| Subject: Re: Assignment 5 |
Author:
Jessika Morris
|
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Date Posted: 17:26:24 07/06/10 Tue
In reply to:
Dr. magun-Jackson
's message, "Assignment 5" on 11:39:05 07/05/10 Mon
My parents modeled very nontraditional gender roles, which may have been a product of my being raised in San Francisco, California, my mom's Native American background and my dad's background in Portugal, being female and being the oldest child, and the fact that my dad's mom died when he was in high school. Being raised in San Fran, there are very progressive views of gender, gender roles, and sexuality in that city - I learned very early in school that many kids have two daddies, two mommies, or other combinations of parents. My parents had many friends that fell into these categories, and they've never been people who think totally inside the box. Also, my mom was raised partially in Native American culture, where poverty was rampant and everyone had to work hard and contribute in whatever capacity possible. My dad spent part of his childhood in Portugal, where he had an ill mother and was the oldest of three children. When his mother died, he took over many of the motherly responsibilities towards his siblings as his dad often was not present in the home due to having to work multiple jobs to pay bills. Being the oldest child, I think my dad expected myself to play as big a role in the family structure as he had once had to do himself, so there were expectations that I would perform both traditionally male and traditionally female roles. When I was in grade school, my mother broke her neck and spent the next ten to twelve years enduring various surgeries that left her incapacitated for long periods of times - so I observed my dad performing all kinds of roles from an early age. The main message I got from my parents about gender is that gender roles are subject to necessity - need takes precedence over comfort level or gender preference (which makes sense given their early experiences and culture). Here is my list of roles delineations (D for Dad, M for M, B for both):
Female Responsiblities:
Cooking (D)
Cleaning (D)
Getting Children ready for bed/school (D)
Decorating (B)
Shopping (D)
Laundry (D)
Male Responsibilities:
Pay Bills (M)
Yard Work (D)
Work (D)
Fix things (D)
Take care of animals (B)
In my own home, I primarily do yard work, clean, and take care of animals, whereas my fiance cooks, fixes things, and does the shopping. Again a function of necessity - I work full time and am a graduate student, he just works normal daytime hours and does things around the house.
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