Perhaps I was too frivilous in my responce but I tend to giggle when the war between the sexes comes up as a topic.
Women have always held power, just as have men.Historically rigid roles did not weigh so heavily on the elite of any past society, they had leisure to discover personal preferences and the means to indulge them. The vast majority of the rest of humanity were locked in a day to day struggle for survival.
Once mankind discovered technology and mass produced it, traditional male/female roles became an "object of scorn" or the "only right way" to people of both sexes who were confused by their new freedoms and choices. Several generations of western civilization were/are so confused they seem to seek excuses to explain their lack of confidence in the personal choices they have made regarding their "role" as a man or woman.
.As a woman, I see this most clearly in the "Mommy wars " .Women feel either guilt or superiority,based on envy or scorn, of another womans freely chosen lifestyle.It is sometimes hard for us humans to just try to do the best we can,without a defined set of expectations to measure our success.
I see some hope in the next generation that both men and women will feel comfortable in their own skins, whether they choose a more traditional role or a variation.
Throughout this post I am speaking of heterosexual,relatively normal men and women.