Feminism and the Changing of Gender Roles in the Last Six Decades

Gender Roles Then
1950s Husband
-Went to work with a briefcase, in a suit, after kissing wife and children goodbye.
1950s Wife
-Sends kids off to school, with individually packed lunches
-Does her daily chores while husband and children are gone: Cleans the house, does the laundry, prepares dinner in time for the arrival of her huband and children
-Her appearance is prim and beautiful, picture of perfect femininity: long dress, hair done, makeup flawless
This was the depiction on many television shows (Leave it to Beaver, etcetera) during that decade, of a household financially supported by the man and taken care of by the woman. The woman’s job was to stay at home, take care of all domestic duties, tend to the children, and to keep her husband happy in every way.
Feminism and Gender Roles Now
Feminism has changed the image of a wholesome suburban housewife into a more equal counterpart of a man. Feminism has changed the way men and women interact with each other in all aspects of life, especially in the home. It is no longer the man going off to work and the woman staying at home, tending to her daily chores and the children; now both men and women are in the workplace and with both husband and wife working, it is still expected that the woman, now working, should still be able to do all of her wifely domestic chores like cleaning, cooking, laundry, child care, and so on in addition to her job. When a woman does not have a job outside of the home, she is more focused on taking care of the household since the man has the job. Now that both the man and woman are working, the chores still fall onto the wife even though both people are in the same situation of working outside the home. A woman is the epitome of a 1950s housewife, while being a 21st century modern working woman. While men and women are now equal in the fact that they both have jobs outside the home, they are actually more unequal than ever, in a sense, because men have one job while women have two, her job outside the home and her domestic duties inside the home.

The relationship between feminism and heterosexual relationships does not solely mean the relationships between a husband and wife, or even a boyfriend and a girlfriend; it can be the relationship of man and woman in society, and the way that gender roles have changed. Women’s roles have changed significantly over the years since they are now part of the workforce and no longer only stay at home wives and mothers. In relation to this, men have “switched” roles with women and have themselves become stay at home husbands and fathers while the women are the sole wage earners. Men are also becoming more conscientious of their outward appearances, now being called “metrosexual”. Metrosexuals typically have their hair perfectly cut and styled, clothing is pressed and well-tailored, and sometimes the man even has his nails manicured.
Gender Roles in the Workforce
The switching of gender roles goes beyond outward appearances. In the workforce, for example, there are increasingly larger numbers of women as doctors and men as nurses. While nurses have typically been considered the female occupation, more and more men are getting into that field of medicine while more women are becoming doctors. Women are getting further in politics than ever before, they are taking more prominent positions in businesses as executives and presidents of companies. Not only have occupational roles changed, but the language of the past decade or so has become more gender neutral than ever as well. The most common instance of a gender generic term is in the Declaration of Independence in the quote “…we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…” It is not certain by this kind of language if men really just meant the male sex, or if it was meant to be all inclusive, meaning both men and women. In the 21st century there are a lot of gender neutral terms.
*21st Century Gender Neutral Terms
Mankind = Humankind
He or She = They
*Gender Neutral Occupational Terms, Then/Now:
Waiter and Waitress/Waitstaff
Actor and Actress/Male Actor or Female Actor
*Instead of using gender specific suffixes such as the -tress, the word male or female is put in front of the occupation:
Nurse/Male Nurse or Female Nurse

*Completely different words are also being used instead of traditional ones:
Flight Attendant instead of Steward or Stewardess
Firefighter instead of Fireman
Police Officer instead of Policeman
Something as small as changing a word or a job title, it is a very large step in the way of feminism. There is more progress being made for gender neutrality, and men and women are becoming more equal in certain ways than they ever have been before.

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