This subject reminds me of the scandals broadcasted by our media over the last two years. A lot of whistle blowing was broadcast by the media and corruption exposed especially by those charged with the responsibility of managing public resources. Cases where these vices, mischief and misconducts were appropriated by women received undue coverage and attention which begs the question; do we expect more from women than men? Are we more forgiving of men over women?
Is gender even a basis upon which one needs to consider when it comes to management of financial resources or does this dwindle down to individual culture and behaviour? Some men complain that women spend “unnecessarily” on things they don’t use e.g. 30 pairs of shoes; of which only 4 are worn often, a full wardrobe and yet always complaining that they have nothing to wear and such accusations. Men pride themselves in that they only spend on necessities, these categories of men believe themselves to be superior custodians of money.
On the other side of the coin, there are men who believe their wives to be the financial wizards with their household budgets and are therefore charged with being the custodians of the debit/credit cards and of managing their household budgets year after year. This category of men has interacted with a different category of women; those who are futuristic, more mature and capacity builders. To these men, it is absolute that women are better at managing money than they ever will be.
So my advice to my fellow men, you have a choice: you can find yourself a woman that spends and spends with no thoughts of tomorrow or, you can find yourself a master builder; one who builds, nurtures and multiplies. Either way, I find that I would fault myself to say generally put, that one gender is superior to the other when it comes to matters concerning money. While it may be easy for me to quote the percentage of dollar billionaires who belong to one gender and use that as an argument for or against this point, I am conscious that are there are many other dynamics that come into play. A more important question would be; Are you a good custodian/multiplier of the resources in your hands? Until we speak again, I am Mitchell Odhiambo. Welcome to a man’s world. To get a female perspective on this, click HERE to read my colleague Mercy’s views.
