Gender roles have evolved over time, which includes the roles of spouses in a "traditional marriage."
While the concept of traditional marriage is actually quite modern and differed in cultures around the world, most people envision the homes of sitcoms like Father Knows Best and Leave It to Beaver from the 1950s and early 1960s when they think of a traditional marriage.
Those families were always pure fiction, but the image of the husband as sole breadwinner and the wife as the caretaker of the home, children and husband still became the norm for a time. Many women entered the workforce during WWII, but after the war, many were forced back into a traditional role as stay-at-home wife and mother.
In the 1970s, laws across the country changed allowing more women independence. Dubbed the sexual revolution, women once again entered the workplace in large numbers.
Now, some modern families have reversed those stereotypical gender roles displayed in those old TV shows. Some families have two wives or two husbands or only one parent.
But some people want to maintain those old "traditional" roles. And there's nothing wrong with that.
Unless they think everyone should.
It's unclear if that was the intent of Twitter user Brylea Kay, or @_brylealangley, when she posted:
"call me old fashioned, but i was raised to take care of my husband"
"make his plate every night, wash his work clothes for him, make sure he's up for work the next morning, always have a clean house for him to come home to, etc."
"and that's exactly wife i will be"
But whether she was merely stating her own personal preference or making a statement about husbands and wives who choose not to follow her "old fashioned" ways, people on Twitter assumed it was the latter.
Brylea Kay quickly found herself in the midst of a tweet storm.
But not everyone went in on Brylea Kay.
Some people supported the idea of her life, her choice.
People who had been married for decades offered their perspectives.
But some of them got some pushback too.
People had questions.
And answers.
But some women offered both sides, having lived the life Brylea described then changing their mind.
For some women, Brylea's idea of marriage was a definite "no."
In the end, it really all comes down to being free to choose how you want to live your life. If this is truly Brylea's choice, more power to her.
But if this is an ideal she is forced to follow out of guilt or parental pressure, it's a recipe for future unhappiness.
Husbands and wives can express their own marriage philosophy for the public to see.
@sama/X
