Gender

My experience of gender in our society is much different from that of the Masai. In the American society today women are a lot more independent and take care of themselves. The Masai women go through a lot to become who they are. If I had to live the Masai way I don’t know if I would ever feel loved. It floors me to know that a man has multiple wives and they are useful to him because when it rains and the village gets mucky they have to clear it out and they are responsible for building a house, milking the cows and doing the chores. In our society today that seems to be unacceptable. Yes women do tend to do most of the cleaning and what not but the roles of man and wife are equal.

I think the value in having genders is the fact that first of all we need to reproduce. Without a man and a woman we would not be able to produce the upcoming generations. I feel as if women are expected to do a lot around the house while men are expected to work. Take Oprah for example she did a episode on polygamist communities. The children of this community said that they don’t want to play or have fun. To them work is fun, they are tough that play is not ok. This is a prime example of the challenges this two-gender system presents to people and society. Because we have a man and a woman certain things are only expected from each. I’m not saying polygamy is everywhere but Oprah definitely shows it is evident. I do think that gender is changing in the united states. If you look at the way families live today compared to 50 years ago there are many differences in the way life is lived. Gender is still very evident in our society but it is not as big of a deal anymore. It used to be that women had to stay at home with children and cook while the man works and does nothing at home. In society today that is not the case, women have become much more independent.

Whether something should be done in cultures where there is gender inequality is questionable. I’m saying this because in some cases the way people live works for them. I guess when looking at the Masai the way they live is ok with them. The women are fine with being in a marriage with multiple wives and taking care of the chores. They didn’t ever say it wasn’t what they wanted. To us Americans it looks messed up but to them it is the way live is supposed to be lived.