Gender Roles (house, quote, emo, Hang)

Freebase Dali · 04-02-2009, 12:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blue

I've always felt they were mostly just a product of how our culture views socially acceptable gender standards. I'm a man, yet I don't like what the stereotypical man likes. I'd rather spend my time doing something creative and artistic like music, or reading, or generally something that's intellectually stimulating. I don't like action movies, I don't have that much of an interest in sports, I don't have an interest in "picking up" women (not that I don't want to meet women of course, but I think there's a difference between meeting and trying to pick up and bed), I don't have an interest in violence, I don't have an interest in giving off an image of "tough," or really many of the socially viewed stereotypical male interests/qualities. I also like to care, which apparently isn't quite a male quality either. I think it's really up to the individual, as someone else said.

That aspect of yourself isn't something that's new. Think about our great artists, musicians, and creative minds throughout history. I'm sure they didn't prefer to spend their time sword fighting and seeing how hard they could punch each other before getting knocked out. Yet, they were accepted and admired because of their talents.
But had those artists and musicians served as homemakers while their wives worked in the mills, they surely would have been looked down upon at historical points in time. Hell, even within the last 30 years you could see it.

Back to the OP:

The roles each gender plays has been a socially influenced factor in our culture for so many years, we've started to think it's natural, when in reality, it's not. We've come a long way from living in caves and hunting for food. Back then, gender would likely dictate to a point.. But where our intelligence arrives, the physical aspects that separate a man's strength from a woman's becomes irrelevant.
In today's world, physical strength and manliness does nothing for success unless you're a professional fighter or sportsman. And we've even got women's fighting and sports leagues. The classic limitations society has put on gender is no longer applicable. The only thing that remains is bias that's remnant of the past.