Wife material – What does it even mean? Funny enough, the only things I can think of whenever I hear the famous term “wife material”, are polyester, nylon, Hitarget, tie & dye, Da Viva, rags, and Kente. It gets me thinking each time, knowing that the aforementioned have varying resistance to weather conditions, aesthetic attributes, durability, and prices, to mention but a few.
Undoubtedly, it’s incumbent on whomever is making a purchase for whichever purpose, to ascertain which characteristics are most desirable and suitable in selecting one of the above. Same can be said of a man on a mission to tie down a daughter of Eve with the societal script on “wife material” in hand.
Apart from sex, what do you bring to the table? The above question is one that invokes several others worthy of consideration. Apparently, society has subtly instituted a litmus test a woman must go through to affirm her being a wife material or otherwise. For the Christian brethren, the biggest of all is subjecting the said female to critical scrutiny per the virtues enshrined in Proverbs 31.
Below is a list of questions asked often:
1. Is she God-fearing?
2. Can she cook?
3. What’s her body count (how many men has she slept with)?
4. Is she submissive?
5. What’s her tribe?
6. Is she good-looking?
7. What about inner beauty (how do they test that anyway…) ?
8. Will she make a good mother?
9. Will she stand by me when I have a little less than nothing?
In my lucid moments, I ask myself if men would pass the test that our women are subjected to in Society’s quest to define who fits into the prestigious category of wife material. Apparently some men out there are only looking for mothers to care for them and double as baby-making machines and not necessarily life partners. The best some of these men do is to visit their identity crisis on unsuspecting, dependent and vulnerable women.
You’d hear some bachelors say, “Dear future wife, you have to be a Michelle Obama or Samira Buwumia”, but ironically, most of these brothers do not pass for a Barack Obama or Mahmud Bawumia.
It is important for the misogynists out there to know that our women are better than a bunch of unsavory words though they may continue to live in their state of dysania.
What would be your take if your male friend told you his wife cannot cook?
Who determines what characteristics a woman must bring to the table, her spouse or society?
Are cooking and household chores the definition of the value of womanhood?
What happened to men serving as role models to their kids, family and the world at large?
Efe is boring but beautiful; Irene is hardworking but from an unwanted tribe; Christy is God-fearing but her fashion sense can only make her queen of the 80’s; Dzifa is lovely to be with and a callipygian but a spendthrift who has no plans of making her own money. But really, I have no iota of doubt that the only way you’re getting a perfect woman is by grabbing the pencil from the hands of the Creator and making one who fits your insatiable list.
What happened to telling our young males that it is the duty of a man to protect his woman, groom her, fuel her ambitions and be her source of inspiration?
As a man, it is imperative to grow your mind, spirit, emotional stability and pocket in order to harness the imperfect wife material that comes your way, for posterity’s sake…
