An age-old notion governs family life – a woman nurtures children and tends to the household; while her man, for the most part, is expected to put food on the table, keep the lights on and support his children financially.
Perhaps a nod to Adam’s fate on leaving the Garden of Eden or a remnant of mankind’s now-distant hunter-gatherer past, the by-the-sweat-of-your-brow-you-shall-eat approach, despite advances in feminism, continues to find relevance in our interpersonal relationships and inform the ideas of what it means to be a man.
But are men more than just providers?
“There’s a script for our sexuality in the very design of our bodies,” says American theologian Owen Strachan, who outlines his viewpoint on the website www.christianpost. com, “Men are called to be the primary leader, protector and provider of the home.” Though he sees a woman’s work at home just as important and a contributing factor to the financial stability of the home, he maintains that men are nowhere called to be workers at home.
This Christian viewpoint of the subject for the most part, influences our own impressions of manhood and maleto-female relationships in Jamaica making it an almost universal truth that we tend to see the roles of the sexes through quasi-Marxist lenses where worth is judged on economic terms.
Is equality a farce; are men and women wired differently and our roles destined by our gender?
Behavioural psychologist and lecturer at the Jamaica Theological Seminary, Geraldine Garwood agrees, noting that “men must serve as priest, protector and provider.” She believes that society has lost its balance primarily because men are marginalized.
“Many of our men are not self-actualized and so they tend to not be motivated to study in an effort to better themselves,” Garwood shares, “some men look at school as an arduous process and so do not develop the tolerance in some cases to pursue higher education.” This, she says, is one of the contributing factors to a man losing his place as the breadwinner, since women because of their educational achievements have the propensity to earn more than their partners.
To Read More: Purchase your copy of Volume 9 #2– May – June 2017
Share this post:
An age-old notion governs family life – a woman nurtures children and tends to the household; while her man, for the most part, is expected to put food on the table, keep the lights on and support his children financially.
Perhaps a nod to Adam’s fate on leaving the Garden of Eden or a remnant of mankind’s now-distant hunter-gatherer past, the by-the-sweat-of-your-brow-you-shall-eat approach, despite advances in feminism, continues to find relevance in our interpersonal relationships and inform the ideas of what it means to be a man.
But are men more than just providers?
“There’s a script for our sexuality in the very design of our bodies,” says American theologian Owen Strachan, who outlines his viewpoint on the website www.christianpost. com, “Men are called to be the primary leader, protector and provider of the home.” Though he sees a woman’s work at home just as important and a contributing factor to the financial stability of the home, he maintains that men are nowhere called to be workers at home.
This Christian viewpoint of the subject for the most part, influences our own impressions of manhood and maleto-female relationships in Jamaica making it an almost universal truth that we tend to see the roles of the sexes through quasi-Marxist lenses where worth is judged on economic terms.
Is equality a farce; are men and women wired differently and our roles destined by our gender?
Behavioural psychologist and lecturer at the Jamaica Theological Seminary, Geraldine Garwood agrees, noting that “men must serve as priest, protector and provider.” She believes that society has lost its balance primarily because men are marginalized.
“Many of our men are not self-actualized and so they tend to not be motivated to study in an effort to better themselves,” Garwood shares, “some men look at school as an arduous process and so do not develop the tolerance in some cases to pursue higher education.” This, she says, is one of the contributing factors to a man losing his place as the breadwinner, since women because of their educational achievements have the propensity to earn more than their partners.
To Read More: Purchase your copy of Volume 9 #2– May – June 2017
Share this post: