The better half

For some days, I have been reading articles in the newspaper regarding the respective roles of the husband and the wife in the family. Although commenting on this is beyond my scope, still I will make an attempt to put forth my opinion on this.

The first and the foremost is that both husband and wife are equal shareholders in the well-being of the family. Both have equal responsibilities and both have equal right of their fruit. It is in the best interests of the family that neither of them is slighted or left out of their due equal share of running the family. If one spouse begins to assume the powers and load the responsibilities on the other spouse, there will be chaos in place of the family order.

The second is regarding what is called the "division of labour". This was needed when man was largely clustered into hunter-gatherer societies and had to survive on a daily basis. But in today's modern technological milieu, the professions are no longer gender dependent and are interchangeable. But human biology is independent of technological progress. Hence today's division of family responsibilities are still needed and the other spouse (whose professional advancement does not have biological limitations) must take an equal, if not greater share in the family welfare to restore parity.

This is for the individuals, the couples, the families, the societies and the nations concerned to decide. But any decision taken must be in consonance with the basic principles of human dignity and human rights. Any line of thought in dissonance is bound to invite ridicule and condemnation. Thus we must strive to solve these problems by confronting them.

Is the growth of children dependent on one particular parent, or is it dependent on both parents, or is it independent of the gender of the parent? Child psychologists must answer this question in a convincing manner because any answer of theirs will be treated as gospel and be used to promote a certain system of family values. I myself do not know the answer to this question.

All this is food for thought for answering questions that concern societal culture and human dignity.