We have all seen movies in which men assume women roles and often times things turn out perfectly fine, on a scale of 1 to “are you kidding me”, how realistic is that? Women can cover a variety of roles within the society and the domestic surroundings as well. No matter how much men always make fun of the things that women cannot do very well (which are a few), women remain to cover a much larger area of the “responsibility ground” whether it is admitted openly or not! Let’s assume a hypothetical world in which men exchange roles with women given that women have already shown their ability to exchange roles with men (working tough jobs and being 30% of breadwinners in the Egyptian household).
Jobs that are usually judged and looked at as being “fairly easy” by men are taken by women very seriously and are nowhere near being the alleged “piece of cake”. So, assuming women are living in an ideal world in which their men make enough money for the whole household and provide them with a heightened sense of self-actualization (as per Maslow’s hierarchy of needs), who will do their jobs?
How would you feel if you go to a waxing or nail spa and find that they were being performed by a guy? I believe this will take “awkward” to a new level for both men and women! I do not believe that a woman can walk into a salon and go into a private room with a guy to get her waxing done, and even if it is ok with her, how do you think others will feel about it? I try to visualize a world in which is it okay for my spouse or significant other to be cool about men performing beautifying services on me! The nail spa issue is not an easier one (though it may be a bit less awkward per se!). I wonder how I would feel having a member of the opposite sex rub my feet, soak them into hot water, scrub them and then give me a nice Meni and Pedi while being absolutely professional about it with no weirdness at all! Meanwhile, it is perfectly alright for a woman to do nail spa and other male beautifying services on men and women will not feel the least bit weird about it!
Now imagine this scenario in which you walk into a spa that offers massaging services and it is run by men only! For years, women have been great masseurs and have always led the way in this field. Regardless of the gender of the person receiving the service, a woman can do it. So imagine a couples’ sentimental massage that is performed by guys! So basically it will be soft music, towels, oils, one woman, her partner and 2 other men in the room. I will not derail into details of what this might resemble but I will let your decent imagination figure this out on its own! Men are more likely to accept massaging services from women because it makes more sense for them to have a woman rub their body and help them relax versus having a guy do this for them in a context that is likely to make them feel homosexual versus relaxed!
How about you take some time off and head to a Red Sea getaway in which there is a great animation team of all men? What kind of a freak show would that be? Imagine them dressed up in very nice swim suits and trying to keep everyone in the resort entertained… this includes parents, children, and even older people. Do you believe that men will be capable of handling a diverse audience like this and keep them entertained while maintaining their professionalism and not occasionally checking out women in bikinis getting tan? Well, I would say that the likelihood of them getting fired prior to getting anything done makes a lot of sense!
Bottom line: if there are jobs being done by women it is because women are more “qualified” than men to do these jobs, not because the jobs require someone with a “smaller” set of competencies. Women are able to do multiple jobs and this is even done on daily basis as every woman exchanges more than one hat during the day to fulfil all the roles she is needed to cover whether at home or by the community.
