The term Manhood is a pretty loaded word. Mainly because of it's long existence I suppose. For as long as there was man, there was the word man.
On a most basic level it is a noun for our species. But I intended in this post to talk about the term as opposed to woman.
So do I mean Man as in Male?.. again on a most basic level, yes, but surely there's much more to it than that right? the term is "loaded". It means much more than just the anatomical aspect of it.
If I attempt to delve a little deeper and spell out some of the those "unspoken" meanings of Manhood, we can start with:
- Honor
- Providence
- Responsibility
- Strength
- Security
- Vigilance
Ok, these are only the positive sides of Manhood. Or we can say "being a Man" is supposed to be a positive thing. Sure there's a negative side to each of these qualities, like:
- Strength misused for Brutality
- Providence into Selfish stinginess
- Vigilance into Oppression
and so on..
So let's cut to the chase.. being "Male", on a most basic level gives strength and power. It can be financial power, muscular power, political power, you name it. It is mainly "out-doorsy" power. Feminists can kiss my ass but when it comes down to it, women in this world only have power which men have provided to them. Women are only safe because men are protecting them. AS THEY SHOULD! don't get me wrong.
Hmmm.. I don't like the way this post is heading.. I intended it to talk about what's a proper measure of a man. And I veered off into defining what a man's role compared to a woman's is. I suppose it's inevitable. How about I just summarize where I come from and let it be:
خطبة الوداع للرسول صلى الله عليه و سلم يوم عرفة السنة 10 هجرية:
أما بعد أيها الناس إن لنسائكم عليكم حقاً ولكم عليهن حق. لكم أن لا يواطئن فرشهم غيركم، ولا يدخلن أحداً تكرهونه بيوتكم إلا بإذنكم ولا يأتين بفاحشة، فإن فعلن فإن الله قد أذن لكم أن تعضلوهن وتهجروهن في المضاجع وتضربوهن ضرباً غير مبرح، فإن انتهين وأطعنكم فعليكم رزقهن وكسوتهن بالمعروف، واستوصوا بالنساء خيراً، فإنهن عندكم عوان لا يملكن لأنفسهن شيئاً، وإنكم إنما أخذتموهن بأمانة الله واستحللتم فروجهن بكلمة الله فاتقوا الله في النساء واستوصوا بهن خيراً
So this shows what a muslim man's attitude to women should be. "Fear Allah with regard to women, and take good care of them." And he started with women's rights before men's rights. Which I think is so appropriate and elegant because it is men who are more likely to abuse these rights, not women. Why? simply because they are able to.
So what makes a good man, and a better man? and what makes a superman?
I'll put it in as few words as I can:"The best man is a man who takes care of the most number of people, well."
A son taking care of his parents, is better then one who doesn't.
A husband taking care of his wife (well) is better than a bachelor.
A good father with lots of kids and a wife (all well taken care of) is better than a good husband who chooses not to have kids.
A good manager in a company taking care of a dept. is better than a good employee who only worries about his own work. The bigger the company, the more employees, the better.
A president of a whole country (well taken care of) is better than a good company manager/CEO..
you surely get the picture. The more "dependents", the better.
Assuming the quality of the "care" is constant and uniform. Then the more people the better you are. and the more of a Man you are.
المؤمن القوى خير وأحب الى الله من المؤمن الضعيف، وفى كل خير
Having said that, it seems in this day and age, the roles are shifting. Dependency is not so obvious and glaring like it was 50 years ago. Some women single-handedly take care of many people, so this argument I'm making isn't exclusive to men only. Equally, the more people a woman takes care of, the better "woman" she is.
I wonder if there's a list somewhere of the top 100 People in terms of "how many people being taken care of by this person".
Thoughts anyone?
