Yesterday, a close friend asked a favor, for me to go over to a rental home he has and find why his tenant didn't have power in the outlets at the back of the house. A quick check confirmed our initial suspicion that the not-too-sharp tenant didn't understand how to reset a circuit breaker. With his absence I took the wife/girlfriend to the service panel and pointed out how when the breaker is not COMPLETELY in the 'on' position, you first have to flip it to the 'off' position, THEN to the 'on' position, so the mechanical linkage can engage and close the contact until an overload current causes the magnets inside to open it and prevent over heating. She made a disgruntled comment about "He's a man. He's spose to know bout dat! "

Two things ran through my mind as I drove home, about the comment. Why in this age of 'equality' and political correctness, does being born male, intuitively endow that person with technical knowledge and why does it exclude another gender from minimal functioning abilities of the world they have equal ownership/management rights and responsibilities in?

Understanding the exclusion of old attitude holdovers and also that there are people who's learning capabilities are much lower than others, the question becomes how much of our expectation and personal responsibilities are still shrouded in gender based views of life. Why is it still the 'understood' job of the man to connect the new DVD player into the cable-VCR-home theater-stereo-TV system? Why are we still surprised/impressed when a lady pops open the hood of another car and correctly connects jumper cables to start it?

We all know of exceptions to some of these stereotypes, but is our view of "the division of labor" only focused in the work place? You may not feel the need to know the internal workings of a circuit breaker, but as a home owner, does your gender preclude or obligate you to or from knowing the basic operating functions?

Or has the whole technical nature of our environment become so overwhelming that we use the subconscious gender designation as a default to relieve ourselves of basic responsibilities of everyday function? This thought can expand to many aspect of our 'western social structure' (as it USE to be known ), but do you feel there are areas of unconscious gender biases, outside the work place, for expectation, limitation and excuse in all of us?

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I completely agree that there is definatley an underlying gender bias still very prevailant in today's "equal" society. In my house, for example, despite the fact that my mum and I are probably the ones with the most technical know-how, it's clear that my dad still feels that it should be his role in the family.

In broader terms though, it was mentioned in another thread recently about women paying their way on dates. There are many things like this where we often automatically fall into our stereotypical gender-based roles.

Being someone who's always found myself in conflict with gender stereotypes, I can actually find it quite hard sometimes when people expect me to fall in line with my gender. And I'm not completely masculine either...

I also feel like it's going too far against the original "oppressors" and forgetting to keep up with the previously "oppressed", much like what I can find with anti-racism sometimes... For example, at a mixed-gender workplace the men and women decide on separate nights out. If the men choose to go to a strip-club it would likely be frowned apon, but if the women decided on Chip'n'Dales, then it would be less so. Perhaps a poor example, but I can't think of a better right now.

Anyway, just my

I don't know, I think it's all about survival. Since I'm a single homeowner, twice, I'm forced to know as much as I can about how things work in my house or pay to have some experience tradesman everytime something ticks or flickers.

Oddly enough, my Dad tries to help me with things when he's available (lives 1000 miles away) but for the most part I need him for a second set of hands or the physical strength he has. I think it makes him both proud and sad all at once that I'm capable.

But I can easily see where women who don't ever have the NEED to take care of the house simply don't bother learning about it.

Also, when it comes to cars. My Dad made it a point for me to know how to change a tire and jump a battery in the event that I ever needed to do those things. It was so long ago that I'm not certain I'd be able to now. That's why when my car started giving me fits it got traded in on a new problem free model.

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When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and swing.

The world is complicated, and so are gender relationships. The old stereotypes are changing, but at a slower rate than one might think. Perhaps because there's so much complexity in the world that adding more is simply something that most people tend to avoid...and changing the roles adds complexity too!

I know about circuit breakers and cars and installing DVD players. I do all this stuff at our home. Not because Mr Osuche can't...more because I'm typically more attentive to the details of life. He's an absent minded scientist.

He still opens jars and kills spiders, though. He does these things because I cannot or I hate doing them...as a gesture of respect and consideration for me. Not because he's a man.

And I do most of the cooking and cleaning and shopping. Not because I am a woman, but because I am better at it. He sucks at the little details of life, but I love him anyway.

As a person...I tend to adapt my style and expectations to my companion's beliefs, needs, and abilities. If my partner were a master chef, I'd encourage him to cook. If my partner liked re-wiring the house or doing remodeling, I'd be happy to encourage him. It's about respecting your partner and letting them participate in the relationship, in the way they want to participate. Heck with the gender bias.

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Life is too short not to love and be loved....preferably multiple times in one night.

I think men talk to women so they can sleep with them and women sleep with men so they can talk to them. ~ Jay McInerney

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How much of this is what we've been taught, not what we've learned?

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Calm, quiet, smooth, devastating

Hmmm, that's a tough call OF.

After my folks divorced when I was 11 yrs. old, I basically was "the man of the house" and my "duties" were pretty much everything that my dad had done while they were together. (Actually, I did a bit more than he ever did but that's another story.)

With my mom, it wasn't that she didn't want to know how to do some of the "typical man duties" it was that my dad simply wouldn't allow her because he felt as if, "Men should be men!"

I wanted so badly to be different from that man that I learned pretty much everything I could. When mom was working I cooked, cleaned, did yardwork, laundry, etc..... Paid off in the long run since I never did get married but I never once looked at any of those "duties" as being gender specific. Just look at them as things that need to get done and well, if I'm the one who can do it or if there is a woman who is able to do it then as long as it gets done............. what's the difference?

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It takes a gutless mouse to play only when the cat's away.

No love, no friendship, can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it forever. ~~ Francois Mocuriac

Confucius say, "He who masturbate into cash register come into money."

An optimist looks at the glass and says it's half full. A pessimist looks at the glass and says it's half empty. A Cubs fan looks at the glass and says, "When's it gonna spill?"

Deus Impetitio Esuritori Nullus

Perception.

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Calm, quiet, smooth, devastating

Yep, that pretty much sums it up.

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It takes a gutless mouse to play only when the cat's away.

No love, no friendship, can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it forever. ~~ Francois Mocuriac

Confucius say, "He who masturbate into cash register come into money."

An optimist looks at the glass and says it's half full. A pessimist looks at the glass and says it's half empty. A Cubs fan looks at the glass and says, "When's it gonna spill?"

Deus Impetitio Esuritori Nullus

Yep.

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Calm, quiet, smooth, devastating

While I can do almost anything he can do, I have found he is more likely to choose to do something if it involves any hint of danger (real or imagined) or/and a machine to tinker with to make the process take significantly longer than it needs to.

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The practice of putting women on pedestals began to die out when it was discovered that they could give orders better from there.~ Betty Grable

If I wanted your opinion, I'd remove the duct tape and ask you for it.~ Me
<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>
One man's dream is another man's nightmare~~~~> §¤ Lilith ¤§
~>My Scribbles<~
==>Gone Shopping<== ~Just a Quickie~ *~A Celebration Vacation~* ~Surprises~ Sleeping With the Window Open
What Did You Do Today? Self Defense Class ~Short Sweet Snippets~ § Summer Spin § Story Challenge Submission Pajamas

He's also a nice fellow.

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Calm, quiet, smooth, devastating

Ain't "the double standard" a pip?

I think it does have everything to do with parenting or the lack thereof.

I'm very mechanically inclined because I had to be. Dad was never around even when he lived with us. And then I doubt he was all that mechanical anyway. I can't remember him ever tinkering with anything around the house. I did watch as he attempted to add a dormer to the upstairs bedroom. That dormer never got finished and stayed a dormer for 17 years after it's conception. But...lotsa beer got consumed! From that experience I learned how NOT to build onto a house and how to curse like a sailor on shore leave and how to drink anyone under the table...LMFAO! Thanks dad!

So anyway...I had to take the bull by the horns and learn what I needed to know to get things done. I still do it to this day at work. Anyone that needs a sewing machine "looked at" at work comes to me first. If I can't get it back on track we have to call a mechanic and send it off site for major repairs or wait several days till the mechanic can fit us in. That usually leaves a good machine down for too long...so I learned how to fix most problems by watching mechanics through the years and asking LOTS of pertinent questions.

LMAO@Sharni's reply! I leave the mechanical things at home to Mr. Lixy. He's an amazing teacher though. We did the walk through a few times and he showed me the things I'd need to know around the house should he not be there and there was an emergency.

It's funny what you learn when you don't know you are learning too. I think I could wire a new fixture if I had to. Mr. Lixy and I started from scratch and wired a ceiling fan/light in our living room where there was nothing before. That process sticks in my head.

So yeah...it's a learned or neglected thing. Simple life lessons in our formative years, forgoing gender, can go a long way in helping us to find that circuit breaker box. It's a shame Mr. Lixy's mom didn't teach him to cook!

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Minds are like parachutes. They only work when they are open.

~Thomas Dewar~

Sexual stereotypes, like most other cultural assumptions, can take many years to change.

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Eudaimonia

Mother Oldfart didn't teach me to cook, a simple cookbook and hunger taught me to cook.

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Calm, quiet, smooth, devastating