When Did Gender Roles Officially End in the USA (and Canada and Europe)?

[Oliverlogan263]

I ask because I know that the 1960s and early 1970s were pivotal times in the USA and Europe. I will even go as far as to say that Europe is even further away with gender roles than the USA in some ways, but when did this shift happen?

Each generation is clearly more and more equal than the previous... I ask because this is a very progressive time we have lived in over the years and so much has changed; even dating is so different from how it was in our parents generation. (Now everything is more 50/50; the woman pays her half on dates or they take turns every other time paying for each other; women ask men out now, etc., etc.)

Years ago, women were not allowed to work, not allowed to date or have sex before marriage (they were expected to be virgins on their wedding night; imagine marrying someone you are not even sexually compatible with; that must have been torture and felt like a trap), not allowed to vote, not allowed to wear denim jeans, not allowed to wear sneakers, not allowed to have short hair, and not allowed to do anything without her husband's permission first. Some women were not even allowed to have friends; it was so bad! Clearly, things have changed. In many homes, the mother is the only parent raising the kids and working, or she earns more than her husband. You very rarely see a housewife. There are a few reasons for this.

* Women were very unhappy about not being able to work, earn their own money, and have the freedom to use the money they earned.
* Many women felt they missed out on life and spent their adult lives in the house, only raising kids.
* It is simply too expensive for only one spouse to work now.

Imagine how bad things used to be for women. None of that happens today.

I know that in some countries, gender roles are still not as advanced, sadly.

But when did this really start to be noticeable?

1966-1969

1970-1974

1975-1979

1970s (but no exact year)

1980s (although I think it was already common by the 1980s in the USA and Europe, but i'll add it anyways for fun)

[CupcakeTheDestroyer]

The time in which you’re referring to is the beginning of the second wave of feminism. The first was all about women’s suffrage in the early 1900’s and earning the right to vote and own property and legally be able to do all of those things without a man’s presence in their lives, ie their father or husband. The second wave began in the early 1960’s as women realized that socially they were still unequal, being unmarried still meant a shit life for a lot of women and didn’t help that, within the US at least, a woman wasn’t guaranteed to have a bank account or credit card in exclusively her name until 1974. And then you have the third wave beginning in the 1990’s focusing on civil rights for queer women, and the 4th wave in roughly the 2010’s that focused on the issues of rape and sexual harassment alongside other things (the #MeToo movement was around this time, if you remember) and equity as well as equality. I believe we’re currently on the 5th wave? I honestly don’t know too much about the current events in feminism but yeah, things are good now but they’re not quite the pure equality that we hoped they would be and I agree we need more equity to reach the ideal we want to see for men and women of all sexualities and genders, which we’re not really getting, but I agree we’ve come a long, long way from the state of the world when our grandparents were kids.

[Nikki1989]

Who said they ended?

Some bitter internet trolls?

[Anonymous]

traditional gender roles ended for women after the sexual revolution

being a housewife or a working woman in the field of nursing and teaching was still deemed as respectable

nowadays it's popular for women to be prostitutes, escorts and other ladies of the night whether she is a corporate CEO, lawyer or an accountant as her day job

traditional gender roles never ended for men because reality ensures that men who aren't traditional can not survive. even the primal instincts of women react negatively to non-traditional men even when they themselves are non-traditional

[BetaBucks]

Men never lost their gender roles lol. If men all refused to follow the male role, marriage rates would drop by 99%. Women have a choice now, obviously. That changed a lot in the 70s and 80s.

[Anonymous]

None of the above, because gender roles have not ended. Only the ones that women dislike have ended, but not the ones that benefit women. For example, men are still expected to ask women out AND pay for the date.

[exitseven]

It was during the 70s with Women's Lib and birth control pills.

[Anonymous]

I'd say the 90's is probably where it really began.

[GoodGuyBreakingBad]

Maybe 1970s?

[FunkyMonkee]

When the woke cult came into being.

[Dongie]

1970s