Gender roles. It's a phrase that gets tossed around often. Our society has constructed these ludicrous models of what a "man" should be and what a "woman" should be, and oftentimes, when people can't -- or don't want to -- fulfill these "requirements," they are left feeling like outcasts, or isolated. Here is a giant newsflash: there is only one finger to point and one area in which to place blame: society. I will be the first one to say that we are still leaps and bounds from full gender equality, but by the same token, we have taken massive strides towards leveling the playing field, and furthermore, have shattered so many barriers that have been instilled in our societies that say women and men need to behave certain ways and fit gender-specific roles.
It is detrimental to our society, and our world at large, to put people in boxes. From the time you're born, everything is assigned a gender, because we made it that way. Blue or pink. Trucks or dolls. Playing house or playing superheroes. Wearing dresses or wearing cleats. Girls shouldn't play outside because they can't get dirty. Boys shouldn't play with dolls because they're for girls.
This even bleeds into our school systems. A study done last April found that only seven percent of parents would encourage their daughters to go into a STEM (science/technology/engineering/mathematics) field and, instead, expected their daughters would succeed in fields like education, hair/beauty, or the arts. Typically feminine fields. However, those same parents mentioned that they would encourage fields like information technology (IT), engineering, or sports for their sons. Today, only 27 percent of all computer science jobs go to women, while 14 percent of all engineers are women.
Women aren't the only ones with big shoes to fill. Men are just as affected by these confinements. These societal pressures exist for everyone. What if you're a guy who doesn't want to play sports or video games? What if you don't want to hook up with every girl that glances in your direction? What if you'd rather wear ballet shoes than cleats? What if you actually cry?! Men are just as ostracized in their communities for not exhibiting "male" behaviors as women are for not fulfilling their "roles."
These confinements are toxic. There is more than one way to be a man or woman. There are countless ways! By forcing these ideas on our kids from a young age, we are immediately isolating any child who doesn't fit into these norms. Boys don't want to play football? Cool. Girls want to do more than play with dolls? Great. The world is your oyster! The possibilities are endless!
I grew up in a household that threw gender roles to the wind. My mom worked all the time. She left to go on business trips, wouldn't be home for dinner, and genuinely loved what she did (she still does!). My dad had a much more lenient schedule, and would be home with us after school. And ya' know what happened? We all turned out fine.
It doesn't matter who's home with kids or who's at work all the time. It doesn't matter what color the walls are painted, or which activity you choose to spend your time with. Women don't have to be emotional and men don't have to be emotionless. Starting any sentence with, "Women should be..." or "Men should be..." is instantly forcing ideologies on people and putting them in these little boxes. We're human beings. We're so much more than that.
Your gender does not, and never will, define what you are supposed to be doing or how you should behave. We need choices in this world. Lots of them.
