Question 1

I chose to speak with my co-worker at work Doug, who is 51 years old. He said that when he was twenty years old men were expected to be actively working toward something such as a college, military, and family. He said that some of their behavior was similar to today's in the aspect of wanting to have a good time, meet girls, and party. When I spoke to my mother who is 57 years old she said that she felt that women had strong expectations to get married to a good man who her parents would respect. Although college was available for women, my mom said she did not feel as though her high school focused on how important it was for everyone. She said that womens' behavior was expected to be polite and caring, and that men were expected to be strong and supportive. Although they had expectations from their parents many of them still behaved like our youth today, which included the hipsters, party types, and those who were often disrespectful in a social aspect such as to elders, teachers, etc. My best friend's 80 year old grandmother, Rose, told me that when she was twenty years old most women including herself were already expected to be married to a gentleman who could support them. Women were expected to act "lady-like" and wear dresses or skirts, and always have their hair done. They were not expected to go to college, discuss political debates or the latest science breakthroughs, etc. My grandfather Tom, who is 82 years old, said that when he was twenty years old most of the men were expected to serve in military as well as work to support their families that were sometimes already established by this age. When most people talk about college aged kids they don't always get a "ladies and gentlemen" visual. One thing seems certain, and that is that today's twenty year old is not expected to have a family by that age, and they are also not expected to be that polite. Men are still expected to act "manly" and are often criticized when they do not. Women also have experiences with others criticizing their behavior for being too something or not enough of the other. Examples include how our society will trash talk a drunken college girl as being promiscuous or not classy, yet a drunken college guy is often just seen as displaying normal fraternity-like behavior.