Who is the head of the family?

This is very much an interesting question for me because I come from a home where my mother happens to be by far richer than my father. So when I got this question from HAPPINESS IN HOME, I couldn't resist answering it.

This is a very sensitive question and everybody might have their own view on that, but I will base my view on what is generally acceptable in both religious preaching and cultural value. Nowadays, just like is also obtainable in the past, it is very easy to see a wife that is richer or well positioned than the husband. Let’s image the former Prime Minister of Australia - Julia Gillard, or the former Vice Chancellor of Germany - Angela Merkel, to mention but few. So you see, women can be well positioned than men in some families, but does that make them the head?

We start with the religious preaching. What is obtainable in most religions is that “a virtuous wife is she who listens to her husband, values her home, respects her husband, and treats her husband like a God he is to her.” I guess that sums it up. The husband is the head, and he is the God to the wife.

Now let’s take a cultural view. The head of the family is the husband in all cultures. We don’t mean to exercise some level of masculinity of inferiority to the feminine gender, but this is actually what is obtainable in the real world. Right from the beginning of humanity, man has always had the upper hand in terms of heading the family and that will not change now.

On that ground, we conclude by stating that the husband has always been and will always continue to be the head of the family. As such, the wife (irrespective of whether you are better doing than your husband) should always accord respect to the husband as the head of the family and never make decisions that will influence the family without calling his attention.