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Untraditional Gender Roles Distribution
The Western European marriage pattern is a family and a demographic pattern characterized by relatively late marriage, especially for women, with usually little age difference between spouses a significant proportion of women who remain unmarried. However, there are other approaches to understanding marriage and gender roles. For example, same-sex and polygamy marriages are not typical by Western standards. The experiences of different cultures and family institution patterns show that gender role distribution can have various forms.
Same-sex marriages are often denied by people following the Western gender roles pattern. Recently, society has become more accepting of the issue of gay marriage (Rosenbaum, 2004). Such a change contributed to the widespread adoption of a new pattern of family and consideration of gender roles. The upbringing of a child by homosexual couples defies many traditional notions. Polygamy in Saudi Arabia is another unique example of a family pattern that differs significantly from Western family traditions. In Muslim countries with higher levels of wealth, the husband often decides to take another wife when he wants to have more heirs (McCarthy, 2004). At the same time, a number of harsh religious rules allow men to expand their families only if they can support another woman.
Moreover, love and material wealth should be distributed between wives strictly equally. This solves several problems at once. When there is a disproportion in population genders, the women (the proportional number is usually significantly higher) may get married, and a more affluent man can divide his property into several spouses (McCarthy, 2004). The man in the economy of the family is primary, and a woman cannot exist without the support of her husband. This concept is contrary to the equating of gender roles in the Western tradition.
In conclusion, it can be stated that the experiences of same-sex marriage and polygamy discussed in the resources show that gender roles may vary depending on various cultural and demographic conditions. In other words, the examples shown define different family traditions, which establishes the difference from the Western understanding of gender roles. Thus, gender is adjusted to the particular population its social and cultural peculiarities.
References
McCarthy, J. (2004). Defending and attacking polygamy in Saudi Arabia [Audio]. Web.
Rosenbaum, D. E. (2004). Ideas & trends: Legal license; Race, sex and forbidden unions. The New York Times. Web.
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