What Are the Duties of a Man?

Society is structured with guaranteed responsibilities and duties, whether you deem them human or natural duties given from man or god. Specific roles and duties are assigned to men and women, although each have equal standing in light of gender equity. The duties of a man are performed by men for the general good of society.

Duties to Family

Men are duty bound to provide the basic necessities of life for their wives and children, including ensuring the family has appropriate shelter, clothing and food, not to mention access to adequate health care. They are also obligated to ensure their children get access to quality education and training to help them meet life’s challenges, not least of all love and care for the family. While these are duties for men, women can and should help their husbands meet their obligations when they can to ensure a thriving, healthy society.

Duties to Spouse

Men are expected to love and respect their wives because they are companions and partners in life. It is the duty of a man to respectfully and tenderly provide both materially and emotionally to his wife, including showing love, tenderness and affection. This makes wives feel loved and appreciated and contributes to matrimonial unity that is important for a happy marriage and creating a conducive, nurturing environment for raising children.

Duties to Country

Duties of men to country are usually linked with rights guaranteed by laws. Men are obligated to recognize, observe and promote the rights and freedoms provided by constitutions, including recognizing peoples’ right to life, liberty and security. The Declaration of Rights and Duties of Man and Citizen proclaimed by the French people in 1795, for example, assigns duties specifically to men, including duty to unreservedly and religiously observer the laws of the land; be a good citizen by being a good son, good father, good brother, good friend and good husband; and duty to defend society, serving it, living in submission to the laws, and respecting those who are the agents of it 34.

Duties to God

Man's duties to God as encompassed in the Ten Commandments are recorded in the Bible in Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21 1. The duties are summarized by Jesus in Matthew 22:37, where Jesus states that the duty of man is to love God with all his heart, soul and mind and to equally love other human beings. Man is duty bound to worship God in truth and in all honesty and to do to others as he would like done to him. He is not to covet, steal, kill or perform such ills; instead he is to love and protect God's creation.