Ethan

“Alison, can you please come help me in the kitchen? Your father will be home in twenty minutes!” shouted my Grandma from across the house. Every day, my Grandma was expected to clean the house, take care of my mom and her two siblings, and have dinner ready for my Grandpa when he got home from work. My Grandpa was very strict about his wife’s housework, and she didn’t dare to not have dinner ready for him when he wanted it. “Okay, mom,” my mother said as she entered the kitchen. She too knew what her father expected and knew that he would yell his heart out if what he asked for was not done.
 * __How Times Have Not Changed__**

This situation was from my mother’s house in Hartsdale, NY in the mid-1970s, where gender stereotypes were stronger than ever. With every family that my mom knew, the father worked while the mother stayed home and cooked, cleaned, and took care of the kids. While this common stereotype has become very familiar to me, I have noticed how it is changing. When I was younger, my mother’s situation when she was thirteen was the same as my situation was when I was a little bit younger. I remember my dad leaving early in the morning, my mom getting us ready to school, my mom taking us to all of our activities, and then cooking dinner for us and for my dad by the time he got home at around 6:00. But unlike my Grandparents who naturally accepted this stereotype, my mother was not a proponent. My mom didn't want to follow these stereotypes, and wanted my dad to help with taking care of me and my sisters. So overtime, my dad began to help around the house more and more.

Just by thinking about yesterday, I have noticed how gender stereotypes have changed since my mother’s early teen years. For example, after coming home from his daily workday at 6:00, he made dinner for my sisters and me. He woke us up for school, and even made our beds. On the other hand, my mom also showed some sides of the “manly” stereotypes. She left early in the morning for work and returned home too late to make dinner. So, my sisters and me each made dinner for ourselves. Also, my Grandpa actually helps out with the cooking and cleaning instead of just relying on his wife to do it for him.

Despite the differences that have come with the 40+ years since the 1970s, there are also many similarities. My father works in the stock market (typically portrayed as a job for men) and my mother works as with ultrasound (a more “womanly” job). In the future, I hope that these stereotypes eventually diminish and it will be normal for a man to stay at home and a woman to have a full time job. But as for now, these stereotypes still continue to run people's lives because "it's just the way it is".

Good title, think about adding some more details and expanding the piece, because it will help prove the point you are trying to make. (Micaela)

I liked your introduction and think that you should add another anecdote about how it hasn't changed. (Madeline)

I like how you compare your mom's childhood to your own childhood. You should try and add more examples from your mom's childhood about stereotypes. (Nicole)

Explain some more about your mother. But it was really good, and I like the title. (Jordan)