Why Do Ashley's Parents Expect To Be More Independent?

You would think that being the baby girl of the family, Ashley would get away with doing just about anything, but in reality, her parents have given her lots more rules than they have given her brother Eric. Before doing anything, unlike Eric, Ashley would have to think about what her parents would think instead of knowing that they’ll look over it. Do Ashley’s parents expect more from her than they do from her brother? Do they give Ashley and Eric each a different set of rules? Are Ashley’s parents more strict on her? Do their parents expect Eric to be more independent? Although Eric would think that he has higher expectations to live up to, his parents have higher expectations for Ashley because they don’t give Eric rules and expect him to be independent. …show more content…
Ashley is expected to have common sense along with book sense. Eric is expected to do more of physical work. No one understands “...why mothers are so often told to go against their instincts with their boys, to tell a crying child “man up” or “shake it off”, or to let a hurting teenager suffer in silence and “work it out on his own” (NYT Takes On). Mothers are “taught” to expect their boys to be independent than their girls. A mother’s son might feel as though it’s unfair to him, but he doesn’t understand that he actually has it easy compared to a girl and parents.Boys would feel like they have it harder with their parents because “In short, girls tend to get more of their parents’ affection, attention and protection while boys tend to be taught to not need some and to “man up”” (NYT Takes On). Parents may give more attention or affection to their daughters because they think that their sons can handle things on their own (which would be why boys think they have it harder). Parents expect their sons to be independent and their daughters to follow all rules and do exactly as she is