Social Construction & Gender Roles...Help please?

This is a fairly long post. Sorry:

Okay...so I'm doing a presentation in my Women's Studies course. My group members and I have to introduce the topic of Social Construction and Gender Roles in society to our class.

In order to help with this, I would like to ask you all what you think male and female roles are in society.

Who should stay at home? Who should take care of the kids? Is it a woman's job to have children? Should men be treated as the superior sex?

These are just some questions to consider. You don't have to answer just those questions. Just state what you think the roles of each sex are.

Also, I would like to say that this can be a very sensitive topic to a lot of people (especially women, who are seen as inferior in a lot of cultures around the world). Just please, respect the opinion of others, and be polite when debating, as I'm sure it is inevitable with this topic.

Thank you all so much in advance for your help.

~Soraya Lowe~

On the last comment you made.

"Women are very fragile tend to use think by the heart not the mind."

I don't find this to be necessarily true. Not in every culture, at least. This is only the case because women, in some cultures, are told that it's okay to be sensitive and to display their emotions, and to let their heart be their guide. In other cultures, women are the more callous of the sex and men the more timid and emotional of the two sexes.

I personally don't like showing emotion when it comes to critical moments. I am very logical, and I like to use logic in order to solve my problems. I also live in a culture where women are expected to be these dainty little creatures who are incapable of using their minds to solve problems, and who cry over anything.

I hate women who embrace that cultural norm, to be honest. I find it to be a weakness in both men and women. In some instances, like if someone is in a lot of physical pain (and sometimes emotional pain...depending on the situation), then it's okay to let emotions show.

And women aren't the only ones to use emotions in critical situations. I've seen guys do it too. There are an awful lot of crimes carried out by men because of some personal vendetta they had against someone...that's an emotional crime. Crimes of passion? Men who beat their wives to death because of something she did to hurt them emotionally, such as cheating or packing up their belongings and leaving? Emotional crimes. These are some critical moments, mind you. Women do this too, but statistically speaking, men are more likely to commit these types of crimes.

And on another note....why should women have to stay home? There are plenty of capable dads who can stay at home. I know a lot of women who are horrible at managing their homes, and guys who do it better.

Anyway...anyone else?