Why Traditional Relationship Roles are Still Worth Embracing
The reality of relationships is more nuanced today than ever before.
With so many valid paths towards happiness and romantic satisfaction, fewer couples are as keen to embrace what’s now known as traditional relationships. Those who do are called old fashioned at best and derided as problematic at worst. The most crucial thing is that they aren’t completely wrong.
Have relationships changed so much that tradition can now be seen as obsolete and harmful? Fair points of their flaws aside, there are reasons why traditional relationships persist to this day. Among those reasons are the strength of the individual qualities brought to the table by traditional relationship roles.
The Traditional Role of Men, Examined:
When people think of men’s stereotypical roles, the focus tends to be on their responsibility as the prime provider. In turn, the focus extends to their toughness; their primal capacity to protect.
Opponents of tradition point out that it is unrealistic and unreasonable to expect a single person to provide for an entire family in this day and age. They would also point out that the standards for toughness can lead to insensitivity and problems with emotional regulation.
Go beyond those fair criticisms and anyone can see that the traditional role of men also places focus on leadership skills, overall competence, and the capacity to be tender. That last one may be quite surprising, but traditionally capable men were far from brutes.
The very human tendency to emphasize the bad examples over the good just made them seem like it to many.
The Traditional Role of Women, Examined:
Traditionally perceived to be kinder and more sensitive than men, the expectation placed on women was that of nurturers and supporters. Restricted from joining the workforce at large in decades past, women were left to care for the children and the household.
The opponents of tradition have even more to work with regarding the plight of women, and rightfully so. Unlike with past generations, there is no general stigma on women who choose to have careers. In fact, the emotional intelligence needed to succeed in their traditional role have taken many women far when it comes to their career goals.
Emotional intelligence is just one admirable quality that traditional women brought to the table. To care for children and a house by themselves required time management and organizational skills, which remain crucial even today–relationship or no.
And while being labeled as supporters instead of leaders is a fair sore point, the integrity and strength needed to lead by example through their support speaks volumes about the strength that women traditionally–and to this day–displayed, day in and day out.
Why These Roles Remain Relevant in Modernity
While the overall view and reality of relationships may change, the qualities that prop up traditional relationship roles remain as steady as ever. What woman wouldn’t want a man who is capable of leadership and strength? What man wouldn’t want a woman who is supportive and emotionally intelligent?
Traditional relationships have never been perfect and they never will be. The same can be said of any other type of relationship. People love progress, but that love shouldn’t lead to forgetting the core qualities that have kept relationships going for as long as humanity as a whole has existed.
For all the harm caused by past expectations, there are just as many benefits reaped by couples and families as a whole. For that, it still pays to embrace tradition, even in the midst of all existing freedom.