Playwright and theatre director Uncle Ebo Whyte has urged Ghanaian men to rethink long-held beliefs about marriage and income, saying a wife earning more than her husband should not create conflict at home.
He made the remarks during the premiere of his new stage play, I Do I Don’t, where he called for a more flexible and modern approach to relationships among Ghanaian couples, according to adomfmonline.com.
He pointed out that some women already earn more than their husbands but do not make it an issue publicly, yet the imbalance still creates discomfort for some men.
“There are women who are earning more than their husbands. They don’t go out and proclaim it, they don’t make noise about it. And yet for some reason, some men can’t deal with that.
“I think Ghanaian men must learn to accept the possibility that my wife may climb higher than me, may earn more than I do, and it is okay. It doesn’t make her better than me; it doesn’t make her more powerful than me. She is still my wife, and we can make it work and have a very harmonious relationship,” he stated.
He further addressed cultural attitudes that frame a woman’s success as something threatening, arguing that such thinking contradicts how society already values women in other roles.
“Our tradition is so steeped in this belief that ‘bad things happen’ when a woman rises. But we all cherish our mothers. I cannot understand why we disrespect women when our mothers will fight anyone for us,” he said.
