Just like the society, most romantic relationships often cast men as dominant and women as deferential. Some women and feminists are working against this. Husbands or boyfriends who ‘have let’ women question this ‘structure’ have been referred to as ‘whipped boyfriends’ and ‘hen-pecked husbands’
At the same time, popular culture is filled with representations of self-serving and striving women-from celebrities like Cardi B, Beyonce to popular TV shows like Girls- who are in relationships with men on level social status thus an equal playing field.
The notion that during conflicts in romantic relationships women can be just as aggressive, as volatile and as combative as men has led to gender symmetry- which by the way, is gaining traction.
Unfortunately, gender equality representations have been and can be deceiving.
In most heterosexual relationships, power is biased in favor of one partner instead of being balanced or somewhat shared. Most romantic relationships between young couples can report power imbalances but the consequences of feeling subordinate are not at all equal.
This leads me to ask: Who told Africans that the woman must always be younger than the man in a relationship?
And why are we like this?
Some of the most basic and inexcusable replies are ‘I don’t know, may because Eve was created later’
Seriously?