Answer: Men and women are biologically as well as
psychologically different in nature. In fact, they complement one another. It is
precisely for this reason that they come together to form a family. Men are more
suited to some tasks just as women are more suited to some. Therefore,
responsibilities have been entrusted to the two by Islam keeping in view this
biological and physiological reality.
Whether the proponents of feminism recognize this or not,
many scientists in the West do. Here is what some of them say on this issue:
The desires and conduct of the two sexes are not
similar, but are complementary and reciprocal. In courtship, the male is active;
his role is to court, to pursue, to possess, to control, to protect, to love.
The role of the female is passive... Consequent on this fundamental difference
are certain others. For pursuit, greater ardour is necessary than for mere
reception; and the courting activity of the male is, throughout the whole animal
kingdom, more ardent than that of the female; and this greater ardour is
connected with certain other differences. (Mercier, Conduct and its Disorders
Biologically Considered, Pgs 289-290).
We have seen that a deep difference in constitution
expresses itself in the distinctions between male and female, whether these be
physical or mental. (Thompson and Geddes, Evolution of Sex, Pg 286).
Man perhaps even down to the protein molecules of his
tissue cells, is biologically different from a woman. From the very moment of
sex formation in the embryo, the biological dusting of the sexes develops along
entirely divergent paths.... We must recognize the unquestionable existence of
the biological inequality of the sexes. It goes deeper and is of far greater
import than it would appear to those not familiar with natural sciences. (Nemilov,
Biological Tragedy of Women, Pgs 76-78).
Will it be possible for woman’s emancipation to remove
these differences between men and women which are rooted in their innermost
beings? Even the most rabid advocates of woman’s rights must accept the
undeniable fact that women bear children, not men; that women menstruate, not
men. It remains equally true that these primitive functions will always be a
hindrance to complete emancipation, though they do not preclude advance and
improvement in the intellectual and social position of women, which every
fair-minded man willingly recognizes as necessary.... According to Mrs.
Hawthorne, home is the woman’s great arena, and will, she hopes, remain so.
There she can exercise a sway that no king or emperor can rival. And it is
compatible with culture, intellect and earnestness. I should like to cry aloud
to the modern woman; Educate yourself; dedicate your time to sciences; take part
in the thoughts and occupations of men, but do not seek to do so as he does. For
you will never be his equal, even as he never will be your equal. (Bloch, Sexual
Life in England, Pgs 48-49)
I venture to prophesy not only that the inherent
differences between the sexes will not tend to diminish in the course of
evolution but that man will continue, as now and in the past, to emphasize them
by custom and convention. (Julian Huxley, Essays in Popular Science, Pg 63) |