Current Connection 3:2

In a society with a traditional roles in male and women, we come to expect a regular household to be male-dominant. But for some families, they have broken those traditions with a stay-at-home dad instead of a mother. Many of us can agree that that is not a regular situation. About 3.5 percent of males are stay-at-home parents in the U.S.

According to researchers, men today are actually becoming more work-family conflict than women. In an article written by Jennifer Ludden entitled Stay-At-Home Dads, Breadwinner Moms And Making It All Work, Ludden asserts, "Coontz points out that 28 percent of women now outearn their husbands, a trend driven by the fact that more women than men now earn college degrees." Now that women are becoming more independent, the chances of men taking over the household are increasing. They have a much greater sense of being involved in the family and have the desire to perform like any other care giver.

In the article it also states, "Coontz says for generations, children have been conditioned early for their respective gender roles — boys, for example, have been discouraged when they express interest in cooking or dolls." We have come to learn early at our age what gender means and the roles that we play in this society. We tend to act in a certain way that we feel is accepted into the world because we are afraid of what others would think about the way we live.

Ludden also implies, "for 150 years both men and women have been trained to fulfill certain, distinct roles and to explicitly not be responsible for others." Men and women are not any different from each other which would allow them to perform the same things. We tend to think that women are more qualified to take care of the children and the homes, but what makes a man unable to? 

This article reminds me of my former boss. He was a stay-at-home parent while his wife took the role as the money maker in the family. Although was took care of the kids and the house, he had his own job at his very home. I can understand why he would be the care-giver of the family because he is always at the house doing his job without stepping out of his house. 

Though men are thought to be the more powerful and dominant of the family, it does not mean he is not able to care for his family. Some males are not able to work outside of the house. To some fathers who are the primary care givers, they feel that it is an experience and responsibility that they would not have had the opportunity to assume had they continued in a traditional role as "bread winner".

CC3:1 "Judgements on Traditional Gender Roles"

In a recent article by Gabrielle Reece in New York Times news entitled "Defining ‘Submissive’ in the Vocabulary of Women’s Choices" Reece explains how society has unporportionally described the meaning behind gender roles and the decisions that women make in society.



The article claims, "When I used the s-word, I was talking about the way many couples divide labors and roles irrespective of gender, and I was talking about what’s been true for me in my own relationship." America today has improved on the rights of women, but this country has put their mind into focusing on women having independent jobs that are equal to their significant other, that they have forgotten the fact that being a house mom is also a choice of women. Not all women want to be powerful than men.



Reece quotes, "The reality is that I do most of the things that are traditionally female. Why? It’s my choice. It’s what works for us in our partnership." Many women have been raised to be the carer in the family and feels that it is their responsibility to take care of the kids and their partner. People are looking down on those who still value the traditional husband and wife roles when it is their desicion.



The article also asserts, "One of the cornerstones of feminism is that women should have the freedom to make choices. We should be able to define for ourselves what makes us happy. Single. Married. Kids. No kids. Whatever." Society has an effect on people and the ones close to them, which in turn effects views. Identity isn't something which is necessarily forced down on people by "society" or by the ruling powers, it is something which people choose to adopt and "play" with.




In my country, women are traditionally the ones who take care of the household, to handle the needs of the family and the responsibilities that are to be performed. By the environment of living, I value the gender roles that I was exposed of and that is the way I want to handle roles of gender just like my mother.



Clearly women now have the rights to step out of the stereotypical role of a woman and be anything they want as long as that is what they want to be as powerful as a man. But if someone wants to become, say, a scientist or politician or business person and can't (or is said that they shouldn't) merely because they *happen* to be a woman; that's NOT fine. There is nothing wrong with a woman wanting to be a stay-at-home parent.