‘Financial muscle should not switch family roles’

The decision by many women to further their careers to fend for their households has raised the serious question: why try to raise income when the man, the supposed head of the family, is responsible for the role? In the past, a man was deemed responsible for supporting his family financially. With time, however, some women have assumed the responsibility of supporting their families. Would this mean a switch in positions of head of the family? In this article, Paida Mpaso writes about the notion of men being head of the family and where it originated.

Experts define the head of the family as one with a moral obligation to exercise authority on his family and support the dependent members.

Family enrichment expert Patrick Semphere says regardless of what the man does or does not do in a family, he remains the head of the family because it is nature’s design.

Semphere backs his argument by referring to the biblical creation when God created man first, then the woman, thereby undisputedly placing the latter under the former.

“There is a meaning to this creation and it must not be taken lightly. For me, the man remains the head of the family, one who exercises leadership through his conduct.

“This reflects on the type of decisions made and how they are executed.  We are talking of leading ideally by influencing the rest of the team,” he says.

Semphere says regardless of the woman’s contribution in the family, the man is still the head and people must respect that.

“With careers and/or businesses, men may be in positions of not providing for their families, but if we tried to reverse the roles, I still believe women cannot lead as well as men. These are the rules of creation and messing with that only brings chaos,” he says.

Traditional Authority Kachindamoto of Dedza says men have always been providers for their families; hence, the roles can never change.

“As women, I think our role is simply to complement what the man does. Let us not try to reverse the roles. There are times you will find that the woman in charge of the household financially or materially but it does not mean belittling the man,” she says.

Kachindamoto adds that career women should never look down on unemployed men.

“It is rude for career women to treat men any lesser on grounds of lacking an income.  It should not be entertained. The man was created first and the woman second. There is a meaning to that. As a chief, I tell women to respect their husbands,” she says.