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Post by irishconfederate on Oct 26, 2015 20:43:46 GMT
Hello,
Separate to the general issue of how to protect distinct identities of men and women in society.....for the sake of society..........
what about specifically on man as head of the household?
In my personal experience men in families often seem to be the most instable, immature and problematic, and women more self-sacrificing and predictable.
I was speaking with a Muslim man on this topic and he said that his experience was the same- although we both agreed that the man was head of the household........
Chesterton said something that man was more democratic, and woman autocratic. And with reference to woman he meant with regard to the household.
I once met an extraordinary Catholic couple who had studied and practiced that the man was the head of the household for most of their marriage, and.....they're presentation of it both in they're marriage and in their explanation wasn't that convincing.........in fact the woman again seemed an example of heroic self-sacrifice and the man a wildcard and everyone had to tip toe round his mood.
The Muslim man and I both agreed that there's no such thing as a perfect marriage of course, or anything close..........but with this "man as the head of the household", I do need some real example in my life at least...............for man is head of the household is appearing to me as pie in the sky?
I need some help..
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Post by Ranger on Oct 26, 2015 21:00:15 GMT
I think that what has a genuine basis in Church teaching and more broadly speaking is that the man is the 'spiritual head' of the household. This doesn't mean he gets to give orders and all that jazz, but rather that he should be seen to be taking a leading role in the spiritual life of the family, leading in prayer, pilgrimages etc. I believe that Alaisdir mentioned some definite sociological evidence to show that the role of the father is critical for the transmission of faith to children.
Outside of this, I don't think that it's healthy for a marriage for the man to be 'head' of the household. Marriage is a partnership and a genuine equality which sees husband and wife working together and using their talents in the areas in which each is stronger for the good of one another in an attitude of self respect is the ideal, rather than placing the wife on some sort of intermediary level between children and husband, or making some sort of faux 'equal' arrangement of doing everything 50-50.
This might not be traditional at times; I've seen it work quite well where the wife goes out and works and the husband stays at home with the kids, for example, although that might be the exception rather than the rule. It depends on the individual strengths and talents of the couple and it requires working together to form the domestic church that is the family.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2015 15:34:50 GMT
I have to agree with Ranger here. I find the idea of a man looking down on his wife as second-in-command to be a bit awkward.
Besides - maybe I've just watched too much tv and too many films - I always thought that the long-running joke was that all men, including (maybe especially) powerful and influential men, all had a wife, or mistress, or a mother secretly whispering in their ears.
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