Any gathering of
RVers will include at least a couple of instructive sessions. When we attended
a rally last year, the activity for one morning was advertised as both
instruction and sharing about common RV mechanical problems. It sounded really
useful for any RVer. But then I noticed this was supposed to be for the men,
and the “ladies” were expected to go shopping or do something else that might
be considered feminine!
I was furious,
and thought, Who came up with a stupid idea like that? Many women travel solo or with other women;
because boys tend to be better trained than girls in mechanical matters, this session
would likely be even more useful for women than for men. Why not let the men go shopping instead?
Then I thought
about how my partner and I divide the work when we travel. I have to confess
that he does the typical “male” things, like dealing sternly with mechanics who want to
overcharge us, and I do the more “female” things, like doing most of the
cooking and cleaning. Have we fallen into our parents’ old gender-role
patterns? What a disgusting idea! I am a feminist, and he is a modern man in
most ways. Yet, we seem to be conforming to traditional roles.
Some of the tasks
in RV travel require more physical strength than some people have. I have
arthritis that prevents me from doing some things. Other chores may require
special skills; my partner is less comfortable with computers than I am. This
has little to do with our genders.
When the dualies
meet the road, what it comes down to is not gender roles, but teamwork. The
person who is more skilled at one job, or more willing to do it—my partner,
thank heavens, is more able and willing to empty the blackwater tank than I am—should do
it. The other person(s) should do other tasks as appropriate. No job should be
defined as one for “men” or “ladies,” though. And please spare me from being
excluded from a helpful session about RV maintenance.
