Changing Gender Roles And Expectations

Over the past decades, women have increasingly become powerful and dominant different aspects such in education, careers, in addition to the family setting. According to Rosin, "When it comes to the knowledge, drive, and discipline necessary to succeed, women are the naturals with whom men have to strain to keep up." This is attributed to the post-industrial economy that has been favoring women, leading to changing gender roles as well as expectations. Most of the changing roles of men and women have emanated from changes that have taken place in the society, such as the equal rights for men and women. This paper utilizes Rosin’s article “The End of Men” in discussing the changing gender roles as well as expectations for both men and women.

What revolutionist feminists have been looking forward to is unraveling right in front of our eyes. For a long time, women have been under the shadow of men as they depended on them financially. However, this is not the case. From a personal account, I have a big sister who has a very successful career in law. At the 30 years, she is still unmarried but has a five-year-old son. She feels that the future of her son is more important than marriage and that she ought to work hard so as to secure his future. This is a representation of how gender roles have been changing. During the 1980’s, a woman’s biggest achievement was to be married and have children. In addition, the society expected them to do this so as to be accepted as a full member and those who did not conform to this were often looked down upon. Nevertheless, the advent of women rights in the United States has been instrumental in changing the roles of women, as it saw women receive empowerment that has made them to become independent and pursue their respective goals and happiness in life.

The traditional female roles include the marriage mandate and motherhood, that is; they were perceived as being adults after they wed and have children. The contemporary woman shares the burden of taking home the bacon for her family, a role that has been majorly for men during the past. This results in the narrowing of the gap that was existing between men and women. As women continue to empower themselves financially, this gap may eventually fade away altogether.

Rosin presents the notion of economic power as one that has irreversibly changed the different roles of women in the United States culture. She praises the liberty that young women have attained as a benefit of the so-called “hook-up culture” of the contemporary university life that is very different from 1980’s. Her claim is that the hook-up culture provides a new sexual freedom to women as it enables them to pursue their professions/careers more efficiently, with fewer interruptions.

Conventional gender roles, as well as expectations, have gone through a lot of change in the past years that have brought about a lot of positive outcomes for women. These positive outcomes include; freedom to explore and come up with new roles on the basis of individual choices instead of gender stereotypes, equality of interaction, and increased social and career opportunities. The changing roles, as well as expectations of women, may be hugely attributed to the service economy that does not care so much about physical strength, rather, it favors open communication, and social intelligence- things that come easy with women and are not predominant to men. As a result, the global economy is turning out to be a place where women are able to find more success in comparison to men.

In Rosin's reality, young women adjust, learn, as well as better their chances, whereas men do not. In the event that there has been a significant decline in violence against women, and rape cases have dropped throughout the few years, Rosin believes that this is on account of the way in which women have changed, and not on account of men changing. Women have developed feistier, they have more power, and consequently, they are harder to defraud. Surely, however, an alternate conceivable explanation behind the decrease in violence against women may be that men are as well learning. The essential notions of equality and fairness have been brought forward in schools and the media since the 1970s— of respect for others, gender equality, and race equality — are working for both men and women.

The basic gender expectations of men and women have shifted. Parenthood has changed the expectations that people have about their children in response to the 21st century pressures. There are dozens of women who have established their careers after divorce and have gone ahead to urge their daughters to be quick in establishing their careers. The modern parents were brought up in a very different manner but they have been compelled to improvise a different approach of raising their children so as to offer them an enhanced shot at happiness.

The male-dominated society is giving women an opportunity to become successful in different fields. Women have become empowered in terms of education as many women are currently enrolling in colleges in comparison to men. There are many women who are in powerful positions in leadership, different professions, and in the corporate world. This has resulted in people respecting each other as equals. Female aggression has been rising following the passing of the mandatory arrest laws for cases of domestic violence. The society used to consider women as incompetent, but they are getting through the last barricade. The introduction of contraception has as well made women to enjoy sexual freedom and to keep off marriage in case they decide to do so.

In conclusion, the key argument that Rosin presents is that women, after centuries of oppression, are finally winning the day and that they are destined to outdo men.  The changing roles and expectation of women can be hugely attributed to the service economy that does not care so much about physical strength, rather, it favors open communication and social intelligence- things that come easy with women and are not predominant to men. As a result, the global economy is turning out to be a place where women are able to find more success in comparison to men.