Manasseh Azure Awuni has questioned what he sees as glaring double standards in how men on social media discuss marital conflicts, using reactions to the Daddy Lumba family situation as an example.
The journalist said he normally avoids public commentary on private marital issues unless they affect state resources, explaining; “If a married public official has ten girlfriends or boyfriends, that is none of my business, unless such relationships affect the public purse or interfere with the public officer’s work.”
According to him, the Lumba issue itself did not interest him, but the social commentary from men did.
He argued that gender biases are shaping public reactions, saying; “It is worth noting that if a woman had died and left two men fighting, the narrative would have been predictably different from what we are seeing now.”
Manasseh criticised men who preach that women must prevent men from seeking other partners, and those who compare wives to domestic workers.
He said such attitudes are reinforced by cultural messaging;“The toxic mindset that a woman is responsible for taking care of her husband is ingrained in our society.
“That is what informs some TV commercials… in which mothers-in-law call their sons’ wives and instruct them on how to take care of their husbands.”
He also disagreed with Atik Mohammed’s response to a post shared by Clara Kowlaga Kasser-Tee, in which Atik argued that “the decision of marriage is strictly the man’s.”
According to Manasseh, such views reduce marriage to male entitlement and ignore equality within relationships.
He concluded that society must move beyond outdated expectations of women.
“One does not need a university degree to discard the disturbingly archaic idea that marrying a woman means getting a cook or a laundry hand,” he said.
