Although the Bible instructs both husbands and wives to submit to their spouses, the emphasis placed on wives being submissive is so heavy that we rarely discuss what a submissive husband even looks like.
In a recent interview with Ebony magazine, Nicki Minaj’s ex-partner, Safaree Samuels, discussed being a submissive boyfriend and what it takes to be in a relationship with a strong-willed woman.
“To be a submissive man, you have to have a submissive bone in your body,” Samuels said. “The relationship isn’t going to work out for the man who has a short fuse or can’t handle being told what to do. A lot of men look for women they can mold into what will fit into their lives, but you can’t do that with a strong-minded woman. If you’re going to be with her, you have to be okay with her running the show at times.”
All of this is interesting, considering that Safaree previously implied that disrespect was a primary cause for their split. However, the soon-to-be author was sure to mention that respect must be a crucial component for these pairings of strong women and submissive men to work.
“Sometimes a strong woman doesn’t know the difference between her man and an employee, especially when mixing business and pleasure. She has to know how to turn it off when it’s time to be the girlfriend or the wife,” he said.
“Respect is major in this type of relationship, so don’t just talk to your man any kind of way,” he continued. “Let a man be a man in terms of respecting his opinion and what he has to say. He also has insight and things to add to your vision.”
Of course, this sparks so many other questions. What does a submissive man look like? Does being submissive mean that he goes along with whatever his partner says? Biblically, husbands and wives are cautioned to submit to one another, which leads us to believe that in order to establish a healthy relationship, both parties would have to be willing to submit in one way or another. When the situation is as imbalanced as Nicki and Safaree’s appeared to be, the party doing all of the submitting will likely be disrespected and taken advantage of by the partner who assumes the dominant role.
What are your thoughts on Safaree’s comments? Would you want to be with a man who is submissive? What does a submissive man look like?
