Changing Gender Roles


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From sources by Victor D’Souza, Doha
Bellevision Media Network

17 August 2010: The changing social system is a universal factor which also brings change in the status of its members. Changes in a particular field have an impact in other realms of the society too. An emergent phenomenon is the growing flexibility and changes in the gender roles of men and women.

 

Early societies had rigid roles for men and women with attributes were labelled as being masculine and feminine. Man was considered as provider of basic necessities for family and woman the child bearer and caretaker of home. Women were accorded the role of the inferior sex and prized possession of man.

 

The changes and flexibility in gender roles which are being evident today has its roots in the changing social structure. Economic factors, advancement in sciences and changed value system have contributed to a preference for nuclear family thus doing away with the concept of joint family. Consequently the ambit of economic and household responsibilities has changed.

 

 

Earlier in the joint family system there was a clear-cut division of responsibilities or duties with women looking after the domestic matters and the men taking charge of out of home and financial matters. Today the nuclear set-up allows for no such demarcation the man is no longer the sole bread-winner and woman no longer a mere caretaker of the house. This is also due to the economic compulsions. With the financial security provided by joint family system no longer available and cost of living ever increasing there is a need for an extra earning member to supplement the income of the family.

 

The women are thus forced to earn as well to meet the cost of domestic demands. In the initial stages of this phase the women were not offered any help in domestic affairs and she performed both the supplementary role of an earning member and her natural role of a housewife. Gradually the attitude of men is changing to a certain extent that men adopted the woman’s role at least when compulsion to do so arose.

 

 

While the acceptance of man’s gender role has been willingly taken up by women, the same does not always hold true for men. The present scenario is still that while a girl is groomed to become an efficient career woman as well as an efficient house maker, men are expected to excel mainly in professional fields.

 

The situation is that while any effort from men to undertake a domestic job is welcomed and assisted by their counterparts, any such effort by women in the professional field is still seen as a threat to male supremacy. Hence men do not have to struggle hard to prove their worth, women most of the time has to work harder to prove not just that they are efficient but that they can work much harder and deliver the results.

 

Lately the domain of feminity has expanded to include the social and professional fields, traditional notions about gender roles are undergoing transformation that has been mainly because of education. An open and educated society is paving the way for role-swapping which seems to be gaining ground in the highly demanding developmental social structure. Domestic life has become almost unthinkable without flexibility in gender roles.

 

 

While men are beginning to shed their inhibitions about working in the kitchen women are already working late hours. The changing trends are reflected in men and women taking up unconventional work such as pilots and astronauts while men are honing their skills as chefs and fashion designers.

 

Changing roles to accommodate the social or professional pressures has become a common phenomenon. However it is in the urban centres that the flexibility is most evident. The rural society though in transition has a long way to go in this context. The flexibility in gender roles needs to be taken to the extent where finally the concept of respective gender roles is done away with.

 

 

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Comments on this Article
dinesh nvk, india Tue, August-17-2010, 2:37
you are wright Mr. Philip.there are so many changes become when women went out for job.husband and wife both are earning and the family is running good.but there is no relationship value what it had before.children never loved by their parents after mother goes out for job.and the same will continue in the future generation.One who born and broughtup in cities dosent understand this values.But now in villages also childrens are not getting parents affection like before.we turned our culture into western culture.our kids do so......I know womens can work in any field like men except tasks involving muscles.Recently I have seen a woman seeking help in a circle with a heavy traffic where her car got brakedown,instead of showing sympathy or help the womens drives vacated the place.but one man stopped the car with kepping hazard light on got down and pushed the car to safe place and helped the women to call a towing vehicle.this is just a example.
Winifred Lobo, Manipal Tue, August-17-2010, 12:56
I think men must change to time of today and join hands in managing home despite the career or job load, to make the ultimate, home sweet home.
Philip Mudartha, Qatar Tue, August-17-2010, 11:00
From a strict micro perspective of villages like that of ours, the women continue to be the for decades. Men plow, women plant. Men are paid higher wages, given tougher tasks involving muscles and strength; women undertake softer tasks done with softer skills like teaching, nursing and rolling beedis. Men are priests and aspire to climb religious hierarchies, while women s preserve is the outer support hierarchies like nuns, sadhvis, etc. Despite the changes, it is very much man s world. (I have my wife s permission to say so!)
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