Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 383
! ! 383 I become anxious if I must look after a child for even five minutes. Yet , women manage to cook, clean, read, write and take ca r e of other household responsibilities , while not growing the least bit irritated by the crying or the care o f their children. If they do become irritated, they give the child a gentle slap and the very next minute , they will be huggin g them. Thus, God Almig h ty has differentiated the nature [of men and wome n]. If one wished to change the roles of the two, then neither would be successful. Each person is meant to perform his own specific function. For example, if one wished t o perform with his foot that task which is to be performed by his hand, or vice versa, it would be impossible to do so. There are many tasks done by the hand, which a foot can either not perform at all or if it can, would do so quite unsuccessfully. The work of hands and feet are different and God Almighty has bestowed each with different purposes. Thus, where God Almighty has made m en and women similar in some instances , he has also made them different regarding their separate roles [ in society ]. However, it is regretful that our men and women often fail to understand these differences. Men often emphasize the difference s , wh ile women tend to stress the commonality and similarities between the two. Whereas the reality is that they are both mistaken. A fter marriage, a man tends to view the woman as an insignificant a nimal, who upon marrying him , should abandon all past connections. He expects that she should become one with him and associate only with his relatives. If she wishes to visit or help her ow n relatives, he objects and is annoyed. He may in his impudence, insult her relatives. He does not stop to think that God Almighty has given her the same heart He has given him. Because of such behavior , the woman ’s health suffers, and she keeps her feeli ngs bottled up which may result in the development of illnesses such as tuberculosis. I n my opinion, illnesses such as hysteria and it’s like , which are so common nowadays , are also the result of this. Thus, a man tends to believe that a woman has no awareness, even though a woman harbors a heart within her chest, just as a man harbors a heart within his chest. If he believe s th at his wife has a loving heart, then how can he expect his wife to sever all ties with the mother who raised her from