Gender Roles and Do All Americans Have Equal Access to The American Dream

Gender roles have changed dramatically in the last 40-50 years. The stay at home moms are a minority now due to the rising economy, usually both people in a relationship work. Women have really taken multi-tasking to the limit as they are usually the ones who organize their careers, children, daycare, household chores, and getting children to sports, grocery shopping. Men are assisting with most of these things, but I think it is the women/mother who plans and orchestrates everything in most relationships. The family type has changed dramatically too over the last several decades. Due to the high rate of divorce, many families end up becoming single parents. That has changed the lives of women, men and children. Single parents have less support and a much harder time financially than 2 parent families. Many single parents lead very demanding lives because they are filling the roles of both parents. Can a person struggling with little money and little time still find The American Dream? People question what The American Dream is for them and if it is attainable. I think that it is definitely harder for some individuals who have very little money or single parents struggling to do it all. Most well paying jobs require a Bachelor’s Degree and if you’re over 25 and living on your own it is very hard to go back to school to get a Bachelor’s Degree especially while working full time and raising children. I did some research a while back on characteristics of successful people that have faced dehabiliting odds and triumphed. The main qualities they possessed were “Dogged determination” at the top of the list, creativity, faith in oneself, a great positive learning attitude, the ability to make mistakes and move on and make a problem an opportunity were some of the them. Very interesting stories about people living on the streets. The Pursuit of Happyness is a movie that is a true story about Christopher Gardner; he was homeless but his determination and belief in himself helped him find his American Dream. Look at what Christopher Reeve accomplished and he was a quadriplegic. Yes, I think that just about anyone can make their dreams come true even in the direst circumstances. It may be damn near impossible for some, but if the person is willing to do what it takes even if it is damn near impossible and stick it out they can do it. Most people are not willing to do whatever it takes for long periods of time to make things happen though, and that is why there are so many people just spending their lives dreaming of The American Dream.