I was reading on another blog that some people believe that in 40% of American marriages wives now earn more than their husbands, they expect this trend to continue and that this trend will bring more gender role changes. I have no idea how that statistic coexists in reality with the often quoted stat about women only earning ___ cents for every dollar earned by a man.

Looking back to old movies, books, etc I agree that gender roles in the US have changed a lot.

What I find really fascinating about these changes is how extreme they are and how unnoticed they seem to be.

As an example, I recently joined the huddled masses in watching “The Hunger Games”. In the movie, a teenage couple struggle to live in a “survival of the fittest” situation. A plot where the role of the hero is usually reserved for a man. Yet, it is the “macho” hunting skills of the lead female who saves the couple, several times. She even rescues her love interest who shows his gratitude for her protection with physical affection.

Journalists and other commentators will often pick up on the smallest things to have something to write about. Yet, I haven’t seen this aspect of the movie mentioned anywhere.  A gender bender like that even a short time ago would have seriously freaked people out.

Are things like this going unnoticed because the changes are slow, subtle or is it a generational thing? A new generation is born into what things have changed into, to them it is normal, so it isn’t a big deal to be noticed?

Interesting…..