time used to be when men were considered the breadwinners of the family and women stayed at home to take care of the children and the household. in fact, girls in their high school had an all-important subject called 'home economics' which was supposed to prepare them for their future role as the "ilaw ng tahanan."
this was the norm back in the 1970s and in the earlier years. but in the 1980s onward, families started feeling the heavier brunt of a failing philippine economy, thereby starting the rise of 'dual career families.' these were families wherein both parents took on jobs to augment the family income.
in this decade, gender roles are again a'changing. more and more men are staying at home to take on the role which was traditionally assigned to women- and we call them 'housebands.' in discussing about housebands though, it is important to differentiate them from good-for-nothing bums. housebands are not bums. just like housewives, housebands carry on the obligation of managing household affairs and taking care of children's and spouse's needs.
generally, men become housebands for three reasons: (1) job opportunities for the man are nil, (2) the wife has the bigger salary and both spouses have decided that there should be one full-time parent, or (3) the man was born with naturally strong domestic inclinations.
being a houseband (or a housewife) is a job that is borne out of love but is unquestionably exhausting and oftentimes thankless. hindi pwedeng i-"lang" lang ang gawain nila. housewives and housebands should be more aptly referred to us "domestic engineers" and for the hard and heroic work that they do, they deserve our encouragement, support, and utmost gratitude.
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