Good day,

I just had to get this off my chest! So recently, a quite controversial Ghanaian TV/Radio Personality Counsellor George Lutterodt was trending on social media for making his usually outrageous yet entertaining comments.

Now before I get to it, I would like to say I think he has a great sense of humor and I enjoy watching him.

However, here are two of his statements that in my opinion are misleading especially to women who are yet to be married: “A man who is not ready for marriage is a man who cannot feed himself 3 times a day plus snack” and “women should never contribute to the upkeep of the house. If chop money is not enough to buy salt, cook without salt.”

 While many are lambasting him for suggesting women should not marry poor men (as defined by his first statement above), I would like to look at it from another point of view.  Perhaps my understanding is wrong but these statements give me the impression that he is asserting that married men have the sole responsibility of financing all family-related expenses.

You see, I took it upon myself to study Proverbs 31 which describes the virtuous woman (the perfect example of the woman we Christians should emulate)Among the fascinating descriptions of this woman was my personal lotto number: Psalm 31:18 She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night (New International Version). What this tells us women is that we must bring income home because we have financial responsibilities too as wives.

But of course we do, in practise. Even though some people refuse to acknowledge it which surprises me. I recall one time while I was shopping, I bumped into a male friend. While we were conversing, he complained about how expensive things were and I responded by saying ‘it’s true oh. Even the prices of diapers have gone up’. With that ‘look’ on his face he replied ‘why are you complaining? Is it your money that buys the diapers?’ I cannot even begin to describe how annoyed I felt about his statement! The fact that he simply assumed that my husband gave me money for shopping was just too much for me to handle. Thank God I had found Jesus then haha!

And it is not just a one-off incidence. There are a number of times I have been asked by different people ‘you kroaa what do you use your money for?’ and I am thinking ‘are you serious? I have kids and a family!’ What even breaks the camel’s back for me is the statement ‘my money is mine, my husband’s money is ours’ Ah! Who made these rules? Who is saying these things to make young women believe that all their financial responsibilities will be over once they find their ‘Mr’? What saddens me is the effect this is having on young men today. Some of them have such fear about marriage because they believe ALL the financial burden is on them.

But my question is; is this really the reality? Are all women (or most) spending all their incomes doing whatever has nothing to do with family expenses while men are providing everything from school fees to toilet tissues? Why are we not telling yet-to-marry women the truth about marriage? Why are we allowing them to indulge in the fantasies that their husbands MUST provide everything?

So here is my proposal for the concluding part of Counsellor Lutterodt’s famous quote ‘a woman too is not ready to marry unless she can afford on a daily basis 3 square meals, snacks and her own Brazilian hair!

My fabulous married sisters, please pleaseplease, let’s tell our unmarried sisters the truth! Even if others won’t. We owe it to them.

Thank you.