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Articles: My Thoughts | Who should be older, wife or husband?
- Prof. Narasimham Brahmandam
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Who should be older, wife or husband?
It is a common feature in India that the wife shall be younger than the husband. It may be because of the usual reverence for seniority of age. It ensures that the tradition is observed that the wife is obedient to the husband. (It is a questionable expectation in most cases, especially with the passage of time). A difference of about 5 years is considered as optimum by our society.
The average life expectancy of women is said to be 5 years longer than that of men by demographers. This means that the average woman in India must pass through 12 years of widowhood in the later part of her life. She would then be too old to marry again and has to depend on her children. After the imbibition of western culture, children are more and more reluctant to take up this burden. If at all they agree to give her shelter, it is for her services at home, if she is still capable of work. The springing up of many old age homes in recent times is because of this factor. This is a humanitarian problem of the Society and not related to the direction of evolution.
Some psychologists say that older wives make better wives. At least the practice of older wives may boost the dominance of women over men, satisfying the feminists. It is for the society to plan marriage ages keeping in view this problem faced by the average woman. Of course, it is not going to be easy to be against tradition. But what is your view?
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