Image via Wikipedia
This is the time of year when bowl games abound. From the Whiparound Bowl to the Cotton Bowl, Rose Bowl to the Pinstriped Bowl, if you can name an item, it can have a bowl game. So I was thinking, how about the We Need A Wife Bowl. Eligible players would be anyone who has supported stereotypical “wife” roles from grocery shopping to writing thank-you notes, packing the kid’s lunches to ironing or scrubbing toilets. There are many people who “adopt” the role of wife in situations where economics or education or even lifestyle has required someone to step up to bat in a different job description than perhaps anticipated. Where once we may have seen CEO’s and those bringing home the income to be wearing ties and wingtips, we now have a fluid society of both men and women in positions that mean a change in the delegation of duties at home is also necessary.
I know heads of companies that are rolling up their sleeves to change diapers, drop children off to school and start dinners the same day they are unveiling the new company strategy and attending budget meetings. Whether male or female, there are people juggling keeping house and reading bedtime stories with keeping production moving and reading the Wall Street Journal. Life requires individuals to move from traditional roles to a more responsible role of pitching in and doing what needs done whether you wear heels or steel toed boots, ascots or aprons, and carrying a briefcase and diaper bag can be acceptable attire whether you are the daddy or the mommy.
Image by Joe Shlabotnik via Flickr
But while who cleans the house today can be the same person who pays its mortgage or even builds it, there are still far too many individuals who see their roles as set in stone. The line is not crossed as to who bears the burden and who actually is the burden. Everyone knows that domestic violence rises during the Super Bowl. Why is it that we allow the hits on the field to somehow validate the perception that this is the way we should treat anyone who gets in “our way”? We want to honor the champions and yet we sometimes have a skewed outlook on what a real champion is. Sometimes the very people who are obsessed watching a team sport have absolutely no idea how to play as a team player.
So, anyone want to sponsor the We Need A Wife Bowl next year? There will be no hitting, rough playing or name calling; no broken bones, swearing or even pouring colorful liquid onto the winning team. In fact everyone will be a winner! Instead of off sides, maybe we can have a day for “off duty” and instead of referees maybe there could be attendants who meet the wishes of the participants for one day, whether a massage or a day of putting your feet up, it could be the bowl game of pampering for the consummate individuals who spend their time doing the chores that someone needs but no one necessarily want to do.
- Image by The Library of Congress via Flickr
And those individuals who still feel that real men or women don’t do anything but their stereotypical roles or those who assume that a sport means they can push and shove anyone who gets in their way? Well, we should just not renew their contracts!
It’s just a thought. Anybody want to be drafted for my team?
Kathy
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