It must be a woman who stays at home to care for children. Men are not suited to this kind of work. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

 

It must be a woman who stays at home to care for children. Men are not suited to this kind of work. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Traditionally in many parts of the world, it has been women who have stayed at home to care for children. This has led to the ideology and expectation that women are more suited to this type of work than men. I disagree with the notion since I am of the opinion that the modern era does not believe in gender biasing.

The overwhelming status quo where women stay at home to care for the children probably derives from the fact that women are the ones who have to actually give birth to children and, following that, they are the ones who for the early part of a child's life have to feed the child until it is weaned. In times past, this state of affairs probably led to the women assuming the permanent role of carer for the home and children, whilst men went out to work, whether it was to gather food or work in fields or factories.

Even though this became what was expected in family dynamics, it does not mean that men are necessarily less suited to caring for a child than women. Men can care for a child, even from birth onwards in today's world. Babies' milk formula can be mixed by anyone and fed to a child. The fact that many women today choose not to do this again does not mean that they are better suited by nature to care for the child.

Suitability for childcare is a matter of individual temperament and aptitude. Not many people, whether they are men or women, feel totally confident and knowledgeable about how to care for a baby or young child at the start. They need advice from their own mothers and fathers, midwives or from books. It is only from experience that skill with childcare comes and this skill can be acquired regardless of gender.

To conclude, I do not agree with the statement that men are less suited to childcare than women. I believe that the aptitude to look after children is a matter of individual character, not gender-specific inherited qualities.