It was not too many decades ago when the role of both men and women in society were well-defined and undisputed by both sexes. It was the women’s duty to cook and clean and take care of all the household chores, meanwhile the man would work and financially support the family. The woman would then bear him children and become a stay-at-home mom, caring for the kids, cooking for her husband, and taking care of the house. As time went by, however, women began to fight for their rights to be allowed a place in the workforce as well. Women decided that they should not have to be limited to the household simply becasuse they are women. They wanted more, and as a result of the women’s rights movement, they got exactly that – more. Women wanted to be seen as equals to men, but this was unfortunately not exactly what they managed to achieve. Though women were granted a place in the workforce, their original role in society had not really changed at all, but simply developed.
As is shown in the following YouTube video from the 1950s, a women’s place at the time was in the household and, even more specifically, in the kitchen. The video shows a young just-married couple coming back from the honeymoon. The fun is now over and the man goes off to work while the woman goes to the kitchen and spends the whole day trying to learn how to cook…
Now here we are in the 21st century, decades after the civil rights movement, and women still find themselves struggling to be seen as equals to men. Why is that? The reason is that, though laws have allowed women to gain access to most of the same opportunities as men, the original stereotype of what a woman is and what she can and cannot do has not been completely erased from the minds of either sexes. The thing that has been vastly overlooked until very recently is that in order for the stereotypical roles of a woman in society to change, the stereotypical roles of a man in society must change as well. For a long time, giving women the right to work simply meant giving them the option of adding one more duty to their already long list of household chores. They still had to cook and clean and take care of the kids, however, they could now also work as well. This posed a huge problem for women who became much too burdened with all that they had to do. This point is perfectly illustrated in the movie ”Moms on Strike” which is about a working mom who does so much for her family but feels under-appreciated by both her husband and her children. She decides to go on strike and refuses to do anything for her family until they realize her worth and agree to pitch in more with the household duties. Her strike gained much publicity and she encouraged other moms who felt the same way to join the strike. One woman who decided she had had enough managed to have an impact on the entire community. It was truly a powerful movie with a powerful message.
Another movie that shows a family that struggles to survive for at least a week without their mother. By the end of the week, the family comes to appreciate and realize how much they really needed their mother. The movie shows how essential it is for the whole family to work together, and for the father and mother especially to make a good team that can balance all the work involved in raising a family, working, and also taking care of household duties. Only then did the family function as a happy, loving, working unit.
More and more, TV and movies are moving away from the traditionally defined stereotypes and gender roles. Both sexes are becoming more open-minded and beginning to agree on sharing the balance between work and household duties. If we continue upon this path, then perhaps we can one day in the near future say that gender roles have completely changed in today’s society, but for now they are merely still developing. Yet as we continue to develop as a society it is important for TV and movies to play a huge role in showing and furthering that development, presenting new ideas and discarding old stereotypes that continue to prevent women from being regarded as equals – especially by the opposite sex…
(To read more about how TV, movies, and men in general are setting back society by continuing to hold on to the old stereotypes of what a woman should be, please read my blog post: Stereotypical Ideas About “Femininity” Continue to Hold Women Back from Being Seen as Equals by Men…)
