Originally posted by Stoic
Is there emnity between men and women?
I don't think the problem is emnity so much as expectations about gender roles
my personal opinon is that men especially have rigid gender roles they are expected to play, however, women are more and more facing anti-feminist pressure to adopt more traditional roles.
Originally posted by Stoic
What can we do as people to close the gender gap? Is there a gender gap?
Yes, there is.
One of the best examples is the treatment of Jessica Lynch by the major news outlets.
Many feminists have noticed a marked rise in gender steryotypes post 9-11 (Susan Faludi talks about this, I'll post a link to her speach about gender roles post-911 when I get home). Men are now the manly, red meat eaters who protect their women, and girls are innocent, frilly dress wearing stay at home moms (focus on the family
) who need to be protected.
Jessica Lynch was a fierce warrior within the American Armed forces. She signed up for a second tour of duty in Iraq. Her "rescue" was really not one at all, as there were no enemy combatants at the hospital the was "rescued" from.
The media potrayed Lynch as a pretty in pink little girl, who the manly army came to rescue, when really she was a efficent member of the army who was personally capable of finishing her mission.
pay and those types of gender gaps are, imho, much less pervasive. Maybe on whole, there are still gas, however, looking at my school, the only areas where women are not more prevalent than men are in strict computer and math courses. Men, in psychology, are outnumbered at least 2:1, and in social sciences it is much more than that. I was the only male in one of my 3rd year anthro classes.
Originally posted by Stoic
Has women's lib put chivalry on it's death bed?
I can't imagine how?
Expectations about the role and behaviour of men has not changed largely in centuries, we never had a lib movement.
Oddly enough it might be the homosexual men who break this down, if they can ever market anything other than the polorization between gay men and heterosexual men.