Traditional Gender Roles

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Gender roles and relationships play such a big part in today’s society. While some people still live by traditional values, others are behaving in a more modern way. As we have witnessed in our readings, there are many different aspects of gender roles that make up the way men and women interact and get along with each other. In this essay, I will explore the behavior and expectations of traditional gender roles and compare them to more modernized relationships, describe personal examples of these relationships I have witnessed in my family life, and relate them back to the examples found in our readings. These roles are very interesting because although men and women are not exactly alike in the way they are programmed, they are able to coexist …show more content…

The man is the breadwinner in the family, whereas the woman stays home and cares for the house or children. There are many instances where this is prevalent, especially in the TV show “The Brady Bunch.” There really is no better example of a quintessential American family who demonstrates traditional gender roles than portrayed by the Brady family. Mike Brady is in every sense a classic American dad. He wakes up, drinks his morning coffee while reading a newspaper, as his wife serves him breakfast. When he’s finished he gets up, grabs his coat, and heads to work while Carol, his wife, stays home to care for the house and send the children to school. When he arrives home after work, dinner is on the table and he sits down and enjoys his meal with his family. A prototypical example for a conventional American wife can be read about in Judy Brady’s piece “I want a Wife.” Written from a wives’ point of view, she wishes she could have a wife to do all of the things that she does for her husband. She isn’t sure why she has to answer to all of her husband’s wishes, and at any given point he can just up and leave for another spouse if he feels she is better suited for his needs. In an orthodox way of thinking, …show more content…

I come from a traditional Italian family, where my dad works, where my mom stays home with the kids. However, the gender roles my father witnessed in his own family were heightened from a young age. My dad is the only boy out of his siblings. In Italian culture from a mother’s point of view, he is the only one who is able to carry on the family’s name, so he is treated like a king. She serves him as she would serve her husband, and caters to his every want or need. This is probably why Italian sons and their mothers have such an inseparable bond. I too have an Italian mother, and experience a lot of the same behavior my dad did when he was being raised. Although I am not the only son, my mother still treats me like royalty and makes sure I am comfortable no matter what. That is the relationship most mothers and sons share in Italian culture and why Italian families are always so tightly knit. I grew up in a traditional household, with my dad being the worker, and my mom leaving her job when the kids were born. I can definitely relate to Judy Brady’s piece, because my mom exemplifies everything about the wife being described. She is always cooking, and when she isn’t cooking she is cleaning, and when she isn’t cleaning she’s caring for the kids and my dad. Because I grew up in a conventional, old-school house, when I get married it will be to a girl who shares a similar outlook to the one my mom

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