I found it interesting to look at the different roles of men
and women 40 years ago, 20 year ago and now.
The first person I talked to who was 20 years older than me was my
mother. When she was in her 20’s she
lived in Santa Monica, CA. The roles of
men and women weren’t as strict as it was in the 50s. The women were more assertive and voiced
their opinions. They ventured outside
the house and began to work and seek higher education. I spoke to one of my co-workers who was 20
years older than me. He noted that when
he was in his 20’s the men didn’t feel they needed to be the main
breadwinner. This gave the men the
option to stay at home and raise the kids along with the women. We began to see a major shift in the
traditional gender roles.
I spoke to my next door neighbors who were 40 years older
than me. When I asked what was
inappropriate for men and women when they were in their 20s they immediately
said divorce. They told me in their 20s
divorce was unheard of. They told me
divorce carried a stigma and even if people were unhappy in a marriage they
were expected to stay married no matter what.
The woman told me women were not expected to work. They were expected to stay home and take care
of the kids and the house. Women in her
day were not expected to go to college either.
The man told me the men were supposed to go out and work to provide for
the family.
Nowadays people in their 20s seem very unmotivated and lazy. Many 20 years olds now are focused on
drinking and partying. There is not a
big focus on work, school or the future.
The traditional gender roles are not seen nowadays because men take on
women roles and vice versa.
I agree with your statement on how our generation is less motivated and has become lazy. I feel like this is because of technology which has cause us to think and depend on shortcuts. We don't take the long process of figuring out things, instead we take things for granted and assume things a lot of the time. Technology has saved us time and work but in trade we are focused in having fun than doing hard work. Oddly enough, my parents were different in the way that women were supposed to go out and receive a higher education instead of staying home.
ReplyDeleteHi Bee,
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to note that many of same ideas that your participants noted were felt by the people that I interviewed as well. It seems as if the older generations were muxh more reserved. One of the things they noted was the advancement of sexual expression. they noted that people were dressed much more conservatively, and acts of the sexual nature were not done out in the open, let alone in the public eye in the form of media. Also, the generation of 40 year olds had a much more relegated role for both men (provider) and women (home maker), as opposed to other generations. The other thing that I noted was how early marriages and families started, people who were in there late 20's and not married were considered odd. It is good to see that our generation is at least open to both geners working, having the same oppurtunities and chances for successful careers and life balance.