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Gender Equality In America

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Gender Equality In America
Gender Roles and Equality
In America, there have always been established gender roles. Men were the breadwinners, the ones who worked all day to support their families. Women were the caregivers. They cooked, cleaned, and took care of the children. These roles were established long before America was even started. In Western Society, there has always been a patriarchal structure. This did not hold true in ancient Africa. In the ancient kingdoms of Western Africa, such as Mali, women were in the dominant role of society, not men. That is for another day though. The gender roles of Western society are changing. Women no longer need to stay at home. Many women hold high-ranking, well-educated jobs.This societal trend is helping move toward gender equality. Women have moved from the home to the workforce. 50 years ago in America, seeing a women outside the home and participating in the workforce would have been a rarity and come only under special circumstances, such as a deceased husband. Fast-forward to modern day, more and more women are going college, and more women are participating in the workforce.
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Gender roles have made it so women are the ones who are supposed to quit their job and raise the children, but that model of a household isn't as common anymore. Women and men are starting to change around the dividing of household duties and creating a new model for society. There even stay-at-home dads now. 50 years ago, that would have been shunned, but now, it is becoming more common. Gender roles are becoming more fluid. Women can now become the primary breadwinners, or both parents can share equally in both being caregivers and breadwinners. This fluidity is allowing for women to become equal in the workforce, because it is taking away the pressure of having a job, and being a full-time caregiver. Society just needs to embrace these changes, and women and men will become equal in both the home, and the

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