Throughout the years of marriage and relationships there has been many changes towards the different roles that men and women play. Over this time though there are also things that have remained the same. The male female relationship has always had a type of “guidelines”. Over the past forty years these guidelines have become less and less followed. Men and women’s attitudes towards each other are something that has always, for the most part, remained the same.
For all of time men have been the seekers. It is a mans job to find himself a partner. Women get to wait and choose who they accept and who they decline. For example men have always asked women to dances or social events.
This has come from males being the dominate gender in society. The roles that men and women play in relationships are something that has changed. Up until recently the roles of a relationship were always pretty much the same. Males were viewed as the dominate figure in the relationship or in the family.
It was the job of the male to provide for the family, whether it was hunting for food or having a good job. The male was seen as the head of the family and would provide discipline to the children. On other hand the mother was the care taker. She would be the one to stay home with the kids and not work. The female would provide for the family by cooking and cleaning and taking care of the house. This is the way that society had worked for a very long time.
Just recently things have begun to change. Now days there are many different types of families. It is not uncommon to have a female be the head provider for a family. There are many relationships where both partners work and there is also families where the fathers stays home and raises the kids. The basic family still consists of the father at the top as the main provider, but there are many other ways for families and relationships to be successful. There are many things that have contributed to these changes taking place.
One thing is the change in economy. It is taking more and more money to be able to raise a family and live comfortably. This is one of the reasons why you see more and more mothers working. Raising children is much easier off of two incomes rather than one. Another reason is the change in the view of women.
Women are much more respected today then they were years ago, especially in the work place. There are many more women today that pursue a career and want to provide for themselves and there families. Relationships and families are becoming more and more of a fifty-fifty split of power. With all of these changes there are still stereotypes that remain.
The problem that can come with these stereotypes is when people believe them. For example a husband might not want his wife to work because he feels that women are incapable working in a business or that they do not belong. However this is something that can work both ways. A wife may not want to get a job because she feels it is the husband’s job to provide for her. Those are a couple of the many ways that stereotypes can be harmful to a relationship. Views of men and women and the roles they play in relationships will always follow the same basic pattern.
There will continue to be slight changes in the roles that each gender plays. Society will continue to strive to make these roles as healthy as possible for the relationship. .
