Fidelity and Gender Roles
A subject that I humbly feel I've become expert..women [jaja]. Upon embarking upon the task of blogging one considers questions, thoughts, and 'recent knowledge gained' in writing and constructing a blog both knowledgable and well informed. This process of selection has led me to write a personal blog on the subject of fidelity and female gender roles...both in relevance to culture and nationality. Growing up with a Greek mother, 3 Greek-American sisters, and an American father I observed first hand the mixture/clash of foreign ideologies/perceptions regarding females' role in both the house and outside of it. The diff way South American males perceive women and the diff way South American women perceive themselves [diff from that of US women] became obvious even within my short period of time here. The idea of sexual equality is definitely more prevelant within the United States. However, in a city like Buenos Aires I never felt women lacked respect nor were they excluded from intelligent conversation. Oppositely, most men I encountered expected women to be able to carry an intelligent conversation. One might say the honking of horns, the "BON BON!'s," and the lack of women in government positions is indicative of the inequality, but I may disagree on some points. If we're talking about job opportunity..sure. However, there exists gender roles that are respected by both men and women alike in Argentina and, in my personal opinion, has come to mix well with the new demand for sexual equality without compromising the existing roles.
On the issue of fidelity. I noticed a major fundamental difference from the USA. "Cheating" is generally accepted in both Argentina and Brasil. The majority of South American men I know think monogamy is unrealistic and unecessary. People here seem to have a distinction between sex and love. These South American perceptions hit me very hard as most of my fellow study abroaders are currently in relationships and all seemed very dedicated and unwilling to venture into the South American mentality on issues of fidelity. My personal experiences have ranged from being asked out by 2 girls enganged to hearing women say they don't care if their bf cheats on them as long as they don't know about it. Overall I found the issue of fidelity very different and likewise very hard to accept as a product of culture rather than a deficiency of morals. Perhaps that's close mindedness?
