Gender
After reading and taking into consideration all aspects of the chapter on Gender, I have come to the realization that gender is something that is more of a thought than it is a type of person. There are billions of people in the world and as a WORLD SOCIETY we place each and every individual into one of two categories, male or female. The chapter gives much attention to the idea of gender being something that is socialized and depicted by humans. It is a LEARNED theory. When we are children we are brought up knowing that we are either a male or a female and from this, there are complications that arise. These two categories are not only a general outline, but they are deep and have been molded. For some reason as women, we have been categorized further as “caregivers”. We are expected to live full lives as well as take care of “everything” at home. I have a semi emotional side to this because I personally am a caregiver to my husband and daughter because I want to be. I find it to be one of the most important jobs in the whole universe. My job entails, accounting, teaching, nursing, chef, maid, waitress, oil changer, yard worker, and many more. These are the things I wake up to everyday. Nobody tells me to do it, but it is done out of love and respect to my family. The thing I have seen that causes most women, including myself, to get burnt out is that the “Job” becomes fulltime and women lose sight of their own dreams. This almost occurred to me about 2 years ago. I was fed up with being the only helper in the house and felt like all of my efforts were going unnoticed. My husband, would come home and expect the house to be clean and the clothes to be washed and hung, and the dishes to be put away. Where my problem came in to place was when all of my “hard work” seem to not matter to him anymore. It just became EXPECTED. After a lot of self evaluation I realized that there was no reason for him to not help me. So I asked and he was fine with the idea. In my opinion, men need to be told what to do because otherwise they become oblivious to their surroundings. This conclusion came after I went on strike at home. The clothes and dishes piled up and the house was a mess. In no time at all my husband began to see just exactly how much I did around the home which in return taught him to respect “My Job”. This does not always work with every situation but it helped mine. Now I have decided to venture out of the home and start seeking my goals and pursuing the life that “I” have always wanted. My husband has been supportive of me, just as I am for him. Gender being a product of socialization is not a problem as long as both genders can be happy with what they are doing. There must be mutual respect across the board. 
