I absolutely love my Gender Roles class, to the point that I find myself wanting to do my school work. However, I feel that what I am learning continues to be the same thing, how society teaches us EVERYTHING. This is not a knock on the class or textbook; it is just what I am learning at this time. Society dictates what we think is “cool.” Society dictates what clothes are in fashion, what music is hip, what food is popular (where did the pretzel bun come from?), etc. So in an effort to have a different discussion I Googled gender and what were the top three hits you ask: gender predictor, gender reveal ideas, and gender neutral names. Gender reveal ideas is another new phenomenon of our society. This new party came about right after the birth of my first son. At first I thought it was really silly, but then as we most do, I conformed with my second son and we had a gender reveal party.
For us it was more of a time to tell our families and friends all at once what we were having than a real focus on the gender party. We were okay with either sex. My daughter was convinced it was a girl and so was I, but it was a second son and we could not be happier with the family God has given us. Sorry, back to the party. There are many really cute ideas out there from making the cake a certain color depending on the gender and t-shirts to a paint fight, busting a piñata, and releasing balloons (which is what we ended up doing). Nowadays people go all out for this party. There are invites, special cupcakes, everyone places a vote, people might dress a certain way, etc. My point is, society tells us this is now what you do. You put this special party together just to reveal the gender of an upcoming childbirth. Is it fun? Absolutely. But in today’s society, especially in the United States, does it really make that much of a difference what the gender is? Are we to the point yet that gender doesn’t really matter anymore? Do little girls have the same opportunities as little boys? According to the last video we watched for this class, a doctor said if the sex is ambiguous, he will always choose male because they will be more successful. Really?!? Is society telling us this so we believe it or is it actually true?
Kiss A Cook 
Leslie Guditis
October 24, 2014 at 2:16 pm
Thanks, Joanna! I love this! You are an engaging writer/blogger. 🙂 With both my daughters, I knew the sex before they were born. My elder daughter is 30, and back then, they were just kind of starting to be able to tell through sonograms, and the technology was such that it wasn’t as definite as it is today. My second daughter, born when I was almost 37, was revealed when we had an amniocentesis, since I was at an “advanced age.” I’m glad we knew, since my then husband really wanted to have a boy first (first son of the first son of the first son kind of thing). It gave him a chance to embrace the idea of having girls. He ended up being a great dad to his girls, and I don’t think he ever let on that he hoped for a boy. But, now, they have the gender reveal parties, and I think it’s great, if that’s what people want to do! I think it’s a great excuse for a party, and I love that! But I also figure that you can surprise people like that, or you can surprise people when the baby actually comes out. What’s the diff? 🙂 And I like your questions! Does it matter any longer? And are males destined to be more “successful?” We know they still die at a younger age!
Dr. G