What if...men taking ‘the third shift’ don’t get a particular comment about it?

What if...men taking ‘the third shift’ don’t get a particular comment about it?

This question has been asked concerning gender stereotypes and the new paradigm for gender equality.

With more men taking equally with women the ‘third shift’ at home, there is a need for society to shift its thinking. The idea that someone’s traditional gender role must be upheld is a) in many places no longer relevant and b) in places where it is not, it’s holding on to the old paradigm.

We must move towards self-leadership, knowing ourselves and what we want to create a better future for all.

Gender equity is a hot topic in the world today. We might say we want to be an equal society, but we are still stuck in the old paradigm of gender roles with our language, comments and reactions. This is where we assign different tasks and behaviours to men and women based on gender. The problem with this way of thinking is that it limits us. It keeps us from reaching our full potential as individuals and as a society.

There is a new paradigm for gender equality that can help us break free from these limiting stereotypes. It means knowing yourself and your own strengths, uniqueness and what you’ve been socially conditioned to believe you have to do because of your gender.

It means being willing to step outside your comfort zone and try new things. It means being open to change and learning from others.

If we want to achieve gender equity, we must start by embracing the new paradigm for gender equality.

The New Paradigm for Gender Equality is about self-leadership, self-awareness, self-regulation and self-love. It’s about connecting with our authentic selves and honouring all aspects of who we are. It’s also about having a sense of humour for ourselves, believe it or not!

We can’t take ourselves too seriously if we want to create a new paradigm for gender equality. We can laugh at the many ‘social constructed rules’ that our forefathers and mothers created in their time, which might have made perfect sense at that time. But, it is a bit more than just outdated in the world we are living in today.

We need to be the change we want to see in the world.

The first step is self-awareness, waking up and looking at your program; what are you programmed to do, behave, judge, and react to!

Noticing your program gives you the opportunity to ask yourself: Where is this judgement coming from? How does it serve me to continue doing things this way?

Self-awareness doesn’t do anything if you don’t act differently once you become aware of your automatic program. Self-regulation is, therefore, the second step!

If you feel taking the third shift is worth commenting on - place that comment on the person doing it, not just because the person is in a male body.

Change your reactions, and you change your world.