Traditional gender roles, your thoughts?

I don’t think that specific gender role definition really stands in modern society anymore. Women are capable of anything just as much as men can, and men are capable of as much as women can, as has long been proven in a society where marriage doesn’t matter anymore and where life usually requires both partners to have jobs in order to afford diapers.

My opinion of that ancient social label though, I think it’s total bull. The world and its people are so much more complex and flexible than The Bible gives it credit. Fundamentalist Christians who are still virgins at age forty need to getfo.

I tend to disagree. Gender roles are still very much still defined today. Not nearly as undifferentiated as it should ideally be. But the 21st century might hold that promise.

@Master Maybe, but necessity makes it seem like a joke, if anything.

My husband & I both work, both do housework, and both participate in the raising of our kids. I’m glad we don’t have the “traditional” roles, we have more of a partnership. That being said, there are still a number of tasks that do get split traditionally. He works on the car, I handle more of the health type things, etc.

Although we have come a long way from the tight restraints of traditional gender roles, inequalities remain. Agree or disagree?

@avengerscion I agree with you 100%, especially in the workplace. Even though I have moved up the career ladder, I’ve had to work twice as hard to prove myself.

I personally cannot stand gender roles and will never participate in them. That said, as stupid and screwed up as I think they are, it might work for some couples – as long as they’re truly happy in those gender roles.

Society is not yet where it should be. For instance, women still make less money than men even though a man and a woman might have the exact same job. How does that make any kind of sense? I’m still young and I hope to see things like that change before I die, and maybe they will. Women outnumber men when it comes to getting a college education now, so maybe women will start demanding equal rights.

I love the fact that so many women are going to college now, but I don’t like the fact that they outnumber men – I wish the numbers were even, because I’m paranoid that the roles will be reversed and men will become discriminated against in the workforce. I want equality, all around.

Anyway, sorry. It’s my opinion that gender roles destroy people emotionally. Men can’t cry or be emotional without feeling like some kind of freak, and likewise, women can’t express anger or any kind of aggression without being labeled the same thing. If men weren’t supposed to cry, they wouldn’t have tear ducts. If men weren’t supposed feel sad, they wouldn’t be able to. Women would not be able to feel angry, or like they want to punch something if it’s unnatural.

Screw the roles. Live your life as a human being with a full spectrum of emotion.

@avengerscion inequalities are still incredibly present. Women get paid about 40% less than men do. There are always exceptions to this and to everything, however I’m pretty sure that is roughly the correct statistic.

also the main reason there is still a gender such a gender gap is due to the mass media playing upon stereotypes. But these stereotypes have been around for so long that they are hard coded into our brains, and we don’t think twice about them.

For example fairy tales, women are always the damsels in distress that have to be saved by a brave man, and the only end result, for a woman, is to get married.

Kids toys are also gendered, look at Barbie and Tonka trucks.

I am in no way saying that the gender roles that we have are good, I am just saying that they are still there. I would like to think that I am breaking gender roles by being a successful single female.

Yeah. You know what? Fuck college. What am I going to do with all these programming, engineering and calculus classes anyway? What I really need to do is learn how to keep my man happy so he’ll keep bringing home the paycheck.

I don’t find the fact that I stay at home, and my husband works to be a gender role at all. Because, once I’m finished school, I will work and he’ll go back to school. We’re just doing it in a way that works best for us. I’m no June Cleaver.

Did you know there is a ‘motherhood penalty’? During a recent college paper, I discovered a study involving two equally qualified women of the same age and race and similar appearance and personality. These two women, one identified as a mother and one not, interviewed for the same position with multiple employers. The non-mother received the majority of job offers, and the mother received offers paying considerably less. When asked why, employers noted that mothers are typically less reliable, not committed to the job/career, and more tired and emotional. On the flip side, two men interviewing the same way had the opposite results. The father received more job offers and a higher pay.

My husband works and I say home. We both feel it’s important for one parent to be with the kids, and not stick them in daycare. In our case it made more sense for me to quit my job because he makes more money, and gets better benefits. So I guess we do sort of perpetuate a stereotype, but I am no submissive housewife, and he’s no king of the castle. We are equal partners in our marriage and in our home, we just do different jobs.

I don’t think anyone should be limited because of their sex.

Between my wife and I, we generally follow the traditional gender roles, but the one of us who is more knowledgeable or skilled usually does whatever is needed.

(My wife likes to do the oil changes for our car.)

@phoenyx it is interesting that you gave an example of a gendered task.

It is similar to the brain teaser: a young boy and his father were in an accident, the father dies. The boy is rushed to the hospital and the Doctor says, “I cannot operate on this boy, he’s my son!” How is this possible?

The Doctor is his mother.

We are socialized to recognize stereotypes and patterns. If most mechanics that you have seen are male, then of course when your wife changes the oil in your car it could be surprising.

Or the same reaction could be had if I said that I’m really upset that the Philadelphia Eagles traded Brian Dawkins to the Denver Broncos. Why? because I am female and I enjoy watching football which is a sport played by men and tends to be watched by men.

more people need to break the mold and think outside of the box, in fact take the box and make a hat out of it. The only way gender roles will be changed is if you make a conscious effort on an individual level to teach your children and the people around you about equality

I am so opposed to stereotyped gender roles. It is brainwashed into a child’s head from the moment of birth, pink blanky for girls, blue for boys. And it never stops.

Let everyone be what they want to be. Girls can be race car drivers if they want or computer scientists or mothers and boys can be nurses, or teachers or ballet dancers. Do what makes your heart sing and ignore those who try to tell you what you should like or dislike!

And believe me, there is always someone trying to tell you that!!!

@rooeytoo male ballet dancers did not always have a negative stereotype until right around 1900’s when Oscar Wilde was put on trial for homosexuality. (I just read this in an article recently “The Trouble With the Male Dancer” by Ramsay Burt)

@interjection – I thought male dancers were always targets for accusations of something or other. It all makes me sad, I hate being forced into a cultural niche!

@rooeytoo Men dominated theater and the performing art for hundreds of years (as well as the fine arts like painting and sculpture!) Often times men would wear masks or wear drag to play the role of the female. I know that in Shakespearean plays men would be the only performers.
It’s very interesting to me how the public opinion can be swayed.
That also proves to me that over enough time much of these gender stereotypes can be changed, or at least toned down.

Or maybe what needs to happen is cultural awareness education. Children often fear what they do not know, or what they are not used to.

side note: I just took a dance class that was about cultural embodiment and gender wa a topic came up a lot as well as how to change or ignore stereotypes.

I think if you can do it by all means do it.
thats what i would want for my wife if i was a man..

but being realistic.. most families can’t do that, and no it wouldn’t be fair.

I still feel men should be the breadwinners though…

@danbambam why do you feel that a man should be the one to bring home the pay check? I’m just curious.

@interjection : that’s just how I have always been raised.. that it was the man’s responsibility to take care of his family.. and like I said I understand that it’s probably not as realistic as some would hope for, that is how my dad raised me.

No, I don’t put too much stock in the whole traditional gender roles thing. I think a woman is just as capable of being the bread winner and a man can stay at home and take care of the home and the children. In our society, she’s less likely to earn as much as a man for several reasons. Because of the field she works in, because of the hours she works, because of stereotypes her employers make about her, etc. (If you’re curious about this you should read about gender inequality, the ideal worker norm and patriarchal capitalism.)

@danbambam it’s good to have a sense of responsibility, but it can be a shared between men and women alike. Personally I was raised that the women cook and do the house work, but I don’t think I will ever strictly conform to that. even though I love to cook and secretly I would like to be a mother who is able to stay home with her children, and least for a little while But on the other end of that I own my own business.

@Interjection Women make roughly 93% of what men make when you control for specific jobs instead of general jobs. With regard to both being doctors women rarely chose to be brain surgeons or some of the other high end specialists and often choose to be OB/Gyns, GPs or Peds doctors. They also often choose to work less hours. But if you compare male GPs to female GPs who work the same hours they get almost exactly the same money. I have no problem with saying they should get the same money, but the statistics usually bandied about regarding pay are 1) from decades ago and 2) weren’t accurate even then.

@avengerscion The ‘motherhood penalty’ sounds like – bring on the flames – good business sense, at least if the businessmen’s assessments are accurate.

Similarly the married male is a better bet than the unmarried male. Married and especially babied (so to speak) men behave more responsibly because they have a lot to lose. They also don’t go out on drinking binges or long ski vacations.

If you put yourself in the position of the employer the choices, however unfair they may be to the people involved, affect the bottom line and that is what employers have to look at.

@Factotum I would like to see where you are getting your statistic from if you have the source. As I am curious.

I believe that traditional gender roles were once a matter of convenience. Sure the evil patriarchy blah blah blah, but a lot of females are really into babies. Scary into babies. Not all women of course, but I would hazard that a good ¾ are.

My understanding is that children do better in school when they have one parent living at home. I’m a male and I was that parent (my kids didn’t exactly bust the curves but they didn’t drop out either).

It’s a mistake to go against gender roles just because they exist but it is also a mistake to follow them just because they exist. Women are free to choose and that is how it should be.

@interjection In 2005 the census bureau found women made 80% of what men made but the data used incredibly wide categories of work and didn’t control for time working at the job.

Data from the Department of Labor National Longitudinal Survey of Youth showed that women without children age 27–33 earned 98% of what men of that age did – this from a study by A 1993 study by economist June O’Neill.

Mainly though I get it from Warren Farrell who did study male/female wages in specific jobs and found that when they work the same hours in the same job they get nearly the same pay.

He also found variance in what jobs either sex is willing to do – women don’t do much dirty, outdoor or dangerous work. The author cites garbage collection which is male dominated not because women are shut out but because they don’t want in.

Men also work longer hours. Interesting statistic – people (of either sex) who work 45 hours a week make 44% more than those who work 40 hours a week.

Gender roles

What is male? What is female? Your answers to these questions may depend on the types of gender roles you were exposed to as a child. Gender roles can bedefined as the behaviors and attitudes expected of male and female members ofa society by that society.

Gender roles vary. Different cultures impose different expectations upon themen and women who live in that culture. The United States has experienced tremendous upheaval and revising of its traditional gender roles in the last generation. These changes in gender roles affect the home, the workplace, and the school, and they affect all Americans to some degree.

Gender Roles in the Workplace

Over the past few decades, Americans have made great strides in accepting andadjusting to new definitions of gender roles. Part of the cause is the increased number of women in the workplace. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, white men (who once dominated the workplace) now account for about 45percent of all workers. White women and women of color make up 47 percent ofthe workplace. In 1995, 76 percent of women between the ages of 25 and 54 worked outside the home, up from 50 percent in 1970.

With the increased presence of women in the workplace, old attitudes and behaviors have had to change. Men and women are more aware of sexual harassment than previously; whereas 20 years ago a woman who refused to have an affair with her boss may have had to quit, she now has other options. Companies are now experimenting with policies that are family-friendly, such as flex time, job sharing, and on-site child care—policies that benefit both men and women.

In the nascently and experimentally egalitarian workplace, some men are concerned about being accused of sexual harassment, and they feel they must be extremely cautious in their everyday dealings with the women they work with; this caution may stifle creativity, some experts say. In addition, women still earn far less money than men do for the same work, even though their salariesare vital to maintaining their families’ economic health.

Where Do Gender Roles Come From?

A person’s sexuality comes from within him or her, making a person heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or asexual, depending on the partners he or she is(or is not) attracted to. Unlike sexuality, however, gender roles are imposedfrom without, through a variety of social influences. Formed during the socialization phases of childhood and adolescence, gender role issues influence people throughout their lives; conflict can arise when some one does not feelat ease with his or her gender role.

The first and one of the strongest influences on a person’s perceived genderrole is his or her parents. Parents are our first teachers—not only of suchbasic skills as talking and walking, but also of attitudes and behavior. Someparents still hold traditional definitions of maleness and femaleness and what kind of activities are appropriate for each.

Parents start early in treating their baby boys and baby girls differently. Although baby boys are more likely to die in infancy than girls, and are actually more fragile as infants than girls are, studies have shown that parents tend to respond more quickly to an infant daughter’s cries than they are to those of an infant son. Parents also tend to cuddle girls more than they do boys. They are also more likely to allow boys to try new things and activities—such as learning to walk and explore—than they are girls; parents tend to fear more for the safety of girls.

According to Dr. Benjamin Spock, people are likely to appreciate girls’ cuteness and boys’ achievements. For example, a girl may receive the comment, “You look so pretty!” for the outfit she is wearing. While this complimentisn’t harmful in itself, repeated over and over the message the girl gets isthat she is most appreciated for her looks, not for what she can do. Boys, on the other hand, are praised for what they can do—“Aren’t you a big boy, standing up by yourself!” Many parents encourage and expect boys to be more active, to be more rough-and-tumble in their play than girls. A boy who does notlike rough play (and so goes against the gender role he has been assigned) may be labeled a “sissy.” A girl who prefers active play to more passive pursuits may be called a “tomboy.”

Children look to their parents for examples and role models. If a girl sees her mother taking part in physical activities, for example, she will grow up with the idea that it’s okay for girls to play sports. If a boy sees his father helping to take care of the new baby, he will integrate this image of “daddy as care giver” into his developing definition of masculinity.

But just as parents can provide positive role models, so too can they serve as negative role models. For example, children who grow up with parents who are in an abusive relationship have been found to repeat the same pattern as adults: male children of abusive husbands often grow up to abuse their own wives, and daughters of abused wives can grow up to be victims of domestic violence, because their parents have shown them that this is “normal.”

Children develop their gender identity (knowing whether they are male or female) by the age of three. As preschoolers, they use some sexual stereotypes tohelp them differentiate between men and women—for example, to a preschooler, long hair may mean “female” and short hair, “male.”

Another influence and reinforcement of gender roles comes from the toys children play with. During their infancy and toddlerhood, children get most of their toys from parents and other family members; their choice of toys supportstheir own view of gender roles. For example, parents may give their little girl a doll to sleep with, while the boy gets a teddy bear. A grandparent may give a grandson a toy truck but never consider giving the same to a granddaughter. Such gifts set children up early on for the roles they are expected to play.

As they get older, children are influenced in their choice of toys by television. Remote-controlled vehicles, although they can be equally enjoyed by males or females, are generally targeted at boys by advertisers. Girls are the advertising targets of the manufacturers of dolls, craft kits, and so on; advertisers are careful not to call boys’ toys “dolls”—they’re “action figures”!Again and again, we see toys and toy advertisement reinforcing the traditional gender roles: boys are active and adventurous, while girls are passive andmothering. Parents need to be aware of the messages TV advertisements and toys present to their children. They need to help them understand and reconcilethe person they are with the sexual stereotypes they may see on TV and in other media.

Nevertheless, parents can and do reinforce sexual stereotypes, whether deliberately or unwittingly. Not wanting to see a daughter fall and get hurt, a mother may forbid her from climbing trees—although her brother is allowed to doso with gleeful abandon, and his bumps and bruises are taken in stride. Clothing manufacturers produce (and parents buy) clothing in gender-neutral shades such as yellow and green, but the traditional blue for boys and pink for girls are still favorites. Even the cultural habit of assigning pink to girls and blue to boys raises a question—what’s to become of the boy who genuinelylikes the color pink? This question leads us to another group that has stronginfluence over gender roles: peers.

Peer pressure is a means of reinforcing a culture’s traditional gender roles.It can come in the form of taunting or teasing a child who does not fit thetraditional gender roles that other children in the peer group have been exposed to, even to the point of excluding that child from group activities.

Peers react more positively to children who fit traditional gender roles. Forexample, the Washington Post reported the case of a five-year-old boywhose favorite color was pink, and as a result, when the time came to buy him his first bicycle, he naturally wanted it to be pink. The parents had no problem with this, and the boy even told the salesman (who tried to tell him that boys should ride blue or red bikes) that color was just color. The ones who teased him about his bike were not the other boys, but the girls in the neighborhood. Not long after, the boy stopped telling other people that pink washis favorite color.

Resisting such teasing takes a strong ego, something that takes many people years to develop. In a study conducted at Suffolk University in Boston, researcher Krisanne Bursik studied the ego development of 209 undergraduates and compared the results to gender-related traits. She found that students who weremore likely to express non-traditional gender role traits had higher levelsof ego development. She found that among male students, those who had less-developed egos viewed high levels of traditional masculinity as the ideal. Shenoted that in these men, “gender role conflict may occur for men when rigid,sexist or restrictive gender roles, learned during socialization, result in personal restriction, devaluation, or violation of others or self.” However, Bursik’s research was unable to answer the chicken-or-the-egg question: whichcomes first? Do people who have strong, well-developed egos feel free to go against traditional gender roles? Or does early exposure to alternatives wheregender roles are concerned lead people to develop strong egos?

Gender roles are also reinforced by school. Teachers and school administrators have great influence as they pass along cultural information and expectations.

In school, children are expected to sit still, read, and be quiet. Such expectations may have been part of the gender role that a child has been learningfrom the parents, especially if the child is a girl. But for a boy who has been encouraged to be loud and boisterous prior to starting school, these expectations can lead to trouble. In fact, some researchers maintain that all boysface difficulty with expectations such as these because the structure of their brains makes them less able to meet these expectations than girls are.

Although viewed with dismay by some, schools around the country are trying out single-sex classes. About three percent of the children in the Baltimore school system are enrolled in such classes. Not only have the children’s scoreson performance assessment tests increased, but the single-sex classes have given advantages to the children. Boys who had been shy to speak in class do well in them, and girls develop leadership skills. Students at other single-sex schools have been found to be less susceptible to social pressure. Are these successes due to the positive gender role expectations their teachers present, or does going to a single-sex school or class eliminate part of peer pressure? The research is continuing.

Differences between the Sexes

Physical differences do exist between males and females. Studies of the brainhave revealed that female brains are stronger in the left hemisphere, whichrules language. As a result, they do better when tested for language abilityand speech articulation, for example. In males, the right hemisphere, which governs spatial perception, is stronger, giving them an advantage in tasks that require moving objects or aiming.

Tasks or tests that do not take into account the differences between males and females tend to penalize one gender or the other. For example, boys tend toscore better on standardized achievement tests, but girls do better on teststhat require writing. Math, science, and geography are subjects that males tend to do better in than females, but females may have the advantage in meeting the social expectations of school, such as behaving in class and producingneat work.

Even if a boy and a girl were raised identically, without gender expectations, they would not turn out the same, researchers say.

Boys and Gender Roles

Research into the differences between girls and boys is relatively new and ispolitically charged. Some researchers fear being labeled “anti-female” by delving into the study of boys and gender roles. But over the last three decades, gender roles have changed dramatically, and the impact on boys needs to beexamined.

Some researchers maintain that boys may not develop their full capacity for emotional depth because of a combination of factors, including parenting, education, biological and genetic factors, and the messages they receive from popular culture. As a result, some boys are less able than girls to deal with the emotional upheavals that accompany adolescence; recent statistics show thatteenage boys commit suicide at five times the rate teenage girls do. Ultimately, a lack of emotional development as a boy makes it difficult for the adult man to develop healthy relationships.

As gender roles have changed, they have opened greater opportunities for females (which will be discussed more fully below). But men face a dilemma. The old model of the “macho man” is less acceptable in today’s world than it was even three decades ago, and men are struggling to reinvent themselves. Some men are so dependent on the old roles for their identity that they find themselves at a loss when confronted with new expectations. For example, some men cannot adjust when they discover that their wives or girlfriends earn more money than they do, and end the relationship. Silly? To some, perhaps. But plainly, for such men the new options they have regarding gender roles are limitedand limiting.

What does it mean to be a man? That’s a question many of today’s men are wrestling with. In his book Reaching up for Manhood, author Geoffrey Canada wrote, “The image of male as strong is mixed with the image of male as violent. Male as virile gets mixed with male as promiscuous. Males as intelligent often gets mixed with male as arrogant, racist, and sexist.” Small wonder that so many men in western society are flailing about for a new definition. However, today’s parents have the opportunity to show their sons that they don’t have to be violent to be strong. Rather than taking the attitude that “boys will be boys” if their son gets into a fight, parents can take the chance to teach their child new ways to solve conflicts—without using fists.

Women and Gender Roles

Just as men’s gender roles have changed, women’s gender roles have changed inthe last few years, opening new opportunities. However, opportunities have their price, and some things are slower to change than others.

Women can no longer be discriminated against in the workplace. If a woman isqualified for a job, she is by law able to have it. However, few women hold top positions at large companies. A 1995 survey found that among Fortune 500 companies, only 90 had women as their chief executive officers. About 65 percent of Americans believe that women are discriminated against in getting such well-paying positions—a phenomenon called the “glass ceiling,” in which a woman rises only so far in management and no further.

However, women are looking more and more at the tradeoffs involved. Even though they may be able to get ahead in the workplace, things at home remain remarkably the same as they did in their parents’ generation.

Due to gender roles, women—even if they work full-time outside the home—arestill perceived as having the primary responsibility for taking care of homeand family. Generally, if a child is sick and both parents work, it is the mother who leaves the office, picks the child up, and stays home until the child is well enough to return to school. Researchers have also found that the woman is still the primary doer of housework (although today’s men tend to domore housework than their fathers did). Working mothers do 20 hours of housework each week, compared to working fathers, who do 10. The tasks considered “male,” such as yard work and car maintenance, were sporadic in nature and involved an aspect of leisure. The tasks considered “female” were generally repetitive, and had to be done daily—researchers called these tasks “unrelenting, repetitive, and routine.” In addition, women are still responsible for mostof the food shopping, child care, laundry, cleaning, cooking, and even for how the house looks.

Despite great changes in the workplace, life at home is still much the same as it was in past generations. Women do most of the work. Men earn most of themoney. And this is not sitting well with women: researchers report that 38 percent have a problem with how much their husbands do. It’s a dilemma for women to feel they have the right to choose their own career paths, an opportunity few of their mothers and grandmothers had, and then realize that they arestill ruled by many of the same old gender role expectations.

The More Things Change

The shifting of gender roles in the past 30 years has been huge. It has happened so quickly that men and women are still trying to sort out what the new roles and rules mean to them. Although women are no longer expected to be thekeepers of the house, in reality, they are in most families. Although men aregenerally open to the successes enjoyed by the women they share their liveswith, some still find it hard to celebrate a woman’s triumphs because they feel it diminishes their own.

However, rather than blaming each other for the situation, men and women areincreasingly willing to work together to learn about their new roles. Successful marriage partners learn to negotiate and share tasks. Managers take employees aside and tell them when comments are inappropriate. It will take time to sort out all the implications of the changing gender roles of Americans, but new expectations should result in better workplaces, better relationships,better schools, and better lives.

Quoted from:

http://www.faqs.org/health/topics/8/Gender-roles.html

Firstly I have to say that when it comes to the workplace then I would like to see equality. If two people are as qualified and do a job well then I believe that the pay should be the same regardless of gender.

Having said that, I don’t care about gender roles. For me this is an “each to their own” situation. If a woman wants to stay at home while the husband works and she is able to then, fine. I can understand why many women wish to stay at home when they have children especially and it’s nice for children to have a parent around rather than a nanny!

By the same token if a woman wishes to work full time (and I would fall into this category I don’t have children) this shouldn’t be an issue either.

Providing no one is forced into a situation that they aren’t happy with then I think it should be their choice and they houldn’t have to worry about whether they are playing to typical gender roles or not.

@Factotum Yes, considering the employer’s bottom line, I do understand why they make such decisions. However, as a society, we must understand that women are a valuable asset to the workforce. Furthermore, men used to be compensated on the basis of being the sole provider for the family. With the rise of women in the workforce, many men no longer make enough to support the family alone. Granted, many women claim to work for financial necessity, but they identify conveniences and luxuries as necessities. For the lower or middle class family struggling to get by, Mom’s income is imperative. Yet Mom may not earn as much as her childless counterpart. Just a thought, consider women in their mid-twenties – Mom and her family are more likely to accrue deeper debt due to lower income than the other woman who is more likely to share a lease or live with family during financial hardships such as the current economy. On another note, consider the single mother. Hopefully, the father is contributing financially for the child’s needs (we know this is often not the case). Should single mothers be compensated for being the head of the household – outside of tax time? No, but this mom desperatley needs equal pay. In a way, it seems that employers help perpetuate personal debt; they may even shoot themselves in the foot by lowering the number of people/families who can afford their products or services.

The answer depends on the couple. Some couples are happy with a traditional arrangement, while others prefer to assume different roles. I believe that people should be free to choose based on their abilities and interests. If the wife is the better cook and she wants to stay home, then she should (within reason) be allowed to do that. Alternately, there’s nothing wrong with a guy being a house husband if he has a better command of domestic skills and his wife wants to be the breadwinner.

As for childrearing, I think traditional gender roles can be harmful if parents are too rigid in their assignation of said roles to the children. For instance, if a little girl wants to play with Hot Wheels and her mother insists that she plays with pink clad Barbie dolls, then that’s not healthy. But I also think it’s possible for parents to occupy traditional gender roles without forcing them on the children.

We still have traditional gender roles. We’re taught them from the time we’re little with Disney and simply what we see in everyday life. As a genderqueer individual, with androgynous friends, I personally see no need for them. For example, I have never liked the colour pink (I am female) and my mother knows this. She never used to push the matter. As soon as my brother was born she decided that I would get the pink stuffed animals and he would get the blue. My brother is three and loves the color pink. His father hates this. And if he still likes the colour come high school he will probably be seen as queer. But I see no problem with his like of it. In my relationship I should be the one who loves shopping, but my boyfriend can’t wait to go pick out clothes for me when we go shopping. My friends call us weird. There really is no reason why people’s personality should have to fit any structure because society says it should.