- Traditional gender roles are evolving and are now interchangeable
- Many now hold the belief that Nigerian mothers should train their boys along with the girls in basic life skills
- Also, masculinity should not be diminished by cooking and/or cleaning
Traditionally, a man is known to be the provider and protector of his family while the woman takes care of the homefront.
Similarly, in many religions, it is a man’s place to dominate his woman, till the ground, struggle and strife for his family’s well-being, while the woman cooks, tends to the kids, and takes care of the home.
However, due to civilisation, the woke culture and gender equality movements, cultures and traditions have evolved and the stereotypical gender roles are now interchangeable. Gone are the days when a woman’s place was in the kitchen, now, more men are now found in the kitchen than women.
According to statistics by Data USA, male chefs make up 77.4 percent of the Chefs and Head Cooks workforce in 2022. The profession aside, cooking is a life skill that everyone, irrespective of gender, should have. It is synonymous with cleaning up after yourself.
However, some Nigerian mothers still believe that girls should be taught cooking and cleaning skills while boys should be left to play.
This mindset has made most of the older generation men dependent on their wives, most of whom have to work and still handle the chores. If gender roles are now interchangeable and women work, why shouldn’t men cook and clean? If the bills in a household are shared 50/50, why should the chores be left for only the woman to handle?
Most traditional Nigerian women and the patriarchy enablers find it difficult to understand why a man should learn to cook when he will be married to a woman who would do all of the cooking and cleaning anyway.
Notwithstanding, men cook and don’t lose their masculinity while at it. Teaching basic life skills to boys will not only help them be independent and better people, they would also be better husbands. A man’s masculinity doesn’t decline just because he’s helpful in the house.
We’ve seen men who take care of their children, help their wives in the kitchen and even make surprise dinners for their wives, if anything, it helps with family bonding and teaches the children to be useful to themselves and to those around them.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of the organisation TheRadar