Shifting Roles

2 Pages 390 Words

Roles are shifting in many African households.

Gender roles are changing as women get prestigious jobs in NGO’s and multinational companies. Women are now bringing in more money into the home and causing confusion because they are torn between contributing more as their husband’s would or insisting that the man provide none-the-less.
As women bring home more money it only makes sense that they dictate how that money is used and who gets to touch the money. This spans from which television to buy to where to go on holiday. Thus there is a shift of the role of head of house from the man to the woman. Although in some homes the man insists that he will remain the head of the house and that the woman should provide as he would.

As the role of head of house shifts so do the relationships within the home. Traditionally the man was feared by the children, seeing as his word was the law, but now it is the woman who is looked at that way by the children.

As women are economically and domestically empowered, they are being empowered socially as well. Before women were expected to stay home after work, now it is very normal for a woman to come home and go out for a drink with her friends. During weekends as well, it is normal for women to go off with her friends for women’s group trips or clubs, thus men are being forced to stay at home with the kids. Also because women are globe-trotting a lot more, men are taking on the role of caregiver s they stay home with the children.

There is also a shift in the role of the religious leader in the home. Traditionally it was the man who the church would know as the head of the family i.e. Mr Mtila’s wife and children. But now it is women who are taking a more recognised role in the church. There are more female preachers as well as more women being dedicated to church and ensuring that their families are religious.

Also women’s roles in are such as sports has changed.

Families u...