Gender Stereotypes

[promiser]

Ok well something I noticed today is that there is a kind of stereotype in our society that all women can cook and sew and all men can't... I for one can cook and sew... I know my ex girlfriends could sew if her life depended on it. I have a friend that when she cooks the food doesn't look anything like it should be... So I'm asking how many male and females on the forums can cook and sew... By cooking I mean be able to make something without a recipe or from scratch (IE: Not boxed cake mix, or spaghetti o's) By sewing I mean be able to fix most torn seems in clothing and be able to make basic clothing from fabric and thread... This has always been an interesting topic and I haven't seen this in the forums... So yah, answer the poll and kinda give a description of the kinda stuff you can do... I can make cakes and cookies and stuff like nobody's business from scratch... And I can fix just about any piece of clothing...

Let us know :cheers:

 

[Venetia]

I don't really see a whole lot going on in this thread other than simple answers, but if people want to expound upon why they do or why they don't fall into gender roles/stereotypes then that'll make the topic better.

I can sew. I'm a damn fine cook too, as Soph'll tell you. I clean and I garden. I nuture things. I decorate the house and gravitate toward flowers. I typically look "nice" or "made-up" when I'm not loafing around the house in pajamas, and I wear makeup. I fit nearly any female stereotype you can throw at me, except when it comes to chocolate (usu. dislike it), expensive clothing (can't see the point in it), jewelry (hate it), video games/tech shit (love em), movies (hate romance, love action), and frequent cursing (constant).

I'm not really sure about how I was implanted with these interests. My mom was always concerned with gender roles but I typically went against her. And I didn't enjoy cooking until I was an adult.

I think it partially has to do with nuturing. Women, typically, are nurturers, by nature. So we do caring things like cooking and mending and tending. Men stereotypically are not nurturing, though I'm sure many fall outside this stereotype. So the nurturing abilities will generally remain uninvestigated.

But as for sewing, they teach you how to do that in the military for repairing your gear--it's not necessarily feminine.

 

[Calibre]

Yeah cause most of the head chefs I know of aren't men.

 

[Venetia]

That's a good point, but a majority (sometimes a lesser majority, but still a majority) of pretty much all working professionals in high positions are men. It'll still be a few generations before the amount of women who go to graduate schools and are more easily-promoted becomes equalized. Hell, women are, on average still paid less :P
Sexism isn't as dead as you think yet.

 

[coyotecraft]

If you're looking at income, women make less because they work less. Women go on maternity leave. So the numbers are going to reflect that.

I grew up thinking women were smarted then men. My family is all girls and they out preform me in everything. My bosses are all women. Teachers were mostly women even in college. But apparently my psychology books tells me it's the other way around.
The only real roles gender plays a hand in is sex. And thanks to science you can do what ever you want!

I feel sorry for hermaphrodites. They don't have a gender role of their own so doctors and parents choose a gender for them.

 

[Venetia]

If you're in a high/executive or management position with a set salary, your pay probably will not be affected by maternity leave, unless you decide to take off longer than your company's alotted amount of M.L. time. (which is typically approx. 2-3 months, or in some places, up to 6). In lower positions, companies are required by law (atleast, in most states in the US) to pay their maternity leave women a percentage of their regular earnings during the minimum M.L. time.

Also how often do women get pregnant in their lives o.O
certainly, on average, not enough to affect their overall incomes ...

And that is your experience--in my life I've only had 1 female boss. all the rest were men. i had a lot of female teachers, but most college professors and district/chair positions were men. i suppose the numbers fluctuate with the area.

 

[Jason]

Well education-wise, in my primary school (Elementary), there were 11 teachers, and only one of them was a man, the rest were all women, in my secondary school (High), there were GOD KNOWS how many teachers, and still, most of them were women, although there were quite a number of male teachers, mainly in the IT and Humanities departments... However, in college (Although it doesn't help I'm in the IT department), there are two female tutors, and like 14-15 male tutors.

I can't really give my opinions of gender stereotypes in a workplace, since I haven't worked, lol.

Although to answer the poll, I can cook tons of stuff, I mean, I don't do it everyday or anything, only on occasions or when I feel like it, but I'd say I'm pretty good lol. I can also sew, I actually used to love doing it back in Primary school, and have made a few things since then, including a cool ass Scarf, and made a Cardi and Mittens for my mams friends newborn daugter, how thoughtful am I !?

 

[Zelfouz]

I can cook, because that is a requisite for being a self-sufficient adult. If you can't cook for yourself, you'll starve, or go broke from eating out and buying packaged meals all of the time.

I also bake my own bread, because it's fun, delicious, and fills my belly with great efficiency.

I can't sew, but I'd like to learn. I recently picked up all of the necessary tools, I just need to get around to figuring it out. I hear it isn't too difficult.

 

[Tindy]

I think on the whole "stereotypes" need to be looked at in another way. They exist because for thousands of years they were more or less the norm (for sewing/cooking), or because biologically speaking, it's generally the norm (strength, nurture, etc). There's definitely differences and they should be respected, but...

As for said stereotypes, despite being raised almost solely by my dad, I'm pretty girly (and I definitely wasn't 10 years ago). I cook - I even considered going to pastry school - but I definitely cannot sew. Well, lemme rephrase that - I can sew on a button and I can make a pillow. That's about it. Don't ask me to darn your socks or make a dress or anything (but I definitely want to learn how!) I garden, I like looking pretty, and I now have a bright red luggage set. But then again, I don't wear makeup or jewelry everyday, I love video games, and I don't usually fuss with my hair beyond a brush out. But as my boyfriend will tell you, I'm pretty damn motherly and nurturing. Still trying to figure out where that one came from, as neither my mum or dad were terribly strong at either.

Oh, and Coyote - some men actually get paternity leave. That's the way my sister did it - she got 3 months for maternity leave, and then her husband got 3 months after that for paternity leave. They had to use up some vacation time for it, though.

 

[Guest]

;D

 

[promiser]

Personally I think that most women are taught from a young age by most teachers and leaders and men in their life that they're going to grow up to be a mother and they won't have to work other than household chores. I personally do agree with that. I think that the man of the house should provide for the family and the woman of the house should take care of the smaller household tasks like dishes and laundry. Those are very vital tasks though... If the man can't can eat because there's no clean dishes he can't provide for the household which means they all end up on the street. In the same respect I don't think that men should control their wives... I feel that the man of the house should be able to provide for his family well enough that if the wife did not want to work she wouldn't have to. That's just how I feel about that...

 

[Ellie]

I can cook, sew, use a sewing machine, etc, though gender is questionable.

 

[dadevvtsvre]

I'm not very good at cooking and don't even get me started on sewing. I'd be luckly to get the thread through the needle, if that.

But on the other hand, I don't like many things people associate as "manly" like football, fighting, or other things you'd imagine most teenage guys doing.

 

[Venetia]

Personally I think that most women are taught from a young age by most teachers and leaders and men in their life that they're going to grow up to be a mother and they won't have to work other than household chores. I personally do agree with that. I think that the man of the house should provide for the family and the woman of the house should take care of the smaller household tasks like dishes and laundry. Those are very vital tasks though... If the man can't can eat because there's no clean dishes he can't provide for the household which means they all end up on the street. In the same respect I don't think that men should control their wives... I feel that the man of the house should be able to provide for his family well enough that if the wife did not want to work she wouldn't have to. That's just how I feel about that...

Well that might've been how they were brought up in older generations, but I should hope that most girls aren't brought up that way now. My grandmother was taught that her only chance at happiness in life was to marry above her social class. My mom was taught that she could work, but it was impossible to survive without a man. I was taught that having a husband was more of a choice, but I still should do it if I want to get anywhere. If I ever have a girl, I'm teaching her that she doesn't need jack shit nobody unless she wants them, but she should still be concerned with making her own life herself.

If someone's a "stay-at-home", then yeah, they need to pull their weight and do the housework. Typically, it's the female's role in this situation. But that's slowly starting to change--there are more and more "stay-at-home dads" nowadays.

But if both the guy and the chick in a relationship work, they need to split the tasks down the middle. Otherwise it's just unfair. In mine it typically comes down to, I'll cook and fix all the appliances and build the furniture and make repairs and tend the pets/garden, if he does the dishes and the laundry and vaccuuming.

But is it solely up to the man to provide for the household? No, that's antiquated thinking. Salaries are way down in comparison to cost of living. In many cases, it's required to have two incomes.

 

[Gulch666]

im a male, im a very good cook, and i technically can sew, but it comes out shitty and i usually get pissed when i have to sew so, i put male, can cook, left out the sewing since i suck at it. and i happen to know a few girls who cant do either, so, gender stereotypes are a thing of a non-filter cigarettes at the dinner table and mom in the kitchen cleaning up after hubby leave it to beaver era

 

[silver wind]

I can cook but the result isn't pretty, and I don't enjoy it. Last time I sewed was in 3rd grade, during an 'art class'. It's not like I can't sew and cook, I just rather do other things with my time

 

[KuidonNZ]

I can cook but the result isn't pretty

Lol same here....
No, I can cook to an edible standard but Im only just learning/beginning to cook.
Sewing on the other hand Ive never been able to do, so yeah.

Cooling these skills gender stereotypical isnt fair though, everyone should be able too cook and anyone who wants to I guess should be able to learn to sew.

 

[Guest]

;D

 

[Schism]

I'm female, and I can definitely make with the tasty foods, and I can sew pretty darn well. The first is because I like to eat, the latter because I got into making costumes. The funny thing about it though is that while those are both considered "feminine" skills, I'm otherwise about as boyish as you can get without a penis. XD

 

[Jason]

I don't see how cooking is considered feminine really though, considering most of the head chefs are male, lol.