I remember a Wall Street Journal article a couple of decades ago on a similar subject to what you just posted.
The reporter was hanging out with some men in Jamaica (I think). The men were lounging around on a hillside watching women walk up and down the hill with empty water canisters on their heads on the way down and full of water on the way back up.
Some of the women were pregnant and the men were making bets among themselves which women would be able to make the uphill trek (fully laden with water) without having to stop and rest.
That image has stuck in my mind all these years and I thought of it immediately when I read your post.
American and Western men are considered true prizes to women world-wide.
American and Western men are considered true prizes to women world-wide.
We saw similar attitudes in Papua New Guinea. Women would be trudging down the road to market carrying 40 pounds of vegetables in a net bag on their backs with a tumpline. Young, healthy males would only carry firewood (in a tropical country, this means 2-3 branches), male children (one at a time, usually the oldest) and/or an airline flight bag (which was a status symbol). It was common to see the men walking along unburdened and weaving decorative belts or armbands as they walked. These were then sold to tourists. Also common to see the women doing all the village work while the men sat around a smoldering fire eating roasted sweet potatoes and chewing betel.
Our guide assured me that even if their women saw the freedoms and courtesies accorded Western women and the wives of the few educated elites, they would never rebel or demand these freedoms or courtesies for themselves. He was adamant on this topic.