Alva James-Johnson: Gender roles shift in society

I grew up in a culture where women did the cooking and men did the eating. That's just how it was.

It didn't matter whether a woman worked inside or outside the home. The expectations were the same. Not only did she have to cook, but she was also primarily responsible for washing, cleaning and looking after the children.

Well, today much has changed, thank goodness. Women are more visible in the workforce and many sit in the boardrooms of corporate America. That has brought about a better balance of labor in the office and also at home.

Today many men do things their fathers would have never done, such as washing dishes and tucking their children in bed. Couples negotiate based on what's best for their families, and sometimes that means switching traditional roles.

It's not always easy juggling all the responsibilities, like transporting the kids to volleyball practice and piano lessons. I know this from personal experience.

Over the years, my husband and I have renegotiated roles depending on the circumstances.

These days we're blessed to have the help of my mother-in-law, which makes life much easier. But that wasn't always the case.

When we first got married 20 years ago, we moved to Omaha, Neb., far away from our parents. Once our daughters were born, we didn't really want to put them in day care. So I stayed home. It was a financial sacrifice, but well worth the price.

As the girls became more independent, I went back to work while my husband started his own business. That allowed him to set his own schedule so he could pick up the girls, take them to doctors' appointments, and even cook when I worked late.

And he wasn't afraid to step outside his comfort zone. Once when I traveled to Haiti on assignment, he combed the girls' hairs in my absence. To this day the children are mortified when they think about it, but at least they have the memories.

All this brings me to a study that will be published in the February issue of the American Sociological Review. It was conducted by sociologists at the University of Texas-Austin and the University of California-Santa Barbara.

Unmarried men and women between the ages of 18 and 32 were asked how they would like to structure their relationships with future spouses when balancing work and life. And the majority of those surveyed said they would prefer an "egalitarian relationship" in which work and family duties are shared equally between partners.

The survey results are not surprising, considering the societal shifts we've seen the past few decades. Many young people have grown up in homes where both parents contributed equally to their upbringing. They want the same for their families.

And that's pretty cool.

Alva James-Johnson, 706-571-8521. Reach her on Facebook at AlvaJamesJohnsonLedger.

This story was originally published January 22, 2015 at 9:39 PM with the headline "Alva James-Johnson: Gender roles shift in society."