Men and Women: Auxiliary Auspices for Each Other

 

Men and women have biological differences and are often perceived differently in society, but these are generalizations that don't apply to all individuals. While some sources discuss behavioral differences in relationships or communication styles, it is crucial to remember that each person is unique and should be treated as an individual, rather than through stereotypes. 

It’s been said that men and women are so unlike each other, it’s as if they’re from different planets – a claim that continues to amuse and irritate. John Gray’s original mega-selling book Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, first published in the early 1990s, has sold millions, spawning numerous parodies such as Katherine Black and Finn Contini’s Women May Be from Venus, But Men are Really from Uranus and even comedy stage shows, such as Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, Live! currently playing off Broadway.

Men and women are depicted in literature through the portrayal of characters, themes, and authorial perspectives, which have been shaped by historical gender roles and societal power structures. Historically, male authors often dominated literature, leading to a prevalence of male perspectives and the use of traditional female archetypes like the "pure virgin" or the "temptress". However, in recent decades, there has been a significant increase in the recognition of diverse female voices, leading to a wider range of female experiences being represented in literature, though a "character gender gap" persists in which male characters are more frequently the focus. 

Many studies show a significant imbalance in the number of male and female characters in literature, with men outnumbering women, a trend that narrows when the author is a woman. Feminist scholarhood, beginning with influential works like Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, critically analyzes the portrayal of women in literature and the discrepancies between their fictional roles and societal positions.

Contemporary literature is increasingly moving beyond traditional gender roles, with authors exploring new perspectives and challenging outdated stereotypes. The landscape of literature is changing, with female authors achieving greater prominence and challenging the dominance of male perspectives. 

Modern historians have shown that women were often actively, aggressively, and effectively involved in public and private life. Yet in America, as in Europe, women continued to be denied legal rights accorded to men: the right to vote, to serve on juries, to enter a case in a court of law, to borrow or sell real property without a husband's or a father's consent, to gain custody of children in the event of a divorce. During the period in which the roots of American literature were formed, men typically had unquestioned authority over women.

Controversies about discrimination between men and women have been prevailing since time immemorial till today. We find remarkable distinctions between treatment of men and women in families and workplaces, at home and outside both. Social structures, theological regulations and several demographic features work as main reasons behind the existing disparity between men and women. While referring to gender inequity, we often talk about the social issues of under developed nations though this sort of discrimination is found in prosperous countries too. Many countries of the world are governed by women which is a source of encouragement indeed. Countries ruled by women have made a lot of progress during last several years which is an implication that women are good enough at running state mechanism.

It’s a widely known observation that men have an instinctive characteristic to dominate women. In most cases it happens at home where husbands often face complaints about not complying with their wives’ desires and ambitions all the time. It should be kept in consideration that there are certain constraints in today’s socioeconomic circumference because of which husbands cannot all the time listen to the entreaties of their better halves. In the present world in almost all countries men and women carry on outdoor jobs. It’s a very common phenomenon in today’s world to find women working for banks, schools, hospitals, supermarkets and many more places. Particularly some organizations prefer women for different posts like airlines, hospitals, shopping malls because of women’s better presentation skills. Women are found carrying out their duties in policymaking jobs too. There are lots of political leaders, ministers, bureaucrats who have been doing fabulously nice work to meet professional goals. Women are doing tough jobs like controlling law and order in police uniforms, fighting on battlefields for military services. So, those days are gone when women used to be undermined by men. Both men and women are equally essential for social progress and national advancement.

To evaluate these circumstances from the viewpoint of indoor life, families which have both mom and dad doing outdoor jobs sometimes don’t have enough time to take care of their children. For this reason, kids in these families don’t get sufficient care and support from their parents. These parents depend most of the time on babysitters for looking after their kids. With living costs rising tremendously, just one person’s earnings sometimes cannot meet all requirements in a family. This is one of the reasons why women are also becoming all the more eager and enthusiastic to work outside home besides men. On the other hand, women in the current socioeconomic ambience regard it as an added advantage for them to have access to their own income instead of totally relying on the earnings of their husbands or other male partners. Since girls have been doing quite well in academic institutions recently, they are being able to find well-paid jobs to become competent and to command respect from others around them. Money earned by women plays substantial roles for speeding up the economic wheels of the whole families they belong to. With both parents earning money, children can grow up in the middle of a higher financial soundness which is required for growing confidence and self-esteem among youngsters. However, it needs to be highlighted that children should not be left alone in a state of negligence with both guardians occupied with jobs and business. Actually keeping up a solid balance between outdoor work and indoor chores is one of the most vital prerequisites for leading a happy life.

Women’s safety at workplaces and in outdoor activities is a very important precondition. We often get to hear a lot of hazards gripping women when they travel to universities, offices, shops etc. A country’s law and order forces and judicial system can play effective roles for establishing women’s safety and honor at all places. Still in several places where people have not been yet able to overcome ultra-conservative social norms, women’s outdoor occupations are not much appreciated. This is a big challenge on the way for women to achieve all out emancipation. A lot of changes need to be brought about with our thoughts and visions to liberate women to continue their work as housewives as well as executives smoothly. Like a person cannot stand firmly on just one leg, in the same way it is not easy for a nation to become self-sufficient only counting on the contribution by male citizens. Women’s capability also needs to be recognized. Their dynamism should be promoted too for the sake of healthy socioeconomic parameters.

An important literary trend across the twentieth century and into the twenty-first was the increasing attention paid to women writers. While important female writers had existed throughout history, it was only by the late twentieth century that the literary establishment truly began to consider them to the same degree as male authors. At first this typically took the form of separate analysis of works and styles as "women's writing," as in women's studies programs. This scholarship helped draw attention to the rich body of earlier works by women that were largely ignored by the mainstream literary community. Eventually some feminist thinkers criticized this outlook, however, suggesting that literary criticism should not be segregated by the sex or gender of the author.

As with men's writing that long favored male protagonists, many prominent female authors have focused on women characters. Through tropes of the mother, the pure innocent, and the temptress remained influential, a much wider range of female identities and perspectives emerged. This included depictions of women of color and LGBTQ women. Along with Woolf, some of the most prominent women writers who explore women's experiences in their works include Alice Walker, Louisa May Alcott, Zora Neale Hurston, Muriel Spark, Doris Lessing, Alice Munro, and Toni Morrison. The novel The Handmaid's Tale (1985) by Margaret Atwood earned much attention for its feminist themes, as did its eventual sequel, The Testaments (2019).

Glancing back at indoor life, children need more service and affection from their mother though there is no way to downplay father’s roles. Married couples sometimes have rifts within themselves regarding their responsibilities for each other. Some problems within husbands and wives arise from egocentric matters too but all hurdles can be mitigated when reciprocal honor prevails over self-cornered mindset. Underrating the roles of women at home or outside is a totally misperceived assessment. Women deserve full liberty and privileges like men for flourishing on both individual as well as collective grounds.


Mahfuz Ul Hasib Chowdhury is a
contributor to different English 
newspapers and magazines.