Changing Gender Roles - The Battle of the Sexes Continues

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It is the war of all wars. It’s lasted longer than all the ancient wars, the world wars, and the civil wars of all nations put together. The battle lines have been clearly drawn and the two sides have never rested while on the battlefield. It is the famed “battle of the sexes” and it is anything but resolved. The war has been happening for a long time, but now it seems to have hit a point where the world wonders what to do now. This is due to the current changes in gender roles which are manipulating society and changing relationships. These changes are both negative and positive; many advances have been made with women finding equality with men, but have traditional values been underestimated? It is a highly controversial and complicated subject that affects virtually all members of society.

In order to understand some of the opinions on the topic of gender roles and relationships, it is necessary to understand the definitions of some words as they will be used in this essay. First there are many definitions for the term “gender.” However, in this paper the words sex and gender will be used interchangeably and refer simply to male and female. Also important to note is that while society has more options than a male and female relationship, the emphasis in this essay is only on heterosexual relationships and the way they are perceived in society. By keeping these basic definitions and ideas in mind, one can understand that the word “role” refers to the individual’s place in society and position within a relationship. Along with this, the “traditional roles” would be defined as women being the homemakers while men being the main breadwinners. When labeling traditional roles dealing with dating and rel...

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...ana. “Dating Among College Student Is All But Dead, Survey Finds.” The Chronicle of Higher Education Aug. 10, 2001: 51. Academic Universe. Lexis Nexis. EBSCO Publishing. Colorado State University Lib. Apr. 2003 http://lib.colostate.edu/databases/>

Piper, John. What’s the Difference? Manhood and Womanhood Defined According to the Bible. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1991.

Wentworth, Diane Keyser. “The Role of Househusband and Housewife as Perceived by a College Population.” The Journal of Psychology 2001 (135): 639-650. Academic Search Premeir. EBSCO Publishing. Colorado State University Lib. Mar. 2003 http://lib.colostate.edu/databases/>

William, Armstrong. “Colliding Bodies.” The Washington Times Aug. 11, 2001. Academic Universe. Lexis Nexis. EBSCO Publishing. Colorado State University Lib. Mar. 2003 http://lib.colostate.edu/databases/>

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