My Take On It: Some man and woman-made gender role changes in our modern times

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. / God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth.” – Genesis 1:27-28

God’s norms on gender (male and female) roles are clear and unchangeable. That is, a man shall make babies (put his seed in the woman), and the woman shall carry that seed in her womb and when born she shall nurture (nurse, breast feed) the baby. These two roles, no matter how advanced medical science shall ever get, are not interchangeable. Man will never breastfeed a baby (nor carry babe – he has no apparatus in his body for this), and likewise a woman will never give another person a seed that turns into a baby; she too has no apparatus on her body.

I have learned along the way that while the two God-ordained gender roles are non-interchangeable, there are some man-and-woman-made gender roles that have changed and continue to change. I checked the Bible, the changes do not conflict with God-specified gender roles (baby-making man and breast feeding woman). But these days men are doing things that in the old days were specifically women’s only tasks; likewise women are doing tasks that only men did in the same old days.

The other day during the holiday weekend, I visited my friend’s house and found her husband in the kitchen, preparing the family the evening meal. She had been held up at work. A refreshing switch? Maybe, but men these days do not find it strange for them to cook or even offer to cook. They also are more often than not, doing the poop duty (changing their baby’s soiled diaper). They are sweeping dirty floors, washing the family dirty laundry, and many other previously women-only duties around the house.

To this, I give a shout out to the men and say BRAVO! You’ve come a long way Baby!

On the other side of the gender spectrum, there are more women that are given jobs as chefs. This wage-earning job was previously (in the west in the south) a man’s job. No woman, even though she cooked meals for her family, was considered for this “outside the home job of cooking. Today, there are more women that are chefs outside their homes and the job is no longer reserved for men.

To this, I give a shout out to the women and say BRAVO! You’ve come a long way Baby!

One job that seems not to be getting a gender overturn is that of fixing cars. I went to work on a day when teachers had a “work from any location,” and when it was time to go home, my car would not start. The car dashboard had no lights on mode. I looked around the busy school parking lot, and all the faces were full of people I did not know; the school was preparing for a dance for young dancers (none of whom were high school age. I asked a woman if she had “a jump start thingy to nudge my battery to life.”

After two women no’s, I summoned up courage to ask a man, and the first one asked other people after saying he didn’t (helpful; women take the hint please). The second man I asked, not only said he did, he picked up a back to prove it. He quickly connected his jump-start cables to my car (after opening my engine compartment), and then gave me two advices as follows:

1.                  Always park your car with the back to the curb; that way if you ever need to jump-start your car, it is easy for the other car to get close to your engine); and

2.                 Get your battery cleaned, it has a lot of build up to it.

To all my gender empowerment women out there, listen up: get yourself geared up with the jump-start cable thingy! There’s no saying we are winning the gender battle, if we don’t have simple things like jump-start cables in our vehicles!

Janet Karim

Author, high school Learning Disabilities Teacher, candidate Master of Education Special Education, Mason University; highly organized, charismatic and persuasive Communications Specialist and accomplished Journalist, Editor with 41 years in the communications field, offering expertise in all phases of print, broadcast, telecast, and social media productions. Enthusiastic story teller. Highly-motivated and trained media professional possessing exceptional writing and editing skills with ability to draft engaging and effective content; Opinion column contributor for leading national dailies (Maravi Post – 2015-PRESENT; Nation Malawi – 2015-PRESENT; Times Malawi (2004-2007). Other areas of expertise include grant writing and NGO project management. Highly trained in international, regional and local lobbying and election skills. Collaborates with international companies to initiate development policy change and foster public awareness, with deep commitment to social justice and health care equity; especially in work towards women’s political, economic, and social empowerment; ending child, early and forced marriage; and promoting the human rights of the elderly. Advocate for highlighting climate change its effects on the planet. International development work experience with the United Nations headquarters (10 years, and two years UNDP field work); field experience (Malawi) – Oxfam, UNDP, UNICEF and UNESCO. Superb public speaker who communicates effectively with target audiences through strategic one-to-one or large audiences, expert in event planning and PR campaigns. Conscientious, diplomatic, and tactful in all communicationsg.