Gender Roles... In Relationships??

     Gender has always played a significant role in society, from the ancient times of the male hunters and the female gatherers, to the more recent dates with women expected to stay at home and raise the kids while the men go make a living. Gender does not only affect societal roles, however, but also relationships, as a male and female usually can't have a close, platonic relationship without people insinuating that they are together in a romantic way.
     For example, in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, when Daisy begins to visit Gatsby alone, her husband Tom was "perturbed at Daisy's running around alone" (103), even before he had realized that they were in love. It can be assumed, however, that Tom would not have had the same suspicious reaction had Daisy been going off alone to meet a girl. Although Tom's suspicions turned out to be correct, this still demonstrates the great impact of gender on relationships and how they are viewed.
     Another instance of this is the new internet phenomenon, (which has also translated into the real world), "shipping". Shipping is mostly used in fandoms to mean that a person wants two characters, many times a male and a female, to get together in a romantic relationship, even if it has been made clear that the characters' relationship is purely platonic. An example lies in "The Walking Dead", (big surprise right?), with the "shippers" of the fan favorite relationship Daryl and Carol, dubbed Caryl (sorry to any Caryl shippers). According to the actors, some viewers of the show, and myself, Carol and Daryl have a deep and beautiful friendship rooted in shared experiences of abuse, but nothing romantic will come of it. (Because come on, we all know that Daryl is head over heels in love with Beth). Of course, it's 110% okay to ship your favorite fictional couple, platonic or not. It would be hypocritical of me to suggest otherwise. This is just another example of assumptions being made about male/female relationships.
     The fact that a male and a female can't have a purely non-romantic relationship without people wanting it to become something more is pretty frustrating and detrimental to those that it affects. It can sometimes cause uncomfortable situations and discourage platonic friendships between males and females, as they can't hang out without hearing about what an incredibly cute couple they could be. And I think that we can all own up to doing this, at some time or another. The question is, how can we stop? (Don't stop shipping though- shipping is awesome.)

Shipping, basically.