The famous quote “Women hold up half the sky” was made by Chairman Mao during his reign in the 20th century. Today, in modern times, some may feel that women have increased their superiority against the other gender and may play an even more important role than men in some areas. With regard to the context of family, I feel that although there has been an increase in the role of women these days, men still play an equally important part in the family.
Since prehistoric times, men have always been the ones who have been the breadwinners of the family. Cavemen would go out to hunt for food, while their wives would stay at home and look after the children. However, in our modern day, gone are the times when women were only good for cooking and child-bearing. Education has allowed women to surge to greater heights, not only in the working world but at home as well. Most men can no longer claim superiority over women based on being the sole breadwinner, and now, women play an equally important role as men in providing family income.
With greater education these days, women have also allowed themselves to play a larger role in shaping their children’s future. In the past, children only learnt in school most of the time, as their fathers were busy with work while their mothers did not learn enough to help them in their studies. Not all children were fortunate enough to have extra tutorship sessions. In our current times, women are now better equipped to help their children with the skills needed to help their children in the primary years of their education. Most women at least go through secondary education, which would be more than enough to tutor their children with. This has allowed for the development of greater minds as more children are able to cope with their studies even if they do not have tuition. In the long term, better education would help to develop our society even more. With the allowance of women to gain education, it has allowed them to play a more integral role in helping their children excel in their academics.
However, one cannot deny that the existence of husbands in the family structure is still a dominant role despite of the many changes from the past to the present. The support of the male counterpart is important for both male and female children. For males, having a father figure helps them define masculinity. It is during their younger days, when boys view their father as their hero, that they find their inner sense of chivalry and courage which helps them grow up as men in the future. For girls, seeing how their father treats their mother helps to shape their perspective of how they view men to be.
With the liberation of women, one may feel inclined to think that women have definitely become more superior to men in the family. However, I still feel that men definitely have an integral part to play in the shaping of the minds of children. With that in mind, I feel that women have elevated themselves to the position where they are on the edge of surpassing the importance of men in the family. However, they are definitely not more important than men but rather of almost equal importance as men are irreplaceable in the growing and nurturing of their young in the family.
