Nina Holt PARENTS, PEERS & GENDER ROLES 2/18/2017

Sure, people always wondered, where did gender roles come from? More significantly, is
there such thing as a right or wrong gender role? This essay will explain a little about my
personal experiences of gender roles and where they came from. How my parents, and high
school relationships influenced building my values of gender roles as well as the roles I play
today.
While I was growing up, my mom worked at a restaurant to earn some extra money for
the family while my dad had a more regular eight to five job during the week. A lot of nights and
weekends my mom wasnt home. My dad cooked dinner, put us to bed, etc. When I was going
into kindergarten my parents split and my dad took full custody of us. There were years I went
without my mom so I was raised by my father and his sisters that lived-in town helped because
my moms side of the family lived in Salt Lake and we were living in St. George at the time. So,
I grew up having my dad do everything for me. He cooked, my siblings and I cleaned, he took us
to school or daycare, hed pick us up from daycare when he got off. According to the text,
parents give shape to gender differences in the clothing, toys, and books they buy for their
children. My dad was a huge gamer so growing up I loved to play video games with my dad and
brother. I didnt have many toys, and my mom wasnt around to do more girly things. When I
got into my teen years I started to feel like some of the things I did and the way I acted was kind
of manly. I did everything that my dad did for me as a kid, for myself. I didnt rely on my dad or
anybody else for anything. Doing those things arent manly, but I was ordinarily strong, and
independent. I saw a lot of girls my age and they were still very dependent on their parents but
the boys werent and I just felt out of place.
It wasnt until my ninth-grade year when I got a boyfriend. I didnt want him to think of
me as manly so I tried to act as girly as possible. After not too long, he made a comment that its
very attractive that Im so independent and Im not super girly girl. Hearing that turned my
attitude completely around. I realized, it doesnt matter what gender I am, anybody can do those
things it doesnt matter. My dad has always cooked even when my mom was around, and now
that Im older and Ive been in a long relationship, I am realizing Im going to be the one doing
the cooking, which is weird because thats the opposite of how my parents were.
I almost want to say that I follow a certain gender role however, I dont believe I do. Its
hard to pick out something that I do that my boyfriend doesnt. We both pay for dates, he doesnt
always open my door, sometimes I open his. Its just not something that I follow every day.
Being in a relationship and being as close as we are the greatest gender roles we follow are, I
cook he cleans. I do the laundry he folds it. He takes out the trash. I feel that if I wasnt in this
relationship I wouldnt have realized these roles as much.
In conclusion, the gender roles I play in my life arent regular or everyday things. Theres
not something I wont do because, its a mans job. I am open for new things and if a man
thinks its right for me to do something else, and I agree then I will do that. As I dont pay much
attention to gender roles as I go about my everyday life, thinking about it really makes me realize
they do occur quite often and goes very unnoticed by many. With that being said why do
gender roles raise such a big issue between people of the world?
Works Cited:
Nina Holt PARENTS, PEERS & GENDER ROLES 2/18/2017

Strong, Bryan, and Theodore F. Cohen. "Four." The Marriage and Family Experience:
Intimate Relationships in a Changing Society. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2017.
123. Print.