Why We Should All Strive For Feminine and Masculine Equilibrium
I believe in love. I believe in romantic love between two parties, a man and a woman. I believe that two people can fall in love and build a beautiful life together. The sad thing is, in these times we are living in, many young people are opting out of the traditional way of meeting someone, courting and eventually being husband and wife.
Nowadays, you find that both female and male fear commitment. But will you blame them? There are several reasons why some people opt to stay single and maybe just raise kids on their own. Some of these reasons may include;
- Fear of commitment
- Toxic femininity/ masculinity
- Fear of heartbreak/fear of being cheated on
- Seeing so many troubled couples (one opts to stay single to avoid such drama)
- Finance- building a family comes with it share of huge finances.
- Lack of genuinity in some people
- And the list continues…..
What is this doing to our generation?
You find that there are so many “broken” home these days, across all cultures. There are so many divorces and separations. In such situations, children always suffer the most. I believe that in the past, there were very few separations, let alone divorces. This was because of the strong social fabric that was instilled in every culture. Family was a very strong unit, and girls grew up knowing and desiring to one day be someone’s wife and raise a family. It was a woman’s pride. I know that such a thinking saw so many women waste their potential in rearing children and taking care of their husbands and not doing anything else with their lives. That’s why we saw the raise of feminist and women rights all over the world especially in the U.S in the 20th century. Women saw that they were not being treated equally, i.e. they were not allowed to participate in some activities live voting.
I agree that these actions were degrading as it meant that a woman’s work was just to bear children and take care of her husband, instead of being allowed to choose what she wanted.
So, with the growth of globalization, more and more women realized that they can go to school, make a life of themselves and choose a husband of her own when she felt the time was right. I believe this was the right way to go, but it has been hindered by negative/toxic femininity. According to Healthline, toxic femininity is a behavior that reflects or supports gender-based stereotypes or social norms for women. Additionally, it refers to any situation in which women are either openly taught or seek to comply to conventional norms. Toxic femininity arises from society’s rigid norms. It frequently occurs as a subconscious attempt to find value or develop a sense of belonging in a patriarchal environment.
Personally, I wish to see a society that has balance. I believe that if both men and women agree on certain aspects, like each of them understanding their own feminine and masculine sides, we can use that balance to bring good and not evil.
It is high time for society to recognize that masculinity and femininity are attributes we associate with based on character rather than gender. I feel that in order to be balanced and better humans, we must have both masculine and feminine qualities.
I believe in a world where both male and female understand who they are, and when they come together, they compliment one another instead of competing with one another.
