The roles of men and women have drastically changed…for better or worse? Back a few decades ago, men were not expected to self groom, know how to dress, cook or clean or to please a woman in bed. The exchange was simple; the man provided the money, the home and necessities and the woman reared the children and fulfilled her husband’s needs. Sounds like a pretty foreign concept compared to today’s standards. While I’m all for women’s liberation, don’t we have to take everything that comes with it – the good and the bad? Independence did throw a bit of a monkey wrench into the roles of men and women and how we relate to each other, making successful modern day dating about as easy as finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.
These days, both men and women are confused. Women want a confident man -but not cocky, a financially stable man – but not cheap, a well groomed man – but not too feminine, a sensitive, romantic guy - yet rugged and manly, a loyal man – who is not clingy and a man who is chivalrous – but still encourages our independence. If women are this confused about what they want, can you just imagine how confused the men are? Men have been forced to change their way of thinking as women have evolved and their expectations grow. Does that mean it’s wrong to have high expectations? No of course not, but do we really even know what we want?
All this confusion with male/female roles is contributing to the break-up of couples after 10-20 years of being married. Most of the divorces happening these days are between couples in their 40’s and 50’s. The media, movies, shows etc. all lead us to believe that there is something bigger and better out there for everyone. Well, this isn’t necessarily the case. Both infidelity and divorce are on the rise for men and women. They are coming out of relationships all confused and with complicated standards for each other. Women are suddenly liberated and think they don’t need a man, but after a while, they figure they really do want one and realize how hard it is to find one.
So why are we really so surprised when a man doesn’t pay, call first, offer to drive or open the door for us? They figure as independent women, we want to do these things for ourselves. Isn’t that what we want? Or is it?
