HOW HAVE TRADITIONAL GENDER ROLES CHANGED IN THE
21ST CENTURY?
Not long ago, at least in the Western
world, it was considered appropriate
for the husband to be the
'breadwinner'. He was the one who
earned the money to feed the family.
That was his role. At that time, when
it was considered by the majority of
people to be the man's job to go to
work to earn money to feed the
family, fewer women went out to
work. Wives were expected to stay
at home and take care of the family
by doing the washing, the cooking,
and the cleaning. That was their role.
In recent years, however, the
situation has changed. The results of
a study by the US Census Bureau
revealed that many wives not only
go out to work, but actually earn
more than their husbands. A similar
study in Britain showed that of the
mothers who go out to work, over 2
million of them earn more than their
husbands. The Institute of Public
Policy research shows that over the
past 15 years there has been a
significant increase in the number of
wives who earn as much, if not
more, than their husbands.
One surprising result from the
research, however, was that people
still believe that husbands should
earn more than their wives. In fact,
research revealed that when
husbands declared their income for
the census, they very often over-
reported their earnings while under-
reporting the income of their wives.
Did the women play down the
amount of their income to save
embarrassing their husbands? Or did
the husbands report higher earnings
to save face?
Although women are now reaching
equality in the workplace, many
people still have this stereotype from
decades past in their heads: a good
husband must be seen to support the
family as the chief breadwinner and
the dutiful wife must stay home and
take care of the family.
Further results of the US research
showed that these opinions are held
across the country. Whether people
live in rural areas or in the city, the
majority of them believe that
husbands should be the chief
breadwinners.
The Pew Research Center in
Washington, D. C. carried out a
similar research project which
showed that up to 75 per cent of
people thought good husbands had to
be able to support his families. This
seems to indicate that the majority of
people still hold the old- fashioned
view that men must be the
breadwinners, although in actual fact
women are equally qualified to bring
home a good salary and support the
family.
 BREATHING NEW LIFE INTO PRINTED BOOKS
Before the advent of television
and the internet, many people would
enjoy sitting down with a good book
to relax after a hard day's work.
Reading was a popular hobby for
young and old alike. Books were in
plentiful supply as most major cities
had libraries, and bookshops were
popular places to visit on the main
shopping streets in most towns.
Now, much of that has
changed. Many libraries have closed
down as authorities claim they can
no longer afford the upkeep. As a
result, you will find dedicated local
people protesting library closures in
towns and cities across the country.
This action is often supported by
local newspapers and schools.
Students, for example, have
participated in the protests and have
helped raise awareness of the library
closures by designing and displaying
posters around the affected towns.
As libraries arc closing, so are
many local bookshops. Much of the
market for books has now been
taken over by the internet. We can
now download books and read them
on our mobile devices, anywhere,
anytime. While this of course
encourages reading as a hobby it has
had a disastrous effect on the
business of book printing and
publishing, the business of buying
and selling books, and, most
importantly, the human interactions
which take place as a result of
reading or sharing a good read.
This situation is similar
around the world. To counter this
trend, China is taking action to
encourage and support more
bookshops, using hefty subsidies
from tax money.
The Chinese authorities have
recognized that bookshops are
important, As Mr. Zhang Su, deputy
director of the Beijing Press Bureau,
told The Times newspaper reporter:
'Brick-and-mortar bookstores are an
important part of a city's
infrastructure. They carry the
memories of a city; they embody a
city's cultural heritage and they
affect a city's cultural ambience.'
Although eBooks have taken
over the market in China as well, it
seems Beijing authorities have
several good ideas to counteract this.
The city authorities plan to subsidize
and increase the number of
bookshops in the city. They hope to
have a bookshop in every district, in
shopping centers, near famous
places, and near bus and train
stations. They hope the bookshops
will stay open late at night, or even
24 hours a day, and they want to
incorporate public libraries in the
bookshops too.