Gender and Care

[Darth Rosie]

I'm writing a paper on care and gender roles. So I'd like to know your opinion: do you think that women are more caring than men? That care is, so to speak, "feminine"? And what would then be "masculine"? Or do you think that this association of care and femininity is just a stereotype?
Thanks for sharing if you do

[i am a keyboard]

In my own experience, I have had equally as many caring men as women in my life. My dad was always better than my mom at taking care of me when I was sick. I think that it is definitely a stereotype. Perhaps women might be more compelled to take care of people because of biological reasons, I know I am, but when it comes to someone you love I don't think that gender makes a difference. In general it has more to do with your personality type than your gender.

I hope that helped at all, and that I didn't contradict myself too much!

[Scarygothgirl]

It's not that men are less caring, it's that they misunderstand. For example if someone has had a bad day and wants to talk about it, a women will listen, whereas a man will offer advice, which women find wholly unhelpful. Women are also better at reading facial signs and body language, whereas men will listen to what you say. So if someone is upset and says that they are fine, a man will think that they are fine because they said so, whereas a woman will realise that they are not so. When talking about caring for children, women tend to have a maternal instict that men lack, so they will want to look after children more than men will, but I think if a man is asked to look after children he won't say no, it's just not something he'll be seeking.

Of course when I say men and women, I mean masculine people and feminine people, as I'm aware that in modern day society there are alot of feminine men and masculine women, and many people with mixtures of the both traits.

[Skytteflickan88]

I heard that women have more chemicals in their brains making them caring in certain situations, for example how after sex some sort of chemical or hormone makes women caring/cuddly whatever. But I have no idea how much that matters to the individual. I don't think it can be said that women are more caring unless a thourough study is done on several billions , over time, in different cultures. Because that women are more caring is something we in the western culture has grown up to believe, and that matters as well.

It seems impossible to say with todays' means and limited knowledge, but you can study and guess.

[Darth Rosie]

Thank you so much, keyboard, scarygothgirl, and sky, for responding! I'll give you all karma for your careful thoughts!

I'm just in the process of writing so I don't have time for an adequate response yet, but just one sentence about an issue Sky has raised: There are studies claiming that women tend to have a different moral "voice" in that they allegedly deal with moral problems in more relational ways than men do, and that when presented with moral problems, they tend to ask for more information about the relationships of the people involved whereas men are said to have a more mathematical approach, kind of like: there's interest one and interest two and interest three, now let's weight them and then we'll get a result.

Anyway, gotta return to my paper but I'm truly looking forward to reading more. You slayalivers are just wonderful.

[Billie Erin]

Thinking of my own parents, aunts and uncles I'd say that women are more caring yes. Their maternal instinct has- in my experience- made them slightly more sensitive. Also at my Saturday job as a sales assistant I find femae customers more caring and concerned for strangers' welfare. But that's just my personal opinion.

[spurtyknowledge]

I say down with the gender binary. I was brought up around many diverse women, and I genuinely do not believe that personality traits such as care, compassion, and others, are at all gendered, or gender-specific.

Different methods of reasoning and behavior should not be attributed to sex.

I definitely recommend reading Judith Butler's work on gender and identity.

[whitecandy]

I think it depends on the person not the gender. Many men I know are very caring and emotional, whereas some of the women I know are the exact opposite!! I do think stereotypically that woman are classed as more feminine and caring than men, but I think that developments in culture and environment have perhaps not reversed these roles but made them equal. Genes, influences, chemical balances and characteristics all contribute to how someone acts, feels and behaves, and I dont think it can possibly just be to do with gender.

[Astray]

I think it is also a result of the environment, not the gender. If a man is allowed to be distant in the family it will force the mother to take on a "feminine" gender role. If you have a single dad they will end up taking on the very same role. In that way I think the stereotype of caring women and less emotional men kind of creates a cycle because people believe that is what is expected of them so they usually conform to those given roles.

[nl197]

So I look down the page and find this thread, and I look at the question and realize, I don't know how the hell to answer it. Perspectives have been so twisted that I've sat here thinking about this for the past half-hour, and I can't answer it with any certainty. To me there's too much of a gray area, because for every example I think of where the question might be true, I've seen or experienced a role-reversal, or a reversal of care and compassion altogether. I suppose if a question like this leaves you unable to answer, you really must be screwed up.

[Darth Rosie]

Thank you, NL, and all ye others, for sharing your thoughts. One of these days I will reflect in written on what you have written - when the immediate stress of my starting the winter term has abated.

NL, your bewilderment and inability to answer the question is just mine. Which, I guess, is why I posted it on this thread.

[janas]

I think for women, in the first months of life of newborn, intervene the "biology"... maternal instinct, and protection of the species and all the rest. But then I think the father plays an important role. Yes, I believe that women "have better care", is a cultural stereotype, I also believe that men, somehow, suppress those aspects, that the companies are considered "female".

My father was very sweet but it was so different from my mother...but if I did notice, he would have denied