Gender Roles

What does gender roles mean to you? I have thought more and more about this topic and realize that it is not as simple as I previously thought. I feel like back in the days of my grandparents, gender roles were pretty cut and dry. The man was assertive, strong, protective, and the bread winner while the woman was with the kids at home, more timid, sensitive, and more verbal. As society progresses more and more, these attributes are becoming interchangeable between sexes and I think it is a good thing. Men and women are different and definitely bring different things to the table, but nothing is wrong with both the man and woman having the same attributes. I think we spend a lot of focus on how one gender can only have certain specific roles, but in reality that is not the case. I think we should brace each others differences but we shouldn't put a label on how we think the man and woman should act.

Let me explain. When kids are going up, you usually see the little boys playing with the cars and trucks and you see the little girls playing dress up and with dolls. In most cases, that is the scenario that you will see. But what if you see a little boy playing with dolls? Or wanting to dress in his older sister's dress? What thoughts are going through your mind? Are you thinking about how the boy is going to grow up confused and probably gay? Or are you thinking about how he is just a curious boy who wants to play with a doll and that's it? For a lot of people, they are having the first thought and this causing a lot of problems. For boys who rather stay inside and paint inside of going outside and play in the dirt, they can grow up with a lot of confusion. Parents may assume that because their boy is more sensitive that he is gay, or he may be outcasted by his male peers because he doesn't want to do everything they do. Boys who wouldn't think they are gay are having thoughts that they might be because of what is being projected onto them. Although they may not want to be, they try to be gay because that is what everyone is telling them. This is such a sad scenario because it happens so much and it seems it is only one sided. If a little girl is more tomboyish, no one says anything. In fact, they think it is cute! So why is it that is boys growing up are a little more sensitive that we automatically think that something is wrong? If we educate people and let them know that things like that is normal, then I think we can help so many boys feeling confused about their sexuality.