When most people thin of the roles that are played in today's society many things come to mind. One example being the role of gender. The idea of masculinity and femininity come to play and every stereotype from either side come into the big picture to determine who that person really is. For an man you are masculine. Therefore you are on the outside though, hide emotion as best as you possibly can, and are the leader of the pack in any situation that comes up. Then when it's time to start a family you are the head of the household (leader of the pack), you are the sole bread-winner, and you are also the one who makes any type of decision regarding anyone or anything under your roof.
As for women we are feminine. We are known to society as being emotional, soft, sweet, caring, ect. Then later on after we marry we are known as motherly. We take care of our husband and children so that everyone is happy, healthy, and taken care of. We also make sure that our home is in the shape that we want it in and usually for most women that is clean, organized, and presentable.
This isn't always true though so why does society have us believing these ideas?! Sure I grew up in a village suburb on a street with many families who had at least two children and one parent if not both had a good paying job. But that was where I lived, not what MY life was like. I grew up in a house that had one parent; my mom. By herself she raised my brother and I for fifteen years, kept a full-time job which required her to work forty hours a week (sometimes 60-80 weeks during the holiday season), kept up with the house, wrote out and paid every single bill, made every decision, and did everything she possibly could to make our lives as normal as possible because of the void feeling around us from my dad not being there.
I see my mom as a very powerful, loving, caring, and tough woman who definitely gave the idea of gender-roles a different idea. She took on both roles of being mom and dad and handled both exceptionally well. And in life alone one thing she taught me is this; as long as the job gets done right the first time the gender of the person taking care of things doesn't matter.
