My book merely debated the stereotypes and roles given to men and women. Every author had a topic and they gave their opinions on that topic. It was opinions and nothing more. There may have been a few facts in each of the author’s pieces but it was based on what they thought and their experiences that led them to these opinions. As for my own personal opinions, I guess I’m more neutral than anything. I see where just about every author is coming from and to a certain extent I agree with almost every one of them.
The first main idea was biology versus culture and which one contributes to gender roles more. I agree that they both contribute equally. We are biologically determined to have certain traits that we put into play every day of our lives but we are also taught where our place is in society and what role we should be trying to fill. As a girl, I believe that girls are biologically configured to be smaller than men; therefore we are not as rough and tough. As well as the hormones girls and boys each produce give them a certain drive and intuition on how to live their life. But also as a girl I was on an all boys baseball team for six years. I could play but it eventually didn’t fit into the lifestyle I wanted and was taught to want. I wanted to be the “beautiful and elegant girl” and baseball just didn’t fit with that. Again, I agree with both sides, it’s in my nature to be more feminine and I’ve been nurtured not to be masculine.
The next idea was acceptance of multiple genders or not. Myself, I have no preference. If someone is homosexual or intersexual it doesn’t bother me in the least. It’s their life and their choices so why would that affect me? If that’s what makes them happy, then why force them to be “normal” when it will make them miserable? So my final say is that yes, eventually multiple genders will be accepted because there’s no reason not to.
Another idea was whether women should marry early or not and whether women should become stay at home moms. I agree with the author that said earl marriage is not a good idea just based on the fact that you may not be as “prime” to have kids and a family later on in life. If you find the person you want to be with and have a family with at eighteen that’s great, but if you don’t find them until your fifty that’s ok too. Neither is bad and neither has a greater amount of advantages over the other. It just depends on what you want in life and I believe how ever long it takes to get what you want is how ever long you should wait. As for becoming a stay at home mom, I agree that a mother’s love is incomparable to a nanny’s but then again if a mom smothers her kids then they will never experience anything on their own. But if becoming a stay at home mom is a better way for you to live, than go for it. But once again I’m more neutral. Neither has more advantages or disadvantages than the other.
The next few ideas were about men. Whether fathers are essential or not and whether men suffered or gained from the feminism movement. Fathers I believe are essential. But in my opinion if you’re planning on being a good role model and father all at once then yes you’re essential in your child’s life, but if you’re not then don’t even bother. Having a screwed up father for a role model just makes things worse and confuses the kid. As for the feminism movement, I believe that it benefited men more than hurt them. Yes it threatened their sense of masculinity a little bit, but in the same respect it also opened up a ton of options for them. It gave them competition, new views on things and the chance to be a stay at home dad if they chose to do so.
The final few ideas were the ones I agreed with most. Every author made their point well and proved it to be a good idea. But again, it depends on each individual’s lifestyle. If traditional roles in marriage is what makes both people happy, then that would be the best solution. If egalitarian roles would make both partners happy, then maybe that would be the best solution. But either way the two ideas that could be agreed upon by everyone is that to relate better with each other, men and women need to quit bashing on one another. It only causes conflict and hurt.