It’s Friday 😊

The roles of both women and men have evolved, and in recent decades, they have expanded and changed considerably. It can be said that the change is significant, even frightening. Frightening for whom? Society is frightened. Primarily, the male part of society.

Hmm, I might erase this, what do you think? Or should I leave it here and see who starts squealing again. Excuse the jovial tone, as I said, it’s Friday. And I can say whatever I want. So, I write on.

Since time immemorial, the fundamental role of a woman has been that of a mother, a bearer of new life. However, the more advanced the society, the more roles women can and want to fulfill. Are men losing their roles as a result of women’s ability to fulfill these roles?

The man, the breadwinner of the family. Sure, but the woman is also a breadwinner. Look at divorced, widowed, and single women with children, who provide for their family alone. Brave. Strong. And not just them. Most women want to work and thus also become an economic pillar of the family.

The man, the protector. In today’s modern society, with cameras on every corner and a police station in every larger village, his role is diminishing. Especially in Europe, it hasn’t been a priority until recently. And is the Czech young man, who is not even required to undergo basic military training, capable of protecting his wife and children?

The man, the father. The most important person in the family. According to a survey by our think tank, Solvo, he ranks only fourth in terms of importance to children in our country. This is a very significant piece of information. Men are losing their paramount position. And often, they blame women for taking away their roles. But do they really take them away? Or is it the case that when there is a war or natural disaster, women have seamlessly transitioned into men’s roles for centuries during men’s absence in the family? Into the roles of the family head, breadwinner, manager, protector, etc. They had no other choice. Or am I wrong?

Take a quick look with me at the last century, as I see it.

World War I. In addition to the roles mentioned above, women were an integral part of the medical and rescue system. Without nurses, hospitals full of wounded could not have existed. Agriculture, supply, industry, education, family life – all of it is unimaginable.

Germany after World War I. Huge war reparations resulting from the Treaty of Versailles, hundreds of thousands of disabled men, hundreds of thousands of widows. All who remained – regardless of gender – were building a new Germany from the ruins.

The crisis of 1929 brought unemployment and pushed women out of the labor market. Not just in Germany. Women should quietly take care of the family while the man will provide for them. Women are adaptable, welcome change, and are willing to sacrifice for the well-being of their family and loved ones. They sacrifice their dreams, visions, ambitions, and desires. As long as the family is content. The rhetoric of the upcoming Nazism and its labor market policies brought a clear directive for women: stay at home, bear children, take care of them and your husband. The husband, the family breadwinner. You need to listen to him. And he goes to work clean, ironed, with food prepared, children taken care of, and household running smoothly? Of course, it’s obvious, after all, he earns for all of it, including his wife’s attire and luxury. Without him, women and children couldn’t survive. But that, having a family, that well-provided-for family, also took time, work, and effort.

World War II once again drew women into the workforce. And things were so bad that they were not only drawn into healthcare, agriculture, or services but also into industry, positions securing infrastructure, and of course, various military roles. And suddenly, women could be involved in the workforce…

I believe that it was this terrible war that actually demonstrated that women are capable in all conventional professions. And it also showed women that it is essential to be self-sufficient. That is, they must and want to remain in the labor market. After all, they do not want to once again become dependent and overlooked appendages of their men.

The development in the United States is interesting. Due to the need to supply Europe, there was also a great demand for labor there, so women were welcomed. And after the war? We are all familiar with the American advertisements from the 50s for washing machines or robots that would make every American housewife’s daily concern for the family easier. And the slogans about the necessity of taking care of the home. American men were drafted into World War II, so during the war years, women’s employment increased.

Even in 2024, a large part of men are convinced that the only role of a woman is to become a mother. A woman has the unique ability to give birth to children. Therefore, she should primarily focus on this role and not get too distracted. The man will take care of everything else. Sure. He will take care of it. But even that care has a catch – which is the limited willingness to arrange everything for the woman… I don’t want to offend any man. This limited willingness is given by the biological and psychological differences between men and women. The nurturing instinct is biologically given to women, not men. Moreover, society has become very tolerant of family breakdowns.

And this brings me to the core of my reflection. In an era where medicine has advanced to the point that a child can be brought to term outside the womb, is it really necessary to bind women to the role of motherhood? Just as men have lost many roles, women can also lose this privileged role.

Society is evolving at an ever-faster pace. Today, parents can choose their child’s eye color, hair, genetic characteristics. A child can be carried by a “surrogate”, a replacement mother. Women are losing their privileged role as mothers. I’m not sure if we, women, realize this. Many don’t mind, others are terrified. Personally, I see it as a natural development. Just as the invention of steam power freed humanity from heavy labor, advances in embryology can liberate women from giving birth in pain.

Technology is advancing rapidly, but it seems more likely to contribute to destabilization caused by the breakdown of the family as the basic unit of the state. After all, who among us knows what the right family actually is?

While being aware of the above, I am not sure which scenario to lean towards. Whether to support us women in our desires for equality and as a result, deprive us of the privileged position of the bearer of new life, or to slow down the development? But what I think is not so important because women want both anyway. From the research “Contemporary Czech Family 2020-2022“, it emerges that women of reproductive age plan to have an average of 2.19 children. However, previous research has found that these plans were only fulfilled by 65 to 68%. Why? Because our society has poor conditions for work-life balance. We have many talented women, and we cannot afford to waste their potential. According to a McKinsey study, higher employment of women would increase the GDP of the Czech Republic by CZK 500 billion by the end of the decade.

Moreover, I read that according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2023, equality between men and women will be achieved in 131 years. Aha. European women will wait a shorter time, until 2090. I make a note that our institute Solvo needs to re-measure this. I want our own data. I don’t intend to wait until 2090.

So, I end here. I’ll close my laptop and head to the elevator inconspicuously. My daughter and I will go out for some ice cream.