Final Paper Draft # 2

November 25, 2012

New or expecting Parents

Dear Parents:

Children at a young age learn from their surroundings, connecting gender to what they see. Traditionally it could be their father in the garage fixing the car and their mother in the kitchen preparing dinner. If a child's development consists of gender restricted rules or images their development will be dramatically different say that of a child surrounded by gender equal images. A child seeing their mother in the garage helping their father with fixing the car or seeing their father in the kitchen helping their mother prepare dinner, can have a dramatic change in a child's development. I believe a simple change from traditional gender roles to an equal gender role can benefit development in a child. traditional genders roles can lead to low self-esteem, depression and emotional disconnection while equal gender roles can lead to successful emotional connections, and better confidence in ones self.

traditionally, culture has men and women living by different roles and rules that are gender specific. Men go to work to provide for the family, work around the house and expect dinner on the table at six. Women stay home, clean, take care of the kids and have dinner ready by six. Children at a young age are constantly learning from what they see and hear, they connect what their parents do to how they should do things. Children raised by specific gender guidelines will develop those same rules in adulthood.

in a traditional house hold, young boys see their parents living by specific rules. these rules can be passed down for generations, from father to son, older brother to younger or even the media, and each one gives their ideals of masculinity. Author Micheal Kimmel in "Bros Before Hos" asks college men for their ideals of what it means to be a man, "never show your feelings, never ask for directions, never give up, never give in, be strong, be aggressive, show no fear, show no mercy...(609)" All of the answers he received describe a collection of attitudes and values that together describe what it means to be a man. these rules govern behavior and have a required criteria that help a boy or man to be seen as a tough, strong, traditional figure of masculinity.

Woman are not given a set of rules similar to men's, but they still develop a ideal image of what a woman needs to be in a traditional household. For young girls seeing their mother do specific gender oriented jobs creates a gender image. For example, my sister is almost thirty years old and believes that she needs a boyfriend to live a normal life. She refuses to
do any job that is oriented towards a masculine role, when asking her to help fix fence at the ranch she declines with answers that give her no confidence in herself. She was raised thinking that women cant do jobs that are masculine.  

Being raised in a traditional home leads to a difference in adulthood development between genders and disorders. It can have effects on self esteem, disconnection from emotions, and depression. Woman tend to be less confident and dependent on others while men lack the ability to express emotions and or are disconnected from social interaction. Micheal Kimmel says "Boys are more prone to depression, suicidal behavior, and various forms of out-of-control or out-of-touch behaviors than girls are(616)." Its believed that boys suffer more from the traditional rules of the Guy Code(Kimmel) because the code leaves boys disconnected from emotions and prohibited from sharing any form of feelings they have with others.

Still working on more paragraghs, and trying to find new sources after a slight change on my topic.
(new paragragh idea) equal gender roles in a house. the father can go to work and cook dinner or the mother can go to work and still cook dinner....