The experience in many West African families reveals a growing decline in male breadwinners and a corresponding rise in female breadwinners, a shift that has generated tensions within households and raised concerns about family sustainability. This development is traced to a fundamental disruption in traditional gender training, largely influenced by colonial incursions and the adoption of Western gender constructs in place of indigenous frameworks of breadwinning.
The study examines how this shift has contributed to the emergence of resentment and conflict within families, with implications for social stability and the well-being of individuals in contemporary homes. It adopts a phenomenological framework, focusing on lived experiences to interrogate themes of gender roles and breadwinning dynamics.
The objectives of the study include examining how Western gender values have reshaped traditional gender training, comparing indigenous and Western conceptions of breadwinning, and exploring how women’s lived experiences have compelled them to assume primary economic roles, often outside their expected social positions.
Using a combination of literature review, critical analysis, and phenomenological interpretation, the study interrogates entrenched gender stereotypes and the factors responsible for the evolving dynamics of breadwinning. It highlights the psychological and relational tensions arising from role shifts and the inadequacy of rigid gender expectations in addressing contemporary realities.
The study concludes that unresolved tensions surrounding breadwinning roles will continue to generate conflict within families and relationships in the 21st century. It therefore advocates for a more flexible and open approach to gender role performance as a necessary condition for fostering sustainable and harmonious family systems.