G.E.A.R. to Humans (4)

Man, Woman and Reactions

This one is going to be really brief today. Reason being that I already touched on it a bit in G.E.A.R to Humans (3). You can have a look if you haven’t read it before. I implore you to please read them (the 3 previous articles) to have a background of what this is about.

G.E.A.R. → Gender roles, Emotions, Assignment given by society and Reactions.

Today will be all about Assignments given by society. This classification probably looks too vague to you. It is just about what society expects from men and women generally.

Following the evolutionary roles men and women had to play, picture how abuse and changes sipped into the agreement of co-existence that men and women had. You only hear about class systems budding from economic value or position in the society but there has always been a class system between men and women.

Society expects men to always be bosses. A female boss is more or less the saucy lady who made her way through rudely. Society also expects the woman to be primary caregivers. A man who is responsible for his kids is just right under his wife’s thumb.

The problem is that people do not want to accept that there is a fluidity in how things are done now. Those sick old rules do not apply anymore. I don’t see the average Lagos guy going to a farm or war in the next year. (I should probably hush).

To be clear, society here is in reference to Africans.

There is this one I find very cute. It is the subtly popular one that goes around. It is the “Yeah, why not? You can dream… just within the confines of your fertility window” for ladies. It is also the “You want to be the inferior man when she earns more? How are you a man then?” So cute.

Society’s expectations can be confounding and they can pretty much lead you into a life you’d hate for yourself. It is not denying facts like society would suggest to you, that destroys your hopes for a good life. It is crafting your dreams to suit every voice in our society that destroys you.

Some assignments are like rat traps waiting to click. Avoiding them is a no-brainer. For me, most times my faith keeps me in check and the little per cent of time left has my goals to thank for still being there.