How correct it is to say that gender stereotypes and roles have changed today?

Question

though we have come a long way we still tend to cling to old mindsets and mindsets which in effect leaves us all suspended between the old and the new age.

Is that what is happening today?

We are changing but not really?

Answer 1

Depends on your age as well as your upbringing and your exposure to different ways of living.

Gender roles have changed for some of us in our 40's and 50's and more for those in their 30's and the most for those in their 20's. My parents are in their 60's and 70's and are still pretty traditional about their s*x roles (who does what in the household) and still hold quite a few gender stereotypes (what is appropriate behavior for a woman vs a man).

I work with a lot of people in their 20's-50's and those in their 20's and 30's have the least sexist stereotypes about gender but there is still plenty of it that exists-unfortunately. There is still a huge obession about how young people look and of course about s*x. But the sexist gender roles don't seem very popular among that age group.

Those in their 40's and 50's are more traditional about their ideas of gender roles but even there many couples both work and have to work as a team to raise their children so it is a very different life than their parents.

I think there is a lot of improvement in gender roles though women still perform more of the household tasks-but on the bright side many men are very involved in raising their children unlike many of our previous generations.

I think what is holding us back the most are the old people in their 60's and 70's who are still in power in the US politically and economically and in the media who have very traditional ideas about marriage and family and gender roles and still believe many gender stereotypes in spite of lots of evidence to the contrary. Once that generation is forced to give up their power-our society will be dramatically different.

Answer 2

Gender roles still exist; the change today is much, much less than 30 years ago... and some signs indicate that certain things are actually heading back the way they came;  there are fewer woman pastors in churches due to rising conservatism in religion, slightly lower female participation in the workforce than a few years ago (and it was always lower than men, but much higher than it was 40 years ago), a widening wage gap (obviously in favor of men), and NO female presidential candidate in the general election.

Most polls show that men and women still have their roles; men are logical, strong, and rational, women are emotional, weaker and sensual. The difference between now and 30-40 years ago is that we tend not to fight these differences as much. Most feminists are in their 50-60's and the younger generation is NOT replacing them.

This is because the worst discrimination is gone, and there is no law which prohibits women from potentially being president, no law which prevents women from having the same wages for the same work, and no law saying that women cannot own/operate businesses/own property. In this way, we HAVE changed, but in social systems, we are still very much the same in most of the country; only a small minority of people live like those "s*x and the city" women...

And nature cannot be denied in its role-setting power. Women who try to be like men only stress themselves out and, at best, can play on men's terms... There were a pair of books written that you should google: "The Inevitability of Patriarchy", and "Why Men Rule." These books point out that in most of histroy women worked alongside men, and that the 1950's stereotype only came forth when technology developed enough to cut women out of the workplace (and even then, it was only middle-class women who were ever cut.)

I say that we should let men act like men and women act like women, rather than vainly try to demolish gender roles. All evidence points to divides between the genders, and while there are SOME exceptions here and there, the vast majority of the population is indeed split by the simple nature of being male or female.

Answer 3

Many sterotypes are out dated. People have learnt that being yourself and having your own wants and ambitions is more important. We also have more access to information such as the internet, tv than before when it comes to traveling, careers, interests etc.

So I think that gender role doen't exist, people should just be themselves.

Answer 4

Some of us men have been to resistant to positive change.

Yes I am admitting it.  Some women out on the fringe over-dramatize. We just need to find  common ground  and  working solutions that don't s*** on some and entitle others.