Male vs. Female

Males and females, though they are considered equal in today's society, still have different views on certain subjects and are held to different standards depending on the situation. For example, men are still expected to pay for a woman on a date. They hold the door open for her which is supposed to be a nice gesture but some woman today feel it is unnecessary and suggests that they can't open a door for themselves. Mothers are often viewed as more important in the lives of their children than a father. At be because he should be the one making the money while the mother cares for the children. I was watching a television show called Parenthood a few weeks ago and the show contains a family with a single mother in which the son is struggling because he doesn't have a dad to help him with sports or girls. It also a family in which the mother is a lawyer and is at work all the time while the father is a stay at home dad who is very involved in his daughter's school and runs a play group for the children in her class. The father is in fact just as important as the mother. In The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Edna becomes sick of staying at home with her children all day and entertaining guests in the house while her husband works. She leaves to live her a house by herself and be free to do whatever she wants. The first Socratic Seminar for this book says to "discuss the influence of one's gender upon reading this novel." If a man reads this, he will most likely think that Edna was ungrateful for all of the things he had done for her. She doesn't have to work because her husband makes enough money to support the family. They may also think that she has it easier than the man does because the children even have a nanny. It would seem rude and selfish of her to leave her children and a "life of leisure" behind because she wasn't as happy as she used to be. For a woman, Edna's actions seem triumphant and inspiring. She took a stand to break the mold of society to make herself happy and accomplish what she wishes for herself. One's gender may have an impact on how they feel about the action of this novel.