by Effie Moore Salem

Created on: December 14, 2010   Last Updated: December 19, 2010

Men and women are difference, there is no doubt about that. They are different in the way they think, what is important to them, how they relate to the world and how they get the job done. They are created for different functions, and these differences relate to these functions. As an example, as a mother, a woman puts her children before everything else. If her child be sick and in need of her, and no matter what the boss says, she is going home to take care of  her child.

Or, is she cannot leave the  job, is out of town, and for some reason beyond her control, must stay on the job, the quality of her work will suffer. What will be uppermost in her mind will be her child. There are a few scattered exceptions to this type of mothering, but they are not the norm. On the other hand, or the other gender as the case is, a father, while he cares about his children, is oriented to care about his family in a different way.

He is more able emotionally to put everything out of his mind while an important job needs his undivided attention. At break time he will call home, no matter where in the world he is, to find out about his child. But he will rest assured that the mother is  making the right decisions, and his performance on the job may not  be as compromised by this incident as woman's would probably be.

This type of male and female roles were typical in the past; now they are shifting and there is more of a sharing of household chores due to both parents working. And while it is true, many men now stay home and watch the kids, do the laundry, cook the meals, attend the PTA meetings and generally work at home, while the woman works outside, even here a man will develop his schedule as a man, not as a woman.

He will be less detail oriented. He will get the laundry done - with some advice and directions from his wife, of course - but it will remain mainly a chore. He will be less fastidious in folding the clothes, the whites may not be as white, or the socks might not as often match up, and he may opt out of ironing entirely.

His at home chores will be regimented, perhaps he learned these chores in the military and while the beds will be made without a wrinkle and the corners nicely tucked in, there definitely will be a lack in the overall look of the house. The children will be fed, gotten off to school, the cat and dog will get their food, and all will be greatly appreciated and loved. Since he is not in love with household chores, he will find

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