How Can Role Changes Lead to Improvements?

In today’s society, many women are employed outside the home, and men are assuming more household chores than they did in the past. How eager are both sexes to take on new duties? On the average, men do not want to change as much as women do. Because men generally have higher status roles, they gain little by the change and they do not see the need for change as readily.

Today more women are pursuing high status careers, but few men are clamouring for the positionwoman manager of full-time homemaker. Because of our socialization, our first reaction to the male homemaker is likely negative. However, some men are terrific cooks, great domestic planners, and very patient and understanding with children.

Some women make superb business administrators. Modern companies and businesses strive to be more people-friendly. The “Female Advantage” means that feminine qualities bring valuable perspectives to the management of these businesses. The old system focused on hierarchical structures that were goal-oriented and power based following the masculine view. Women often manage people in a collegial way. They gain ideas through consensus, which means power is shared by getting input from all employees.

In addition, women employees may set positive examples for men on how to integrate work and family. Women’s increasing presence in the business field may encourage such positive changes as job-sharing, flexible work hours, and parental leave of absence for both men and women. Rather than precipitating role conflicts, the working mother can be a potential catalyst for a deeper understanding of the roles of husband and wife through shared obligations.

When people become too comfortable, they may begin to reject change. Role conflicts can arise because people are not willing or not able to change when the time is right to do so. The obstacles interfering with change are outdated values, lack of ability to adjust, and uncorrected mistakes that have been passed on by previous generations. When conflict leads to change, people are motivated to examine their roles more carefully and seek ways of changing for the sake of growth.

Role conflicts can produce some useful changes. They may cause us to examine our priorities and our values. They may make us more aware of injustices. The result might be a breakdown of restricted and outdated habits that are not allowing people to progress and find areas of growth and achievement.

In many countries, however, androgyny does not exist and distinct lines between what men do and what women do are evident. Small groups such as the Hutterites in North American communities show well-defined separation of the roles of men and women with respect to work, religion, and parenting.