Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 12, 1994 TAG: 9408030012
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The girls surveyed were more likely than the boys to say that they could have a happy life even if they did not get married and that they would consider becoming a single parent. Eighty-six percent of the girls said they expect to work when they are married, while only 7 percent said they expect to stay home.
Among the boys, 58 percent said they expected their wives to work outside the home and 19 percent said they expected her to stay home.
A majority of the boys surveyed said that most of the boys they knew considered themselves better than girls. Most of the girls surveyed said the girls they knew saw boys as equals.
The telephone poll of 1,055 teen-agers age13 to 17 was conducted by The New York Times and CBS News. It has a margin of error of three percentage points.
In follow-up telephone interviews, the gender differences were pronounced.
Many of the boys said they still believe strongly in a traditional 1950s-style marriage in which the wife stays home, raises the children, cleans the house and does the cooking, while the husband is responsible for making the money and mowing the lawn.
``I think girls should do the cooking and cleaning because they're better at it, and boys should do the yard work and the planting,'' said Breton Stout, 15, of Clovis, Calif. ``I know a lot of girls think it's real sexist to say they belong in the kitchen, and they think we should kick in on cleaning, but I think they're wrong. It's not a boy's job.''
Seventy-one percent of the teen-agers surveyed had mothers employed outside the home, and 80 percent had fathers employed outside the home. But the belief that a 1950s-style marriage is the natural order seems to have a firm hold, even among many boys whose mothers work outside the home.
``I think the wife should stay home,'' said Timmy Tomlinson, 14, of Hot Springs Village, Ark. ``A mother should teach children what she wants to teach, not what the baby sitter wants to teach. Most of the girls around here, and in the South, are old-fashioned. They want to stay home with the kids.''
There was little difference in the boys' and girls' answers to a question asking whether, in the long run, it is better for children to have a parent at home: Most of the boys and the girls said it was better if one parent stays home.
The girls surveyed were overwhelmingly committed to having careers - and far less so to making and maintaining a marriage.
``I think a career is the most important thing, then children, then marriage,'' said Nicole Leesnan, 16, of Atlanta, Ill. ``I've always wanted to succeed in a work field, maybe something like being a marine biologist.
``I know I will work. If I get married, I would want it to be with someone who did as much of the housework as me. I think girls are more liberated and guys are going to have to compromise. If they say they want their wives at home, I think it's because they want more power in the relationship.''
Nicole, like 55 percent of the girls surveyed, said she would consider becoming a single parent if she did not get married.
``If I weren't married, I could imagine being a single mother,'' she said. ``I know it's hard, but it's worth it. I just know I want children.''
While more than 9 of 10 boys and girls surveyed said they thought it was likely that they would marry and have children - and more than 6 of 10 said it was not at all likely they would ever get divorced - the girls were less likely than the boys to say they would feel they were missing part of what they needed for a happy life if they did not get married, or if they got divorced.
The girls were also more likely than the boys to say that children are better off if their parents get divorced rather than remain married and fight a lot.
Many of the girls said their mothers had encouraged them to be self-sufficient.
``I would never stay home and be a housewife,'' said Johanna Petree, 18, of Modesto, Calif. ``My mom thinks I should work, every woman should, in case you get divorced and can't support yourself.
by CNB