I concluded that Farmer's generation represented a key transition between patriarchal values and more egalitarian ones. After all, Farmer was born soon after suffrage and women were gradually becoming more visible in the public sphere.
Farmer's responses answered the second research question in the negative. The informant did not oppose women's presence in the public sphere or in positions of power. However, Farmer has trouble reconciling the belief that women are inferior social subjects with the realization that women are equal as human beings. Farmer's beliefs were informed partly by his parents. His mother and father both worked on their family farm n Pennsylvania. Although both parents visibly worked, Farmer notes that his father retained most of the political authority in the household. His father drank a lot, and yelled at his mother sometimes. Therefore, Farmer viewed the male role in the household as one of power and dominion over the woman. His early childhood experiences with male and female gender roles laid the foundation for his subsequent identity formation as an American male. The male, noted Farmer when I asked, was supposed to be the primary bread-winner of the family who would financially support his wife and children. Women, on the other hand, were naturally predisposed toward nurturing, sensitivity, and affection. Farmer emphasized that he valued women: that he thought they were "superior" in some ways to men in that they were "kinder." His responses revealed the gender stereotypes of Farmer's generation.
Regarding the possibility of social change, I was surprised to learn how open Farmer was to the possibility for gender role transformation. Perhaps because of his sister's career advancement or because of his own open-mindedness, Farmer affirmed the belief that women should play more prominent...
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