The role of men in traditional societies

The role of men in traditional societies is generally for the males to be the ruling gender while the women are given a subservient position. In certain traditional societies, however, this has been modified as modernization has taken place and as economic development has improved working conditions and the employment picture in general while also bringing this regions more and more onto the world stage where they must interact with other countries, notably Western states with a more egalitarian societal structure even if the reality does not always match the intent. The role of men in China, Nigeria, and Egypt today shows both how traditional elements have been maintained even as some changes have been instituted.

Interestingly, much of the research on the male role today comes not from studies designed to illuminate that issue specifically but instead intended to highlight the role of women. For this reason, the role of men is often set forth to show how it differs from and contrasts with the role of women, as is indicated in a recent study from Africa:

Images and stereotypes of women, particularly African women, abound. Indeed, African women have long been perceived as docile, "bound to home and hearth," submissive to male authority, and even politically inert or passive (Ekechi 235).

In Nigeria, there is evidence that some believe the traditional male role is being challenged, which has produced various devices to protect that role and to disseminate it more w

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ranic basis for them: Bravery and manliness, hospitality and generosity, and the honor syndrome, all pre-Islamic concepts of Bedouin origin, are the dominant concerns. Yet, with one exception, none of them is part of the ethical system of the Koran; and conversely. . . none of the ethical teachings of the Koran have developed into a dominant feature in the actual Arab ethics of virtue (Patai 99). About 60 percent of the country consists of peasant farmers or villagers, making this an important element in the population (Nydell 130). The peasant class is made up of males called the fellah, a word meaning worker. These are largely agricultural workers who work every day of the year in the fields: The fellah's work, even more than his physical and mental make-up or his habitat, is determined by the double environment [physical and social]. . . It seems in fact the mere consequences of limits and conditions which society and the soil impose upon him (Ayrout 35). Among the fellahin as well, the male is dominant. He purchases a wife from her family and sets up housekeeping. Under Muslim law, a man amy have up to four wives, though this is dependent on his ability to pay for them. Divorce is possible with merely the pronou

Category: Psychology - T