Finances are often a bone of contention in many marriages especially when the woman earns more than the man.
Things get worse when you cannot cloak that aspect of your relationship and its laid bare for all your friends and family to see.
When such things are made public, the man is often made fun of as many members of society believe that for a man to be the head of the house he has to earn more.
This is the predicament a 34-year-old man found himself in.
“I have been facing a very awkward situation. I am a 34-year-old married man and my wife is a senior colleague at my workplace. We met in our current organization and ours was an office romance. Everything is perfect except for the fact that my wife is more qualified than me and has a senior position in the company. She earns way more than me and her lifestyle is quite different from what my family members are used to. My friends and family often tease or pass snide comments about how I am dependent on my wife because she earns more or calls her the ‘man of the house’. Most of the time I dismiss these as mere jokes but sometimes their intentions are very cruel. It makes me very sad and maybe I too feel a little insecure. Please tell me what to do,” read a confession on indiatimes.com.
Dr Rachna Khanna Singh the HOD of Holistic Medicine and Psychology had this advice for him, “I understand that they are your relatives and you do not want to start any conflict, but sometimes it is necessary to stand for yourself too, no matter who it is.
It is advised that if you do not have a problem with the situation of your wife and yourself, you need to assertively tell your relatives that you are not okay with such jokes any longer.
You need to gather some courage and tell them that you love and respect them but they cannot be so disrespectful to you and your wife just because she earns more money.
You both are contributing towards your home and your family, and no other person can intervene in it.”