Gender Differences -- Can They

Gender Differences -- Can they be Eliminated?

Halving it All / Equality Works

Francine M. Deutsch writes that "Equality Works" when it comes to women and men sharing in the duties that go along with parenting. Notwithstanding the cultural trend that has been in place for what seems eternity -- that a woman takes care of the household chores, the cooking, the raising of children and more, while the man brings home the money to support the household -- Deutsch insists that in "…in some families…some couples are equally sharing the care of their children" (Deutsch, 1999, p. 224).

In her research, Deutsch initially believed that if the mother and father did not share equally as far as child rearing and household responsibilities from the very first (when the baby comes into the family) they would be "…doomed to be forever unequal" (225). That assumption was offered because Deutsch believed it was not likely that patterns established in the early days of parenting could be undone, but that assessment turned out to be wrong (225). It was in error because following the research the author now believes that "parenting" is changing throughout the lives of the children in any given family (225).

To clarify her position, Deutsch (226) makes the point that "…equal parenting doesn't mean that men and women had identical roles with their children," nor does it mean mom and dad divide duties as precisely as possible in a 50-50 split of responsibilities. And while it is true that women in most instances feel their most precious maternal duties (putting the kids to bed, clothes buying and deciding what clothes they should wear) should not be shared with the father, most men are not "…willing to do half the work" without having a vital say in "…how it is to be done" (226-27). Hence, when discussing "equality" in terms of parenting, it doesn't imply equal duties in terms of time invested; nor does it mean negotiating and discussing each decision to see who is best suited to carry out duties.

But equal sharing in parenthood -- now that the details of what "equal" really means has been made clear -- can and does benefit a marriage and make it stronger, Deutsch insists (229). That is, women feel more secure when they know the father is fully engaged in the parenting, and the relationship is more solid because "shared" work builds bonds between mother and father. And moreover, when both spouses are employed, and they also share in raising the children, that sense of equality brings the man and the woman to a point of fairness and shared family life.

Families That Work -- Reconciling Parenthood and Employment

An essay by Janet Gornick and Marcia Meyers points to a "schism" that exists because some feminists believe women won't truly achieve "full citizenship status" until they first achieve equality in the workplace (same pay for same work plus advancement opportunities in line with those offered to males). Other feminists and scholars believe that a new definition for "citizenship" should be established vis-a-vis the reality of the sharp contrasts and differences that exist because women as caregivers for children and family (Gornick, et al., 2003, p. 84).

The authors go on to propose two changes in gender relations that impact relations in the family genre. The first (85) is that women and men would split the time each spends in the workplace and also split the time each spends conducting unpaid household duties as well. The second change would be to "…allocate…substantial parental time to the care of very young children" (Gornick, 85). In the Crompton strategy referenced by Gornick, both parents are working and the care for their children is expected to be conducted by childcare agencies; this is the "dual-earner-marketized-career" and the downside to that plan is that it has led to the growth of what Gornick calls "junk jobs" (93). Because of the low paying junk jobs and the fact that paid care work is so "…poorly remunerated" it increased inequality between men and women. Hence, often times the poor quality of childcare forces a number of parents to leave the workplace in order to come home and raise their children with hands-on love and that too leads to continuing inequality (Gornick, 93).