The definition of the word male has been varied depending on different spheres. Biologically, the word male has been defined as the gender that produces spermatozoa, and, traditionally, the definition was, that gender that was dominant and was most powerful.
It was the gender with the role to protect and to provide leadership for the society. The difference between the female and the male gender was made clear by their roles in the family and the society at large and the identity of gender in what they were expected to do.
The definition of any gender affected what the gender members could do and how they did whatever they did. Male gender definition greatly affected the way male people did things and the way they perceived things because the effect of the definition was introduced from the time when a child was young.
The definitions were introduced through the roles assigned to the gender members, for instance, the male gender members were expected to have a hard skin, to face all the rough situations with courage; a training they got from the time they were young. The male child was trained to dominate to deal with other issues apart from house chores.
The family’s strength was measured by the presence of a male figure, and he was to be the cornerstone of the family from the very young age. If a married couple never got a male child, the man of the family was allowed to marry as many wives as he could until he got a male child.
A male was expected to dominate in any setting, and he had to make sure that there was another male figure to inherit what he would leave once he passed away.
At home, the male gender was the security provider to the female and the children. He was to make sure the family property was secure by ensuring that animals were well housed and that all the females were housed and protected from all dangers. Family decisions were left to the male gender.
It was believed that he was in a position to make sound decisions, and he was not to be questioned especially by the female gender. In some cultures like in Africa, he decided where the female children got married and how much they got as dowry for any girl getting married. Since his decision was final, there was no room for questioning; the subject’s role was just to obey.
The male child in the family was trained to be courageous even in a dangerous situation. To be able to handle all the stipulated duties, one needed to be strong in that nothing could stand on the way to what they wanted to achieve.
For example, to be able to protect the family from thieves, the male gender was expected to be courageous and offer a direct confrontation to any person who was hostile to the family. If one behaved cowardly, the person was not considered to be male enough after that incident.
Earlier on, the male gender was the sole bread winner. It was his responsibility to do whatever it took to make sure the family did not luck the basics.
According to the number of people in his household, the male gender was to provide for all of them without failing. If that did not happen, the person became the laughing stock of the society. He was considered irresponsible and weak to the point that he was never allowed to address people in any gathering.
In terms of property ownership and inheritance, the male gender owned everything, and he would only leave it to the sons without considering the female gender.
He dictated who got what and how much. Depending on the number of male children in the family, the head of the house was to make sure they had enough to eat. Regardless of how young the male child was, he was entitled to the inheritance as it was believed that the child would need the property as a grown up.
The above roles started being taught to a male child from the time he was young. He was taught not to cry, to be courageous and to face life with courage no matter how hard life could be and how dangerous some situations could be.
He was taught how to work hard and was exposed to the difficult working conditions as young as he could understand. The male child toys were the masculine type. For example, a boy got toy cars to be trained that they needed a car to drive their family.
As a young boy, a male child was to take care of the family, animals and at all time ensure they were well-fed and well housed. This made a male child to grow knowing his role and the societal expectation of him.
The education system also defined a male child as a fighter for great grades in efforts to promise a better future. A male was expected to perform in all academic work and if a male child was defeated by a female child in academics, he was regarded as a failure and nothing much in terms of academics was expected from him.
The role of the male child in education was to excel, to get good grades to the next level, to secure well-paying jobs and where possible head the companies they would work for. Promotions and decision making for a company were entrusted to be workable when they came from the male gender.
The male child in the education system was destined to do the hard and technical courses and excel in them no matter how hard the courses could be. This was the motivation behind why many male students dominate the courses like engineering and aeronautics and excel in them. The training to be leaders drove men to politics an area feared by female.
The society at large had a very high esteem of the male gender. The way a male child was received from birth was in a way that the society was sure of their future. The society was sure of having future leaders who could be trusted with decisions.
The society was sure of continuity and protection because as many males were born, military was believed to grow stronger. Furthermore, in the case of war, the society was sure to get enough force to defend their territory.
All the definitions given by family, education system and the society were so limiting. The definition dictated how a boy child was given orientation which in turn affected how they perceived life. The definition that they were to dominate made them not to give room to any female who could offer better leadership than they were.
Although being in leadership gave a boy child the opportunities to enjoy being served, it limited him on how much he could do. For example, the definition of duties to the male in the family being outside house chores was so limiting.
When one was a bachelor and there was no female around, the bachelor could go hungry if he lacked money to buy food just because he did not know how to prepare even a simple meal. In some situations, he could not even wash his cloths, the reason for being unkempt. The idea of him being on top could lead many of them into depression if they never achieved the set goals.
The other limitation was in acceptance of what they could not do. For example, a male child academically was supposed to perform higher than his female classmates; this at times could take a child into depression if the opposite happened.
Some of them could get into vices like stealing to be able to maintain the standard set on male gender in the society. The issues around inheritance were so many; the eldest son at times could demand to get bigger shares, which at times led to family conflicts.
There were cases of some male children being reluctant academically because they knew some wealth was somewhere for them as inheritance from their dad. If a society got many of this character, the society ended up producing a lot of irresponsible men who cared less about performance.
There is therefore, a need for the definitions to be reviewed to deal with the many limitations presented and allow the male gender to venture into the female world, accept the challenges and build a healthy society where both genders enjoy and learn from each other.