Question:

Some people believe that major changes have occurred over the past few decades in attitudes toward what male and female roles should be in society. Others, however, believe that although some changes have taken place, traditional attitudes toward male and female roles continue in the family, in the workplace and in personal relationships.

In your view, to what extent have attitudes toward the roles of men and women changed or remained traditional? Support your positions with examples drawn from your won experience of from your observation of others.

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Essay:

On the surface of American society, there has been a sea change in attitudes toward appropriate gender roles in recent decades. Women have left the domestic sphere to take roles of unprecedented prominence in society: at the head of corporations; on the U.S. Supreme Court and in the halls of Congress; even on athletic playing fields once reserved exclusively for men.

More women than ever work for a living or to supplement their family's income. Men are expected to take on domestic responsibilities in child care and household work that would have been unthinkable as recently as the 1960s.

And traditional gender roles in romantic relationships and marriage have been upended. When Southern Baptists declared in the 1990s that a wife should submit graciously to her husband, this notion _ which would have been taken for granted just a few decades earlier _ stirred outrage and made headlines.

Look beneath the surface, though, and the notion of simple and straightforward change breaks down.

Some women may be breaking the glass ceiling in the corporate world, but their numbers remain small, and many corporate women are subject to a vicious double standard that demands that they be as steely as their male counterparts, yet soft and "feminine" just the same.

The same holds true on the playing field, where the Title IX Generation has produced female champions who are embraced by mainstream sports fans only if they are both great athletes and fit traditional notions of feminine beauty.

Similarly, many women who enter the workforce do so not of their own choice but because the extra income is needed if their families are to maintain their standard of living. Still others are forced to work by divorce and other circumstances that speak less to societal progress than to breakdown.

Studies have shown that even in families where both parents work, husbands frequently shoulder much less than half of the homefront role. And even as more women enter the workforce, it is not as if tens of thousands of husbands and fathers are shifting to a domestic role.

Finally, if there has been an attitudinal shift regarding gender roles in the United States among the general population, government policy has failed to keep pace. For better or worse, the United States still lacks the sort of universal day care (common in other first-world nations) that would greatly lessen the burdens on women who return to work after becoming mothers.

Instead, working mothers must navigate a bewildering thicket of choices: What kind of daycare do I choose? Can I afford it or will it eat up all my salary? Will it hurt my children's development?

The viciousness and bitterness that characterize the exchanges over these issues on mommy-oriented Internet chat boards are evidence that society's conversation about gender roles may have shifted, but it is not yet settled.

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Criterion's Critique (Organization and Development only):

_ About the opening paragraph: "Is this part of your essay the introduction? In your introduction, you should capture the reader's interest, provide background information about your topic and present your thesis sentence."

_ Criterion underlined the first sentences in paragraphs 2, 3, 7, 8 and 9 and said: "Criterion has identified three main ideas in your essay. Do these ideas support the thesis statement of your essay? Do you use examples, explanations and details to support and extend your main ideas? Does everything connect back to your thesis statement?"

_ Criterion underlined the rest of paragraphs 2, 3, 7, 8 and 9 and all of paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 and commented: "Criterion has identified three supporting ideas in this paragraph. Do these ideas support the topic sentence of your paragraph? Use examples, explanations and details to support and extend your main ideas."

_ Criterion underlined the last paragraph: "Is this part of the essay your conclusion? A conclusion reminds the reader about your thesis, stresses the importance of the ideas you have developed and leaves the reader with thought-provoking ideas. To accomplish all of this, a conclusion is usually a complete paragraph of three or more sentences."

Overall score: 5 of 6, judged against incoming college freshmen.

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