Sunday, January 29, 2006

Women: The Deadlier of the Species Part Two

Back to females being the deadlier of the species, I think we definitely are. Women are the mothers and the nurturers, and our capacity to love is boundless, but piss us off and Hell yes, you better run the other way. It is our nature, partly because we were originally the hearth tenders and home keepers. We are protective of what we have, and prideful of our own. I won’t apologize for that. I take excellent care of my husband out of love and instinct. I don’t think I could step back and let him go without clean clothes and clean sheets. It wouldn’t happen.

Men, on the other hand, were the gatherers and providers, so it is in their nature to guard their job territorially. With the advent of women in the work force, it has taken some getting used to for both sexes. As someone who has worked full time for over 17 years, I understand the push and pull of this. I also understand that having both sexes in the work force has diminished some of the higher paychecks while equalizing responsibilities and rewards.

I know that my father has always taken his job as the man of the house very seriously. He once told me “If I can’t get it done, it’s not going to happen. The buck stops here”. I believe that and follow that rule to this day. My dad knew then that he was ultimately responsible for making me into the fruitful adult I am today, and he cared for my sister and I like no other. When he farmed, we were there with him and we learned responsibility and caring. If our animals weren’t fed, they would die. If they didn’t have clean bedding and nutritious food, they would get sick. The buck definitely stopped there.

My mother, on the other hand, worked outside the home from the time I was five to the present. She is a very successful woman, and she still found the time to come home and cook dinner and make sure the hearth was tended so to speak. I didn’t appreciate it then, but understand completely now. She was given a role reversal and ran with it. Though my dad has farmed successfully his entire life, and worked very hard, she also felt responsible for our ultimate care. To achieve this, she worked a lot of long days, and has just recently throttled back a bit.

The bottom line is that man and woman together worked to raise their family the best they could. The way they went about it was different but the ultimate result is the same. To this day, I respect my mother and father equally and thank God each day for their love and care, but I know that if it came down to it, my mother would kill for me and not regret it for a minute. It is the nature of a female.

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