English
Man and woman, yin and yang, Adam and Eve; the two parts that make a whole in God’s eyes. But like someone said men are from Mars and women are from Venus. That is how diverse the thought process, reactions and attitudes are between man and woman. Women are called the fairer sex, the gentle beings that give birth and nourish life. Men are the hunter gatherers who protect the wife and family. These are age old preconceptions and determine the accepted roles played out by the sexes in society dictated by their biological features..
Biology is responsible for the fact that only women can conceive and deliver a baby. Environment down the ages compelled the woman to look after the house, cook and clean, nurture the baby and tend to the needs of the man of the house and the children. It was taken for granted that her needs were secondary and her role was more of a chattel than an equal partner. In conservative societies, they had to be covered from head to toe, not allowed to leave the secure inner sanctum of the house. Her opinion was normally not solicited, if offered it was greeted with scorn and rebuttal.
On the other hand the man had brute force that he could use to his advantage. He used it to get his own way. His word was law in his house, no matter how wrong he was. He was the lord and master and his woman had to fulfill all his wishes, cook and clean for him, jump to his tune. There was never any question of him helping her in her day to day chores. And if he was in a magnanimous mood maybe he would oblige his family by taking them out for a trip.
But with the passage of time these preconceptions have slowly been shattered. Today in most regions of the world, the woman has started to move out. Various support systems have come into existence to help them take on the roles of the man while still fulfilling the necessities of the woman’s. Crèches, day care centers look after the children, the supermarket and frozen food have made her cooking chores easier to handle and now she is financially secure. She is not afraid to move out and make a life of her own, even as a single mother, take independent decisions about what she will wear, how she should look and who, if anyone, she should take on as her partner.
Man too has had to change his attitude. He is today compelled to share the household responsibilities, be it doing the dishes after a meal, taking out the garbage or babysitting when the mother is out. Has it eaten into his self esteem? While some men do feel so, I believe, most men take pride in their contribution to daily household duties. Dictated by the environment and society he has started giving the woman her due worth and respect.
The man-woman relationship has also become a subject of concern wherein both the sexes have started making an effort to work things out, often taking the help of counselors and therapists, sometimes even looking at innovative methods to find their relationship nirvana.
What biology has given to mankind has remained unchanged but the roles dictated by the environment have positively changed with the changing times and attitudes of the human race in general.
