Thursday, 2 January 2014

EPISODE 25 - GENDER, CULTURAL EFFECT AND MARITAL RELATIONSHIP



Today we will still stay with the issue of gender differences but look at the psychosocial angle and cultural effect on marital relationship.
We live in a patriarchal society where men are in charge of almost all structures in the society. The Holy Book endorses this scenario by making men the head of the families. Africans have gone to every length to rub this headship into the psyche and marrow of every woman by translating headship to mean domination to the extent that some of them want to attribute greater intelligence to the males when our competition in class have proven otherwise.  What I find intriguing is that every man passes through a woman, not just in childbirth but also in nurturing to be what he is. And then, women, in some instances are beginning to undermine their roles as mothers and nurturers because the new world of speed and frenzy is not giving that role the accolade that it deserves.
In my book on sexuality and abstinence I tried to explore the wonders of womanhood and the greatness of a man. There I stressed that the uniqueness of a woman lies in her ability to be generative—to give life and nurturance to another- be that other- her child, ward, spouse, co-workers and what have you. The man’s greatness, on the other hand lies in his ability to control his hormone driven excesses and help all those in his care to be the best they can possibly be.
Discussants?  Are men and women living out this God-given mandate in our families, governance and all leadership positions? Are women truly giving life to everyone around them and if not why not?   
Are men in our society leading us all to achieve our best in the contest of this definition.
Points to note is that men want their space; they prefer to bottle up their burdens rather than share them, they are self absorbed and self centered. Women want to share to carry your burden or theirs with you, they want heart to heart connection, they want to be appreciated and showered with attention even at ninety. We need to understand these differences and use them to our advantage in relationships rather than to disadvantages.
 TIP for the week
The home and the growing up stages of our lives are nest and the period for grooming in wholesome living and leading others to do the same. Some had it good, while some didn’t. I recommended that those were so traumatized that they can’t have meaningful relationships with people or are always angry at the society should not seek to lead others nor be allowed to do so yet. Let them go to experienced counselors and God for healing so that they can lead themselves before leading others.

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