Gender roles in marriage

Along with having a section on feminism in this class, I have been taking a Gender Studies class this semester, so I've put a lot of thought into gender roles. The more I think about it, I really do believe that gender is a cultural thing. People "act" their gender. I do it all the time in public. I act like a girl. If you don't act your gender, you're seen differently right? One of the things I'm usually not open about is my marriage. I don't lie to anyone, I just usually don't let other people, especially our families, see how our marriage really works. In a lot of ways, my marriage isn't traditional. My husband didn't work the first year of our marriage. He went to school full-time, and did most of the housework. Right now, we both work and go to school. Usually, we split housework pretty evenly when we're both working. I'm in my first trimester of pregnancy, however, which leaves me tired and sick a lot, so he's picked up the slack. It's been interesting, though, because we are currently staying with my mother-in-law. In a way, it makes me feel like I need to be doing it, or she'll think I'm failing Adam as a wife. I don't believe that myself, I'm just afraid that my "raised in the 1950s" mother-in-law will. I don't really see the point of doing the traditional gender division of jobs. I'll take the trash out sometimes, I'll even mow the lawn sometimes. I think whoever has the time should do it. When we have our baby next year, I don't plan on either one of us making enough to live on one income, but I do plan on one of us only working part-time. If I happen to make more than my husband, he can be the one that only works part-time. I have no qualms about him taking care of the baby or the house. I can see a lot of ways that he will be a better parent than me.

After all that seriousness, I do have something funny to say about gender roles: I always joke and tell Adam that he's the girl in our relationship because I always am ready before him and end up waiting for him. :)