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Society has come a long way since the times of gender controlled societies before the 1970’s. In Scott Russel Sanders’ essay, "The Men We Carry in Our Minds", Sanders tells a story about a conversation with a female friend of his, Anneke, on gender roles in society today and before the 1950’s-1970. Examples are given on the differences between genders back then and today. Gender specific roles have crossed paths and both females and males play an equal role in the business world today which is opposite of what was expected for each gender before the 1970’s. Both male and females were not treated as equals before the 1970’s. They all had their key roles in society and were expected to carry out only tasks that are gender oriented. It was like a separation of genders, just like races used to be separated. Scott Sanders (born 1945) states, "But if I had been asked, as a boy, to choose between tending a baby and tending a machine, I think I would have chosen the baby. (Sanders 317)" This statement is a shadow of both genders and how the genders are stereotyped. It brings up both points that men are stereotyped as machine tenders and females as home-wives back in the 1950’s. It also indicates that male jobs are harder than female jobs in the eyes of a boy who grew up in the 1950’s. That is not necessarily the case. Now, both genders have come a long way. They are branching out beyond the horizons, creating an equal atmosphere in society among genders. Equality makes life easier, and allows more room for improvements in science and politics and much more. They no longer have to abide by the gender-specific tasks that society stressed on each gender, or the separation of genders. Society stressed that females had to carry out female oriented tasks. Only females were expected to stay at home and were expected to deal with the burdens of having kids, keeping up with the kids, and turning them into healthy adults. Females also had to have kids, and be back to work in a week. They had no time for recuperation. Who would fill in their daily roles on the farm? Females cooked, cleaned the house, cleaned the clothes and farmed. Females were expected to be social and they catered to their husbands every need. They made sure everything was in order, and they were the last ones to fall asleep at night. Although this may not sound very stressful, it certainly is. Imagine the kids screaming, cooking for hours over a hot stove, cleaning the barn stalls and the house. Females labored over washing clothes, scrubbing them, and hanging them out to dry. The work the females had to deal with was physically exhausting as well as mentally exhausting. Males too had their specific roles in the gender specific society. Males were expected to carry out mainly two roles. Either males were farmers or they were soldiers. As farmers, males dealt with the ongoing labors that farm work needed. Males plowed fields in the blistering sun and heat. They kept up with the crops, tended to the animals. Males were men of muscles and rugged hands from lifting heavy objects and the wear and tear they endured every day. Males labored with their bodies and they dealt with many hardships. And yet, everyday was the same. Males woke up at the crack of dawn and headed out to the farms, only broke to eat or drink, came home, slept and started the same routine the next day. If the males weren’t farming, they were fighting as soldiers. Being a soldier was just as unpleasant as being a farmer. The only difference was that the male knew he would one day face death in battle by putting his life on the front end. Males are eaten up with guilt from all of their doings. Males work all the time and miss out on spending time with their children and families. What could be worse than either of these two unpleasant gender roles? Today, the key roles for each gender have changed dramatically in society. Males work in offices and make huge decisions that affect tons of people. Males are typically business oriented. Males have even taken on what would have been expected to be female roles. Males take on roles such as male nurses, and stay-at-home fathers who would pretty much take on all the chores that a stay-at-home mother would. But, alongside of males in the business world females flourish also. You see females performing the same roles as males and females are holding top, stressful positions that males hold. Females can do anything. They can hold positions such as CEO’s or factory workers. And just like males, females are striving to achieve political positions. Females now even have a chance to rest up after having children. Heck! We may even have a female president in the near future. Talk about branching out! Looking back on the times before the 1970’s, females and males have come a long way from societies set on the separation of the genders. No longer are males or females expected to perform certain tasks for society. Now, females are now believed to be created equal with males, and both genders can perform any tasks they wish. Females have every chance and dream as a male’s and both genders can go wherever they wish to go in life, whether it be a female president, or a male nurse, any dream can be achieved. |