I have always had an interest in sex roles. I knew that would catch your attention. Not those types of roles, but in the aspect of what is expected of us as males and females. Recently a friend found it humorous that my husband likes to shop and bribes me to go to the mall with him because I hate shopping. In the course of the conversation, it was also mentioned that I am an enthusiastic college football fan, whereas my husband has no interest in sports.
During game night this month, we played Battle of the Sexes. I thought it was hilarious that I was incapable of answering most of the female questions myself. One of the players mentioned that the men were decisive players who did not need to discuss which question should be asked. I laughed at this statement. My husband and I went canoeing once and the guide told us the person who makes decisions in our family must handle the rudder. My husband immediately volunteered me saying I was our decision-maker. We still bring this incident up periodically.
I find it intriguing that people expect specifics in their interests and knowledge based on whether you are male or female. Most people I know do not fall into these specific categories, yet we are reminded of what our roles should be based on other's perceptions of how we should behave. Do you have examples of your expected role?
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A Writer's Blog with lots of fun thrown in.
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- Melissa
- Genealogy Librarian who spends her free time as a struggling writer.
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4 comments:
I think I see men's activities much differently from my contemporaries' views from having had a father who retired when I was five (staying home, doing laundry, vaccuuming) while Mother (with her master's degree) was still working. But although my husband's duties include many traditionally women's duties (laundry, vaccuuming -- see a pattern?), I also "let" him do more traditional things like the yard and car care. Probably the biggest gender anomoly in my marriage is that I tend to distrust sales people much less than hubby. However, I have raised a daughter who is similar to you, and who will probably be the, um, um, .... and I am very proud of her.
hmmm . . . I wonder which friend was entertained by the fact that James likes to shop and you don't--and that you like football and he doesn't??? Entertainment aside, I think gender anomolies are a good thing. I wish I were that girl who had a knack for fixing my car or even figuring out my dvd/vcr/cable difficulties . . .
I can *definitely* relate to college football. It is exactly like that in my house. And whoever said that women can't read a map or navigate has never seen my family. My mom, both of my sisters and I *love* maps. My mom can plot a course from Point A to Point B in no time flat -- and it's a heck of a lot better than Mapquest (though that isn't saying a whole lot sometimes!)
There are certain people you can't play that game with. My friend Matt, for example, knows wayyyyyyyy more about the cooking questions than any of my female friends, so to have him on the guy team would really unbalance everything. And my mom's neighbor Patti is our official Trivial Pursuit sports question answerer, so it all depends on the people present. :)
I also think it would be more proper to say gender roles rather than sex roles. :) We helped Edith move this weekend and Wil was talking about the women's movement circa Susan B Anthony et al and some letters written between men and women in favor of the movement and - it was really interesting to listen to him, and I'm making it very boring, but you'll have to ask him about it the next time you see him. :)
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