cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/1227654
That is, do you feel like your worth as a man is related to your practical utility?
Interesting timing for this question: My answer is definitely “Yes”. I am dealing with this a lot right now in my life.
It’s interesting because if you’d have asked me four years ago I’d have said ‘no’, but a lot has changed and with the changes comes new perspective.
My advice to everyone reading this is to understand that things can change so reading everyone’s answers might be very enlightening, someday, if not today.
I’d say the expectation to be a strong provider is still very present in society.
Yes I do
I feel like I’ve been falling into that stereotype for a while, but it’s purely because I DON’T want to be that, ironically. As a bilingual software dev in a third world country, being able to get jobs with US-level salaries means I earn more than pretty much every salaried worker in my country, and probably still earn more than most business owners as well. I have the kind of salaries that congresspeople of my country earn. I can easily 2x my salary as well, if I sacrifice mental health. This means I’m the provider by default. Thus, I feel the pressure of having to be the provider, not because of gender roles, but because having such ease of access to high salaries puts me there. The goal, as it should be for everyone, is to save up and retire young, to not work ever again. I don’t care what my role is as long as I get me and my family there, but I do indeed feel that pressure to provide.
Why should the goal for everyone be to retire young? There are plenty of people who enjoy their job.