I wouldn't be embarrassed about that!! That's an indictment of cultural norms about gender roles, and nothing more. You can consciously move outside of those expectations and invite your readers to come with you. Your friends in the group just helped you to see that it had to be a bit more overt to translate.

I have written a lot of fiction for Idol, but there are topics that strike a chord with my personal life and refuse to leave me alone until I write them. We all have those personal stories we aren't sure we want to share, because we think they're cheesy, embarrassing, boring, or tired. But if the topic ignites a spark in you, screw everybody else. Take a stab at it. Even if you write it all down and you hate it, you've given it space to breathe and you can move on. But often I think you'll find the topics that haunt you will haunt your reader as well, once you infuse them with that emotion and let us feel it.