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Are gender roles a marker of true equality?
Submitted by Matt on Thu, 2015-02-05 06:51
YouTube video here. Description:
'Men and women, taken as groups, are different in important respects. The differences appear to be based on some combination of biological and cultural forces. But is gender role differentiation a sign of well-being and freedom? Christina Hoff Sommers explains how prosperity and equality may bring greater opportunities for self-actualization.'
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Comments
Choice?
A comment on the video:
" If a woman wants to serve her husband like the 1950-60's stereotypical woman, fine. If she wants to be the breadwinner and make 2x as much as her husband, fine. We should allow men and women to chose the roles they wish. "
That sounds good, but the only one who gets a choice in this scenario is this woman. Men are still required to fulfill their obligations, typically with fewer benefits in return. Because men are still required to fulfill their "gender roles," women have the choice of working or not working. If a married man doesn't work, for example, he may find himself divorced and then legally obligated to pay support for his former family. And that obligation is not just cultural; it's required by law. Women are rarely placed in that position.
Men's gender role obligations result in gender role options for women. Gender roles presumed reciprocal agreements, not one-sided options for one of the genders. If the woman doesn't keep her part of the bargain, the man shouldn't be required to keep his--but he typically is so required.
Oops!
My comment showed up twice. Can you fix it, Matt?
Women have increased their
Women have increased their choices when it comes to roles which involve NOT h-ving children. The invention of birth control has made that possible (by the way, using birth control requires effort and often side effects). However, the biological goal of humans (both men and women) is to live and keep living. In order for genes to keep living they need to be passed down to offspring. The role of h-ving children, which keeps the species thriving is ALWAYS assigned to women (it's not a choice). Until men have the risk and responsibility of getting pregnant to provide offspring, roles will never be equal.
I've often said I respect the rights of both men and women, but I am not one who is seeking gender equality. It is impossible to have two different genders with different motivations, different risks, different values and different capabilities yet expect them to both have the same behaviors and equal outcomes.
Yep
:)