Relationship Talk: Have you ever felt like you were "Wearing The Pants" in your relationship?

Have you ever felt like you were wearing the pants in your relationship? This feeling is becoming more and more of an issue for women these days. This is a topic that most women are aware of but have decided to keep "hush hush" about, because of the shortage of eligible bachelors out there. The concept is, if you find someone who is bearable.... then just suck it up and deal. There is so much compromise going on from a woman's point of view because we feel that its a choice between taking whats available to you or possibly ending up with no one at all. Women now feel like they have to settle because of the fear of being alone. There has definitely been a shift in roles between men and women. Men have slowly become more comfortable with their women taking care of their bills, applying for credit under their names, and "living off" of their women. It's not necessarily wrong to help your partner, but if it's completely one-sided, definitely keep an eye on that. Women have now become very complacent with these "half men" as I would call it. What has happened to our society is that the idea of "manliness" has slowly disappeared from our expectations. Don't get me wrong, by no means am I talking about every man, we still have a lot of real men out there that are holding down the fort in every way but, we have a high percentage of men who have lost their way. There are a number of reasons why our community has lost the "ideal man" and these reasons are the unemployment rate for males is still very high, a lot of young men have become products of their society and chose a life of crime and are suffering the consequences, lack of higher education, men feeling worthless and instead of breaking that barriers they choose to live up to that expectation of worthlessness, fathers being absent from their son's lives and women becoming complacent and accepting a man who is not necessarily holding down his role as the man in the relationship. I guess I am a bit old fashioned in my views but, I still believe in the old school definition of a man. Back in the day the man was supposed to be the backbone of their relationship and family and responsible for setting the foundation to build and establish life. My grandfather and father have expressed to me that they have also seen a true difference from their generation compared to ours. Maybe my expectations are too high, some would say but, I don't think that wanting a man that will uplift my life and actually help me; as well as I do the same for him is a lot to ask for. Ladies, all that I'm saying is a man should have something to bring to the table other then whats between his legs. And likewise, a woman should not be completely reliant on a man. The concept of the modern day "Gold Digger" is still very relevant in our community and that is also very wrong. Men, likewise if you see some of these patterns with your woman, you may need to have a discussion. There should be equality between both people. But, if you find a man and (the handsome ones usually do this) who show signs that they are self centered, like playing the sympathy card, always complaining about money and asking you for money for this, that and the other and want you to feel "sorry" for them. Be aware of these signs. This is usually not a good sign. I'm not saying to break it off but, keep your eyes open and if you see a pattern......communicate and hopefully that will help. Some men are at a disadvantage in their lives at certain points of time and that is understandable and some genuinely need a helping hand but, if you continue to let every request slide and grant every wish like your a "Genie" then you may find yourself in a situation where you are the one expected to take care of your man and some men will take that opportunity and run with it.