CULTURE AND DIVERSITY: Role of a man in Asian, Africa, Middle Eastern and Northwestern Society

In the Philippines Society, a manhood is not measured on the way he verbally or physically express himself but on the way he conducts himself appropriately under different social interaction. A Filipino man is trained to be gentleman, calm giving and sensitive to others. As a husband, he generally respects that the household belongs to his wife and thus typically provides opinions regarding household issues only if consulted by his spouse. A Filipino man takes pride of his success as a husband and a father based on his ability to provide comfort and financial support to his wife and his children. Since family is an important segment in the Philippine society, He also takes pride in his ability to raised good mannered, educated and successful children. A Filipino man is expected to be the father figure and the personification of emotional and physical strength because he is considered as the post of the house or pillar of the dwelling, figuratively meaning father of the home, the partner of the Filipino woman who takes the role of being the mother of his children and the light of the home.

In Afghanistan society, under such circumstances gender roles necessarily follow defined paths. Male prerogatives reside in family economic welfare, politics, and relationships with outsiders; within the family they are expected to be disciplinarian and providers for aged parents. In Islam, men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more strength than the other and because they support them from their means. Often times, the men are nowhere to be found or they are out making money to support the family. The man is the head of the home if he lives there.

In Saudi Arabia Society, the family was the most important social institution. It is primary basis of identity and status for the individual and the immediate focus of individual loyalty; just it was among those who recognized a tribal affiliation. Usually, a family business was open to participation by sons, uncles and males cousins, and functioned as the social welfare safety net for all members of the extended family. The structure of the family in Saudi Arabia was generally compatible with the structure of tribal lineage. Families were patrilineal, the boundaries of the family membership being drawn around lines of descent through males. Relations with maternal relatives were important, but family identity was tied to the father, and children were considered belong to him and not to the mother. At its narrowest, a family might therefore be defined as comprising a man, his children, and his children’s children through patrilineal descent.

In Canadian society, women and men have equal standing and equal status in terms of explicit rules. Over a twenty-years period there has been a rise in the number of women in the workforce in Canada. This shift has increased father participation in family tasks which is used primarily be the responsibility of the mother. Parental roles are becoming less traditional and the stay- at- home dad arrangement is becoming more common. The number of stay-home-dad has increased by three percent between 1976 and 1998. The average of stay-home-dad in Canada is forty-two. A bill was passed in by the Canadian government in October 1990 which granted paid leave for fathers for the purpose of primary care giving.