Gender Equality: A New View of Roles and Responsibilities - Essay Sample

Introduction

The view of gender roles and responsibilities have become more equal today than in history where there was segregation in the division of labor and unequal gender roles. Traditionally, men and women had different roles when it came to family and relationships. The traditional roles of women in relationships and families used to be doing house chores and looking after children. On the other hand, it was men's roles to go to work and get money to buy food and educate children. Also, men had the responsibility of protecting the family from any attack such that they used to go for defense training where they were taught how to fight. Therefore, women were homemakers while men were breadwinners. This paper aims at showing how the change in the traditional roles of men and women strengthen and weaken the relationships using a case study and life experiences.ac

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In the modern world, the roles and expectations of men and women in relationships have changed. In today's world, men can cook and take care of their children and women can also go to school, work and take defense training to protect themselves and their families and loved ones. This kind of change seems to strengthen the relationship status between men and women. Besides, it has reduced the burden of women. Thus, gender roles are no longer observed in our current society because boys and girls consider themselves equal today.

According to Jeff Z. Klein's essay the changing roles of men and women strengthen their relationships. Jeff narrates a scenario where he was attacked by a man at night while in Czech with his girlfriend. His girlfriend defended him by giving the assailant a vigorous karate kick. She told the attacker to back off as she faced him with a solemn look on her face. Jeff's girlfriend had been attending Karate classes, which gave her the confidence to defend herself and other people in a situation like that. According to Jeff, he loves the way she can protect herself and also realized that she could be more useful in cases where defense is needed. Therefore, the relationship between him and his girlfriend seems to get stronger because there is something he loves in her that could not exist if the traditional roles of women persist.

Conversely, according to most life experiences, the changing roles of men and women are the cause of conflicts and divorce cases in the modern world. The change creates a conflict of interest between men and women. It has become common for some people to neglect their responsibilities in their relationships with the expectation that the other partner would do them on their behalf. For example, men are always less prepared to do house chores compared to women. Also women still have drawbacks in decision making processes in their families which gives them no official role that sometimes leads to conflict.

Conclusion

In conclusion, as the traditional roles of men and women continue changing in the modern dynamic world, it is good for each partner to consider adopting behavior that would contribute to the strength of their relationships. There should be transparency and effective communication between the two partners before adapting to the new roles and expectations of each one of them. Thus, gender and conflict require further research to help address critical elements of gender roles in relationships.