Just kidding on the title. Jason and Duncan and I were talking about a few things on our way back from basketball, and the conversation kind of turned to anxiety and depression and other mental illnesses (this seems to happen a lot when i'm around...weird). I was spitballing that these mental illnesses are a factor of our modern society, possibly from the fact that gender roles are all out of whack.
I think that the traditional female characteristics are more valued in todays society (or at least enforced). Specifically the focus on team-building (versus individual achievement), the valuation of effort (over results), the emphasis on introspection (over action), and the emphasis on feelings (over facts). While men are socially forced (or incentivized) to combat their natural strengths, women are socially forced to take on more manly roles as they try to raise children (especially boys) by themselves (partially because men have been feminized into thinking its ok to abdicate their responsibilities because women should be just as good or better at parenting than them anyway).
This is not to say that the feminine values and characteristics are less important. Women and their strengths and characteristics are essential for society to even exist. A focus on purely masculine values would be as oppressive and perhaps more destructive.
the point I am trying to make is that for us to be mentally fit as a society, we must recognize each genders strengths and values, learning to embrace our differences and understanding the power that comes from the meld of men and a women. The more fully we embrace the harmony of these mutually supporting characteristics, the more fulfilled we will be as people.
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