This week I would like to talk about the roles that gender plays in our lives and in a marriage. First, to understand the roles of gender, it is important to understand the different tendencies of men and women. We all know how men and women get advertised differently to, are expected to do different things, and act certain ways. Are these stereotypes true? Are they all true or partially true? Are certain things advertised to a certain gender by chance? Should gender influence our roles in society? Let’s look into it.
One interesting study includes children that choose a toy from a few laid out in front of them. The toys included both typical feminine and typical masculine toys. Interestingly enough, most of the girls went for the toys thought of as feminine and most of the boys went for a toy that would be considered masculine.
Another study put children in a room with a glass wall, and their mother on the other side of the wall. The girls tended to lean against the glass and cry for their mother, while the boys tended to hit the wall and become more aggressive.
Another interesting thing that research has found is that women tend to be better at reading feelings. In a different sense, men tend to be better at reading maps. Women tend to pay attention to detail, while men can see more of a bigger picture.
Below is a link of a video. The video brings up a good question. Should women get hired for a job that demands strength? If a woman is willing, but weak, should she get hired? I have a personal example of this. My father was a fire fighter for thirty years. Toward the end of his career, his fire department had to lower the physical test, in order to hire more women. What do you think about this? I believe that someone should be competent to do a job, regardless of gender. It goes both ways. If a man can not do a job to a certain standard, then he should not do it. Likewise, if a woman could not do a job, she should not do it. If there was a house on fire and my father’s safety and possibly life, was at risk, I would want him to be working with strong, competent people. To me, it should be obvious that it is ok for a job to have a certain standard and choose one individual over another if they are more qualified. People get upset, but the original physical test should have been the standard for any gender. Some men could not do it, and if a woman could, then she was very qualified to do the job.
Men and women are supposed to be different, but that does not mean that one is above the other. People do not understand that men and women have different roles, and that both roles are equally important. Men are not above women, and women are not above men. We just have our own strengths and that is just how it is supposed to be. Society is trying to tell us otherwise. Women being emotional is not a bad thing. Men trying to lead is not a bad thing. In a family, the mother tends to be more nurturing and affectionate. The father tends to lead and provide.
Of course, there are behaviors that might not fall under our typical behaviors, and that is ok too. Just treat everyone with respect.
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