うちの犬は頭がよくないけれどむやみに吠えない。これは犬種の性格である。もうひとつ、絶対に噛みつかない。これは訓練士に仕込まれた成果である。大きな犬なので幼児に噛みついたら事件になってしまう。
訓練士は二十代の女性でスクーターに乗ってやってきた。訓練時間は週に4回、各30分である。半年近く経っても訓練が終わらないので、いつになったら卒業できるんですか、と訊ねた。家庭内での序列がはっきりしたら、と説明する。序列ねえ、どういうことかな、とさらに質問すると、①お宅の坊ちゃんがまだ……。
十年前なので息子は小学生である。体格的にも犬と息子に差がない。うちの犬はまず僕、つぎに妻と気の強い娘に降参（注1）したのだ。だが息子は軟体動物のようにふにゃらふにゃらとしている。寝てばかりいる。起きてもあくびばかりしている。両者は最下位争いを演じたまま四つに組んで（注2）決着がつかないらしい。
動物は序列に敏感なのだ。（中略）
女性の訓練士が説明した。犬をかわいがっているつもりで甘やかし、②腕をがぶりと噛みつかれた飼い主がいた。甘やかせばつけ上がるだけ、自分が主人と信じ込んで飼い主をなめた結果である。動物はつねに威嚇しながら序列を確認しているから、仲間同士は本気で喧嘩をしない。相手が強い、とわかれば争わない。喧嘩したら互いに傷つき、厳しい自然界では生き残れないから。
さすがに血のめぐりの悪いわが家の犬も、ある日、息子にゴツンと頭を叩かれ、最下位が確定、平和的に棲み分けが決まり、予算オーバーの訓練は終了した。
動物から教訓を得たわけではないが、家庭内でもタテマエとしての序列がないと混乱がはじまる。親父の権威の喪失が取り返しのつかないところまできたのは家父長制（注3）を否定しすぎた結果でもある。戦前は長子相続で、次男以下は相続権がなく女性にいたってはその他大勢の扱い、ひどいものだった。そういう状態を復活せよ、と述べているのではない。
職場で女性がもっと管理職に進出できる環境は整えたほうがよいし、僕の経験からして共働きには賛成である。家事も分担したほうがよい。だが③男女平等をはきちがえてはいけない。家庭は動物の巣に似た面がある。権威としての父性、包容力（注4）の母性まで削り取ってはいけない。父親は筋肉質で髯をはやし、母親には柔らかな肌とやさしい笑顔があるように、それらしく演じ分けたほうがよい。頻発する家庭内暴力が役割構造の喪失と無縁ではないからである。
(猪瀬直樹「家」1999年9月26日付朝日新聞朝刊による)
（注1）降参する:負ける
（注2）四つに組む:しっかり向き合って闘うこと
（注3）家父長制:男性の年長者が家族を支配するという制度
（注4）包容力:相手を寛大な気持ちで受け止める力
AI translation, cross-checked between two models.
Our dog is not very smart, but it does not bark indiscriminately. That is a characteristic of the breed. Another thing is that it never bites. That is the result of what its trainer taught it. It is a large dog, so if it bit a small child, it would become a serious incident.
The trainer was a woman in her twenties who came on a scooter. Training took place four times a week, for thirty minutes each session. Nearly half a year passed and the training still was not over, so I asked, “When will it finally be able to graduate?” The trainer explained that it would be finished once the hierarchy within the household became clear. I asked further, “Hierarchy? What do you mean?” and she replied, “① Your son still hasn’t…”
This was ten years ago, when my son was still in elementary school. In terms of size, there was not much difference between the dog and my son. Our dog first submitted to me, and then to my wife and my strong-willed daughter.（注1） But my son was limp and floppy like a mollusk. All he did was sleep. Even when awake, all he did was yawn. The two of them seemed to remain locked in a struggle over who would occupy the lowest rank, with no winner yet.（注2）
Animals are highly sensitive to hierarchy. (Omitted)
The female trainer explained. One owner thought he was showing affection by spoiling his dog, only to have it ② sink its teeth into his arm. Spoiling a dog only makes it presumptuous; it ends up believing that it is the master and looking down on its owner. Because animals constantly confirm their hierarchy through displays of threat, members of the same group do not truly fight each other in earnest. Once they know the other is stronger, they do not fight. If they fought, both would be injured and would not survive in the harsh natural world.
Eventually, even our rather slow-witted dog was given a sharp thump on the head by my son one day; its place at the bottom was settled, the two peacefully established their respective positions, and the training—which had already gone over budget—finally ended.
It is not that I learned a lesson from animals, but even within a family, confusion begins if there is no hierarchy at least in principle. The fact that paternal authority has declined to an irretrievable point is also a result of rejecting the patriarchal system too thoroughly.（注3） Before the war, inheritance went to the eldest son; younger sons had no inheritance rights, and women were treated as little more than part of the miscellaneous remainder. It was terrible. I am not saying that such a state of affairs should be restored.
We should create an environment in which more women can move into managerial positions at work, and based on my own experience, I support dual-income households. Household chores should be shared as well. But we must not ③ misunderstand what equality between men and women means. A family has aspects resembling an animal’s nest. We should not strip away fatherhood as a source of authority or motherhood as a source of embracing generosity.（注4） Just as a father may be muscular and bearded while a mother has soft skin and a gentle smile, it is better for them to play their respective roles accordingly. This is because the frequent occurrence of domestic violence is not unrelated to the loss of such role structures.
(From Inose Naoki, “The Family,” Asahi Shimbun morning edition, September 26, 1999)
(Note 1) To surrender: to lose
(Note 2) To grapple: to face one another directly and fight firmly
(Note 3) Patriarchal system: a system in which the senior male controls the family
(Note 4) Capacity for acceptance: the ability to embrace another person with generosity
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