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In recent years, gender norms have been slowly breaking down. With more women working outside of the homes, men are no longer the sole breadwinners of the family. In a new report, researchers examined the role of gender norms today for men and women. They found that even though gender norms are not as clear-cut anymore, men are still very much stuck in their gender norms.

"I don't want other men to look at me like less of a man," commented Brent Kroeger, who is a father from Rowland Heights in Los Angeles, CA according to Medical Xpress.

In the most recent statistics from surveys, the findings reveal that it is very rare to find men in stereotypically female positions. According to the U.S. Census Bureau data, stay-at-home fathers make up only around one percent of married couples that have children under 15-years-old. In another poll, the Pew Research Center reported that 51 percent of Americans felt that children were better off when their mothers were at home with them. Only about eight percent of the interviewed people felt that children were better off when their fathers were at home. Aside from these polls, other surveys have found that men tend to get made fun of more frequently if they took on female roles.

"If girls call themselves tomboys, it's with a sense of pride," said University of Illinois at Chicago sociology professor Barbara Risman. "But boys make fun of other boys if they step just a little outside the rigid masculine stereotype."

Matt Duron, a father from the southern end of Orange County, CA, stated, "If a little girl is running around on the baseball team with her mitt, people think, 'That's a strong girl. When my 6-year-old [boy] is running around in a dress, people think there's something wrong with him."

Based from the surveys and studies conducted over the past few years, researchers have generally concluded that men staying within their gender norms is more vital than women staying in their gender norms. Clifford Rosky, a law professor from the University of Utah, explained that this is the case because masculinity has been valued more than femininity throughout time. According to Rosky, nothing will truly change until "men are willing to act."