This will probably ruin my chances for copulation…
DISCLAIMER: The following argument stems from a thought I had the other day. I don’t personally support it in practice, but it is an alternate way of thinking.
The “American Dream”
A house.
A picket fence.
2.5 Kids.
A Dog.
The father goes to work in the corporate world as the provider then comes home to be the disciplinarian.
The mother stays at home as the nurturer to raise the children and has feminine hobbies in the meantime.
Slave time…
A shack
A picket fence.
However many kids the master needs to maintain the fields.
Random animals.
The father goes to work in the field then comes “home.”
The mother goes to work in the field then comes “home”.
The question is, if Black families traditionally had more equal footing in job and everything else, why is it now ideal for us to have the “American Dream?” Is that really an ideal lifestyle? Or is it a vestige of our assimilation into Anglo-Saxon Culture?
There are always endless debates about “strong black women” and how some men resent them. There are also debates about how Black men should step up and take charge. Why do we feel that this is the right thing to do? Why don’t we just accept our place as we are? Is a strong black woman one who doesn’t submit and insists on being on equal footing? Are Black men really hindered by her drive because the hierarchy is not correct?
Think about the “Mammy” stereotype. She still exists today as the single woman who takes care of business and doesn’t take mess…she is a direct nurturer. And think of the strong Black man stereotype, he is just as nurturing as we believe all women should be…but in more of a spiritual way. He’s the rock on which the family is grounded.
Not to say there is role reversal going on, I’m just saying our original places when we got to America were not in an order like woman -> man -> God. Sometimes I really think that way of thinking that the male was head of the household was a way to control women and the “lesser classes” rather than something that actually had merit.
I mean besides…when do you ever hear of African Kings?
. . .
I’m sure I just ruined all chances for any future relationships and marriages….but that’s just the way I think. I believe that everyone has their place in a relationship and marriage especially is a partnership where no one is superior or “in charge”. Woman has her place just as Man has his.
Famous African Queens (don’t just read that and say whatever, READ IT!)
Wow i’m SO getting de-something-ed for this…
Opposite Argument:
The hierarchy has been compromised because of slave times rather than as a result of that period of oppression.
I’ll think about that some other day…
