Siblings...

Although I found the lecture on mid-life very interesting, I want to reflect on the lecture before that. I found the formation of gender roles and power very interesting. In my family, we definitely have egalitarian power but very defined gender roles. My dad is seen as the bread winner, the guy who works hard all day and then comes home to dinner that's waiting for him. On the other hand, my step-mom keeps the house tidy and has that dinner waiting for my dad at home. In all appearances, they are very traditional, possibly even sexist. The funny part is that my step-mom bring more money into the household through her job than my father does. We simply overlook this fact and continue on. That has translated to the kids as well. I had to do the housework with my step-mom while my brothers worked outdoors with my father. It didn't matter that I got better grades than my brothers. I still had to clean the bathrooms and help make dinner. All the while, no one really minded (even though I hated cleaning toilets!). We all knew that we had equal power to our counterparts in the family, despite our very defined gender roles. It made us a very cohesive family for the time being, while we all still lived together. We appreciated what the others did and we were comfortable in our roles. It was interesting to learn about the difference between the power and the roles and that one does not mean the other. My family's trouble came when our homeostasis got all out of balance... but that's another story.