Grappling with Gender Roles

The song I chose to bring is called 'Tough' by Craig Morgan. The song is a type of ballad, sung by a man in which he says that he thought he was tough until he knew his wife. He contines to go through all of her trials and tribulations and acknowledges his short commings when she is diagnosed with cancer and handles herself with more composure or 'toughness' than he does. I She’s in the kitchen at the crack of dawn

Bacon’s on, coffee’s strong
Kids running wild, taking off their clothes
If she’s a nervous wreck, well it never shows
Takes one to football and one to dance
Hits the Y for aerobics class
Drops by the bank, stops at the store
Has on a smile when I walk through the door
The last to go to bed, she’ll be the first one up
And I thought I was tough

The first part of the song deals with a lot of female roles that we have discussed in class, the woman in the kitchen, watching the kids, etc.The image of her showing no emotion parallels the scene in Revolt of Mother in which she is making pies without showing her anger. I think the man in this song is giving his wife the credit for having a hard life and making the best of it, but in the refrain he says "there was a time, back before she was mine, when I thought I was tough'.This reinforces the age old stereotype that the man owns the woman. I think that this is the part of the song that is grappling with gender roles. Although the man in the song is praising his wife for being strong (not an image usually associated with women), he is still claiming her like property and he is also the one to define her as tough, when perhaps she isnt at all. I like this song becasue it changes roles that we are used to hearing in songs and in movies, but I still think it has its roots in all other traditional pieces where men control women and women can't speak for themselves.