Since the beginning of time it has been the role of the male to be the protector and provider of his household. He was known as the head of the house. No opinion or judgement of any kind could be passed without the heads permission. With the passing of time, society began to change. The male was no longer the only bread-winner of the family.
Maybe it is because Mohammad Hussein said that:
“And just like men are responsible of the society, women also are equally responsible of the society they live in”.
In Terms of House-hold matters:
The Past
Men used to go out of their houses with the aim of earning money in their minds. They were the only source of income for their families. The women instead of going out to work themselves, they were to be the guardians of the house while the head was gone. They were responsible for the house chores as well as raising and educating their children.
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The Present
But this is not how it is nowadays, with the rise of feminism and women rights associations, men and women now work side by side in order to earn a living. They both have become the bread-winners of their families, the head or the male used to be the one holding the prominent position but now that position can be attained by women as well. The house chores are now shared by both spouses and they both are the leaders of their home.
In Terms of Roles in Society:
The Past
In the past if women were given jobs, they would only be restricted to positions such as those of clerks, and employees, and men were the managers and CEOs’ of the company. Men were given the big roles, they were the rulers of the country.
The Present
But not long after, women broke through this fabricated ideology of men being the only one having the right to rule. Women slowly and gradually progressed and in the end managed to obtain greater roles then men. Men’s position in return turned small and insignificant. He became no longer, the only shining star.
It was Mao Zedong who was of the ideology that:
“In order to build a great socialist society it is of utmost importance to arouse the broad masses of women to join in productive activity. Men and women must receive equal pay for equal work in production. Genuine equality between the sexes can only be realized in the process of the socialist transformation of society as a whole.”
Stereotypes of Genders:
The Past:
Men used to be the stereotype of brave, emotionless and fearless. They hid their emotions. They were taught the fact that real men do not cry. They used to suppress their own emotions in order to give their family support. He was a symbol representing a protector, even if he were afraid himself he would still put up a brave front. If his emotions were hurt he would still remain calm and did not lose their composure.
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The Present:
Nowadays men have become more approachable and now they have started expressing their emotions. Man is now more sensitive than some women. Women who have become more rigid and intelligent and men who have become softer and kinder. Now men help out at home, cooking, feeding their children, cleaning the house and doing the laundry, which was originally supposed to be the duty of women and women alone. Society used to see men doing their chores as weak. And women working outside their homes as women with impure motives. Now not only has House-husband become a trend, working women has also turned out to be a norm.
Conclusion:
In the end, the future generation is watching their strong fearless mothers and kind and soft hearted fathers.
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Thus the girls are becoming more and more rigid and losing femininity while boys are becoming more dull and lazy watching their fathers. It seems like the roles of both genders has been swapped.
It is as Fred Ward says:
“I think we are struggling with trying to redefine various positions at this point in history. To allow freedom for women, freedom for men, freedom from those sharply defined gender roles.”