing, sewing, crochet etc - When I got married things in our house were done: - By the first person able to do it - By the one that is better at it In our apartment all went well. Hubby has no problem doing the laundry, ironing - he's so much better than me - or any other chore that is supposed to be mine traditionally. And I am fine doing many of what usually would be a man's chore. But then we bought the house with my in laws and the problems started because I wasn't what they viewed as the proper lady in the house. I shouldn't be mowing the lawn and he shouldn't be doing laundry. It's just wrong for them. We had many arguments regarding that, and my mother in law even complained to everyone she knows and some she doesn't that I was making her poor soon do what I was supposed to be doing. I couldn't care less about her comments. And in our house the first available person still does whatever is needed done. Regardless of what it is as long as the person is able to do it. That works with me, hubby and kids. I don't see why hubby should get home from work, ask for his slippers and sit down on the sofa watching tv when I worked just as many hours - sometimes more - and came home at the same time - or later - . I don't see why I should then proceed to do every single chore by my self while he asks if dinner is ready and looks over my shoulder or takes a nap. THis traditional role for the wife was created at a time when women often didn't work outside the home and playing home was their only occupation. Now women work outside the home, and chores should certainly be shared by everyone living in the house.