I think women in the current society are often called to “put on” masculinity in order to perform the role of their particular position in the work place. The prescribed behavior for the workplace is dictated for the most part by a male society, therefore, acceptable behavior in the work place is profiled by a masculine perspective.
I found it interesting how Almira Paul noted in the story that she did her job as well as any other man, yet she was a women. The fact that she pointed this out in her story indicates that she resisted the “man’s job” mindset. She did not have to be a man, literally, to do the same job well.
The flip side of the gender role is the modern day house husband. I am always perplexed by this title, as I am by the title of house wife. Both terms could be taken as being married to the house. How funny! But, that issue aside, men today do take on the role that is generally relegated to the female population such as house husband or stay at home dad. Do they really take on or “perform femininity?”. I don’t think so. The role itself is task enough for two football teams. The fact that men today often find themselves in this role has given it a new qualification. It is almost as if the fact that men now understand the tremendous task and importance of maintaining a household, it has validity.
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3 comments:
Great post! I'm glad you mentioned Almira Paul. The "man's job" mindset is sadly a timeless motif throughout history... kind of like how women are still payed less for the same work.
I'm also glad you mentioned the concept of stay at home parents. I think anyone that brave who survives helping raise a child is definitely deserving of praise, no matter the gender of the parent!
I think it's interesting that although many women enter the workplace at some point or another, there still aren't that many stay-at-home dads. Furthermore, while society seems to have gotten over its prejudices against women in the workplace, at least in part, stay-at-home dads still take a lot of flak. I wonder if the reason society has so much disdain for the stay-at-home parent role is because it is so strongly associated with women.
Great post, Dorenda! I always think it's really interesting when a man stays home with his children. It's not always expected, so it's kind of nice to see sometimes. I agree with Leslie, also. Anyone who can stay at home and devote their entire lives to their kids gets props. Dr. Phil says that a stay-at-home-mom (or dad) is the equivalent to having two full-time jobs. That's a pretty big job - for a man or a woman.
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