I was out with some pals of mine this weekend (all single boys and girls) and the conversation invariably turned to this aspect of ‘singlehood’ and what to do about it. My fellow sisters, don’t be fooled; the single guys are also concerned about their non-propagated status and many in their number would like nothing more than to settle down with a Mrs. and a couple of kids. However, that particular problem just does not seem to capture their every waking moments as it seems to do with us. We were just lucky that Nancy Drew was a single girl otherwise societal pressure would have started even earlier, well and truly from all quarters (aside: this weekend, think twice before buying your unsuspecting niece Barbie and Ken dolls …)
Anyhoo, we got to talking about the reversal of roles and societal expectations. We agreed that there are many men who would like the best of both worlds. They want a wife with the liberation and financial muscle of Condoleezza Rice packaged with the home making skills of their mothers. There’s the debate about cooking and I well and truly wonder about it. Take me. I live alone. When I get home, if I don’t feel like cooking, I don’t. Life goes on. Now ati Baba Not-Yet-Born-Nani comes home at 6pm on a Thursday night, reads my text explaining that I am in a meeting and will be back late, plants himself in front of the tele and awaits my return at 9pm to tell me he’s hungry and would like me to cook chapos?! How now? Without being seen to advocate for women’s lib, isn’t there something wrong with that scenario. Don’t insist on shouting from the rooftops that that is a woman’s role as she may be tempted to resign from her job and become a housewife claiming work to be your turf!
I don’t think that scenarios such as the above should be the beginning of world-war-3 but I do believe that there are equity concerns that come to mind.
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