Gender Roles

I would like to preface this post by stating that this week's discussions were really difficult for me. Not because I have an issue with the material itself, but because I feel as if I am unqualified to relay that information back to you because these are such sensitive topics in the current state of our world.

The material that was discussed in class this week covered topics such as gender, same-sex attraction, and transgenderism. I am going to focus on gender roles for this post.

On Tuesday, we started off class discussing a question that my professor had written on the board. "We badly need to raise our sons more like our daughters." -Gloria Steinem. Is this statement true? I don't agree with it.

Men and Women are different. We have differences from the time we are tiny. It seems to me as if people have become afraid of these differences. People are so concerned with it that they have changed the way that the world thinks about gender roles. We have become encompased with equality to such an extent that we have lost the understanding of the difference between being equal and identical. The two definitions have morphed into the current social definition of what it means to be equal. In order to avoid this confusion, we need to understand gender differences.

We are not meant to be identical. Men have specific qualities. Women have specific qualities. These characteristics are supposed to be complimentary to each other. Together, men and women form a more complete entity than either could achieve on their own. This is because of those differences that we have become afraid of. We need to understand that we can be equal in value without being identical in qualities. Women and men must not lose their individual traits. Otherwise, families could suffer.

On the other side of this would be people who think that the different qualities in men and women cannot overlap. This kind of thinking can be dangerous. Men are often mocked for having "feminine" qualities. I think the misconception here is that people believe there is a harsh line that defines feminine and masculine. This could not be farther from the truth. It can be helpful for women to have "masculine" qualities and for men to have "feminine" qualities. These situations can help a marriage and a family to thrive. My professor illustrated this by asking the women if the class if they would like to have a husband who communicates, who can express his emotions, and who is nurturing. The vast majority of us said yes. He then asked the men in the class if they would appreciate a wife who is outgoing, and strong. The same thing happened. Our qualities will often overlap. AND THAT IS OK.

This topic is such a big deal in our society that it makes me fearful to even talk about. But I think that it is up to us to make sure that these roles do not disappear. Children need a father and a mother who are different. Having different kinds of support is vital to a successful family. There is value in your role as a man or a woman. There is value in families.