During the Spanish Era, women were tied to the house and their roles were dedicated exclusively to housekeeping and caring for the children. On the other hand, there was an idea that men should be the provider of the family and protector of women. Women were also too obedient to elders and always submissive to males because it. Women were banned from doing any work because it was men's responsibility. Women were being discriminated. But now, many changes had happened which made me thought if men are really left behind by women in terms of career.
In an article As gender roles change, are men out of step? by Susan Spencer, she interviewed a Dean at Kenyon College in Ohio named Jennifer Delahunty concerning the concept of " IT'S A MAN'S WORLD " saying.
In the interview, she said that "Gender politics are alive and well in this country, let there be no doubt," who laid it all out in a 2006 opinion piece in The New York Times exposing the widening gap in achievement. She also observed that the number of college males enrolling has been lessening for more than four decades because of some beliefs of this college males that doing school home works and other stuffs are not cool the reason why they do not wanted to be engaged school stuffs.
I think this kind of belief of males has to be corrected as early as possible because if males has this kind of mind-set, time might come wherein all managers, employees, President, and other leaders and subordinates will all be female. The traditional role of man in the Philippine society will be suppressed by women who now works for the family instead of the males.
Professor Michael Scott Kimmel
Sociologist Michael Kimmel was also interviewed about the "boys crisis." In the interview, he said that "Boys think that academic disengagement is a sign of masculinity. "The less you can do in school, the less connected you are, the less interested you are, the more manly you are", which means that those men who most strongly subscribe to it are those men who are going to be left behind.
In my point of view, men are full of pride. They hate cramming.They hate being pressured and they also hate being too much engage on things.They take everything easily because they do not wanted to be stressed. Based from what I have observed on men, even if they have a bunch of works and projects which is to be submitted the other day they would still prefer to play DOTA and other online games first than doing tasks which should be prioritized. Honestly, that kind of attitude of men impressed me in some way because they are being positive despite the fact that something more important has to be done first. As a woman, I have a different outlook when it comes to studies. Whenever there is something that I wanted to do like listening to music or watching a movie, I always see to it that my tasks as a student must be done first because I would not enjoy watching a good movie if there is something bothering me. Sometimes I also wanted to try their habits but I cannot because I fear of not finishing my tasks at the right time and be left behind.
Mr. Kimmel also mentioned that there was a study which finds that young women today value high-paying careers more than young men do which I think is because of men's less interests in handling responsibilities. But according to Delahunty, "The reality is that because young men are rarer, they're more valued applicants," and she apologized to girls who'd been rejected because of "demographic realities." In Delahunty's perspective although men are rarer, they still encompassed females in terms of demographic realities.
On the other hand in Kimmel's perspective, he emphasized that the idea of an affirmative action program for men is engaged in by a lot of colleges is because they are worried that the women are much better qualified. For me if that will be the case, chances are that men are really in transition of what it means to be a man.
Another journalist named Liza Mundy said that, "our ideas of masculinity change". In her recent book called "The Richer Sex," Mundy predicts that women's economic rise above men will benefit everyone. which means that Women’s earnings will not only bring a new liberation for women but also for men. This book of her somewhat talks about the equality on men and women because when a man rises, the woman also rises. Mundy also said that, "women gives men within marriage more choices. They don't necessarily have to go into a career they're not interested in just to be the breadwinner, just to be the wage earner. They're not going to be judged simply on their ability to generate a salary."
An example of a man who dropped his career some years ago to stay at home while his wife is at the office was New Yorker Matt Schneider in which according to another article CBS News Report: Role Reversal / Stay-At-Home Men, men’s roles at home and with family are at the epicenter of priorities. Over 90% of men believe that part of being a man is taking care of your family and those around you and would sacrifice their own needs to take care of their families.
However in the article, pressure to follow traditional gender roles at home still exists; wherein nearly 3 of 4 men concur that society looks down on men who choose to stay at home. Further:
- 55% of men say they would love to be a stay-at-home dad.
- Over a quarter of men with children are solidified in the stay-at-home role, and among these men, nearly the same percentage (23%) admit it’s their responsibility to watch the kids alone, all the time.
- Yet, that’s not to say men have gone soft, commented Richman. “They express their masculinity through ‘small adventures’ from recreational sports to eating contests, and everywhere in between.” For example, 84% of men surveyed agree that every so often, they need to challenge themselves, “even if it’s weird or stupid.”
- 89% participate in grocery shopping
- 88% in pet care
- 85% in house cleaning
- 83% in doing laundry
- 80% in cooking evening meals
Schneider said that, "There's an expectation that we're going to fit into a certain mold," which is the mold of breadwinner. If one would think, having this kind of decision is too hard to other people.
Many people looks at a man as someone who is bold, brave, and tough. There might be different perceptions but for me, the truth is no one can measure the true meaning of being a man just by looking at it physically because the essence of being a man can be found through his words and actions. A man who does not know how to sacrifice and to be responsible can never be a man. A true man values his family and other people. He does not use his strengths to harm or to be arrogant but to help and inspire people. Men in the Philippine Society are termed as " Haligi ng Tahanan" which means that they are not simply a provider of the family but also serves as the role model for the family aside from women.
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