Gender Melting Pot

Are the traditional roles of fathers and mothers really changing?  I've seen some indications that today's fathers are more involved in domestic responsibilities.  They also seem to be more in tune with their families in all areas, including in more stereotypically female ways, like with the area of emotions.  Females have always been the ones considered to be more involved with emotions, and with caring and sharing.  Lately I have seen indications that males are starting to adopt some of those characteristics.  Conversely, it seems that women are starting to take on some of the more predominantly male traits, stereotypical though they may be.  Could it be that when women pushed out into the work force, they started to adopt stereotypical behaviors of male mentors?  And with men who have become a more integral part of the home and family in conjunction with their female partners, could it be that these men have started to adopt more traditionally female mannerisms from their female mentors?  Are the roles of men and women starting to overlap so much that the distinctions between them are disappearing?  Are we becoming a gender melting pot?

Funeral Mass held for legendary Steelers coach Chuck Noll in Pittsburgh | Sports - WTAE Home

Funeral Mass held for legendary Steelers coach Chuck Noll in Pittsburgh | Sports - WTAE Home

No Rest For The Weary

My friend shared a story with me today.  Her ex-husband was complaining about their son.  The ex was upset because their son didn't speak up about some complaints the son had himself about his father.  The son chose instead to hold his feelings inside, and then he finally spoke up when his anger finally built up and overloaded.  So the father was telling his ex-wife, the mother, about this situation, seemingly trying to gain support and/or sympathy from the child's mother.  First of all, who would ever expect a mother to support anyone else but her child?  So you're definitely not going to gain any ground there.  And secondly, have you ever heard of the TWO-way street in communication?  The father was apparently complaining about the son's being upset on a day that was special for the father.  It reminded me of what big babies some men can be about their special days.  You can't let a birthday or Father's Day go by without giving some men extreme attention.  And on the other side, I just heard from several mothers today, that no one expects moms to stop cooking or to stop doing the things they do every day, even on their birthdays and Mother's Day.  So why should fathers expect special treatment on their birthdays and Father's Day?

Some Interesting Statistics From The White House About Dads

This information is from The White House about dads and families today versus the past.  You can find this information at WH.gov/working-dads, or with this link:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/share/working-fathers?utm_expid=24505866-31.3alhGCtDR3KFcp1BlIBR2w.1

I find it very interesting.  The statistics say that, "Today, more than 1 in 5 kids under 5 with a working mom has his or her DAD AS A PRIMARY CAREGIVER, many of whom also work full-time themselves."  But it also says that, "Dads are doing nearly an hour more childcare and housework a day than in 1965."  That doesn't sound like dads are doing much more domestic work than they did before, so I'm thinking that statistic seems like it isn't correct.  Of course it doesn't tell you how many hours dads were putting in back in 1965.  My friend used to joke that her husband seemed to feel that he did his "half" of the work with their child when he changed 1 diaper that day.  And that was 15-20 years ago.  Back in 1965, I'm guessing not many dads changed any diapers.  And now almost 50 years later, they've only added an hour of work a day?  If true, then they may not be doing that much childcare and housework at all.  It seems that there are a lot of dads out there who might strongly disagree with that statistic (of course there may also be moms out there who disagree in the other direction!)  Anyone who wants to comment on what they think?

Happy Father's Day!!!!

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!!!

Cover Girl Dads

I saw an ad from Cover Girl today.  It showed several dads talking about their daughters of various ages.  The dads were obviously proud of their girls, and rightly so.  At the end, Cover Girl thanked the dads for being great advocates for their girls, and finished by wishing them a Happy Father's Day.  Well there's that father/daughter connection again!  But it was really great to hear all of the accolades these fathers attributed to their daughters.  Their comments were very positive and supportive.  It reminded me that today's fathers are different from fathers in past generations (nothing at all against fathers from previous generations; times were different then).  It was very apparent that none of these fathers were upholding outdated, traditional, stereotypical ideals for their daughters.  They were advocating strength and independence.  Perhaps differences in genders and gender roles are not so pronounced as I thought they still were.  It was great to see such a positive expression of fathers' pride in their daughters.

Fathers and Daughters, Mothers and Sons

I have always found it interesting to see the special bond that seems to exist between fathers and daughters and between mothers and sons.  This is not at all to say that there is not a special bond the other way.  But there does seem to be something about those opposite gender connections in families.  I have had the luxury of interacting with a lot of parents and their children, and there does seem to be something to this.  It makes me wonder why that tendency seems to be there.  Is it simply an "opposites attract" kind of thing, with opposite genders?  And if so, how does this work in homosexually-based families?  I find this sort of thing very intriguing.  I have no experience with those types of relationships, so I really cannot say anything from that perspective.  But for heterosexually-based families, I have noticed what seems to be a tendency for this cross-gender type of connection.  Fathers seem to be very protective of their daughters.  Mothers tend to be very supportive of their sons.  And vice verse on both.  We used to joke about how the only son in my family, the baby brother, was our mom's favorite.  He could do no wrong.  We've seen other instances where the daughter is the father's favorite, because he seems to pay more attention to her than the others.  It does almost seem like a protectiveness.  And it also seems like the will of the parent is sometimes bent when it comes to that child.  The things a daughter can get away with when it comes to her father...It's like the child says, "I want to do this", and the opposite gender parent says, "oh okay, anything you want".  But when the child of the same gender asks, the parent says, "not so fast!"  Yes it seems that sons have their mothers wrapped around their little fingers, as daughters have their fathers.  I would love to hear comments that include any stories anyone would like to share about this subject!