I never grew up with gender roles.

When I was younger, my mom would help my dad fix our house and help him work on the car and my dad would help my mom in the garden and clean the house.

When work had to be done, the person who was fit for the job would do it, instead of basing it off of gender.

From a young age, my parents always taught me that just because I was a female it didn’t mean that I wasn’t capable of doing things meant for a “guy.”

My mom and dad would both be there to teach me how to fix my car, cook and take care of a house.

They wanted me to be independent.

Gender roles didn’t matter and they shouldn’t.

Just because I am a female doesn’t mean I have to wear pink dresses and only know how to cook for a family, and it certainly doesn’t mean my work-related dreams should be put down.

A woman’s place isn’t just in the kitchen and a man’s place isn’t just at work.

A man shouldn’t have to know everything there is about cars because it’s masculine and if a woman fixes cars for a living they should be looked down upon.

There is a lot of controversy going on about Donald Trump’s opinion on women.

After Monday night’s debate, 1996 Miss Universe winner, Alicia Machado spoke out about how Trump would call her “Mrs. Housekeeping” based off of who she was and her Hispanic culture.

When young children watch these debates, they are hearing these comments about gender roles, they are learning what “their place” in the world looks like according to certain people before they can make a decision.

There are shows like “My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding” where they show young girls learning how to “take care” of their husbands. Making sure they “understand” that they aren’t allowed to have a job.

They make sure all the men know how to work in the fields and do the dirty work.

And all though sometimes we look at it and joke around about how it’s still happening, it’s still wrong.

I understand that it’s their culture but it’s also 2016.

Regardless of your gender identification, I firmly believe you should do what makes you happy, regardless of the gender assigned to the certain role.

Not everything has to be based off gender.