Skip to main content

Happy International Women's Day

Today seems befitting to illuminate certain matters women have been pushing for over the years, it's International Women's Day. The one day when people pay actual attention to these things as you will find they are the only thing trending. 

Whilst we be pushing for equality, I have been in conversations with people who believe this is a little too far fetched and will never be achieved. They think this part of the feminist agenda is a move by rebellious women who seem not to understand their place in this life. That equality is about making women like men. By now am sure you have probably heard such conversations. 

The great musician, Seal in one of great hits sings of "A change is gonna come". In the lyrics he sings,
I was born by the river 

In a little tent

And just like the river
I've been runnin' ever since
It's been a long time comin'
But I know my change is gonna come, oh yeah


These words could never resonate better. Times have come, years have passed and change is happening across all ranks. The push for equality is no longer a far fetched quest but rather one that women across the globe have progressively adopted. This era of tech playing a bigger role in helping spread awareness and light up areas where women oppression has darkened the hopes and dreams of many let alone kill lives.

I looked up the dictionary meaning of the word equality and this is what it means, the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, or opportunities. When women seek equality, they seek exactly this. Someone remind me again what is so evil about equal rights, equal opportunities, equal status, equal pay ... simply, equal treatment and avoidance of discrimination? Shakespeare in his play Merchant of Venice seeks to appeal to the humanity of the Jews by then. In this context he'd write,

“Hath not men hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as women?If you prick us, do we not bleed?If you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? ..."

We present a similar argument in when we seek equality.We seek that we are not treated as a lesser gender but as humans. We all are after all dust brought to life by the breathe of our maker and the same dust we return to after this life. Am yet to hear of a special place exclusively set out only for men in the after life. From all we've learnt, we all go to the same place and there is neither male nor female, there we are all beings. 

That aside, back to the land of the living, the quest for equality has been tainted by alternative false teachings that seek to demonize this noble quest. The aim is not to turn women to men, biology defies that and we are wiser than that. The aim is to un-teach this old teaching that a woman can never be the best; that she has always to be the lesser one. The aim is to clarify to the HR department that the woman manager should earn just as the man manager. The aim is to un-write the notion that bedevils successful women in that it is told she probably slept her way up; the idea that no woman can work her way to the top. The aim is to ensure we reach a day when it will not matter that it's a female driver, rather it will be said,"the driver". 
This here is the true quest for equality. This is what we mean when we say equality. We should then desist from believing this other gospel that has since put men against women. Men are not the enemy here, wrong and oppressive teachings and practices against women are the enemy.  Lazarus Long once said,to stay young requires unceasing cultivation of the ability to unlearn old falsehoods. Let's keep young, lets keep learning and unlearning old falsehoods.  And like in this song, a change is certainly happening.  

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Of partial truths that alter history in the long run

There is this meme on social media that talks of how men lie and how it is possible Eve did not even eat the fruit at the garden of Eden and probably Adam did and lied about it considering it is him with left over evidence of an Adam’s apple down his throat.  The other day a local TV station ran a story of Wangu Wa Makeri and turns out all I was taught about her is pure lies. Turns out she was a firm leader and not that she actually sat on men’s back. She would not be intimidated and was hell bent to do what she thought was right, something that did not rub well with many men. This is not the history me and most people read about her. If anything, we grew up ridiculing her methods and being told not to be like her, a woman should be humble. It is also such narratives that have left women struggling in their positions of power and further cementing the theory that women are not leaders. When she is bold and firm on her decisions, she is a Wangu wa Makeri in the office, “anakal...

Stop using women to spice up your insults

Over the years, the good, the bad and the beautiful have been associated with women. A beautiful car is likely to be given a woman’s name. Hurricanes that destroy things are often named after women. People in their good times tend to name things after women too. Over the years, we have also seen weakness being associated with women. We have seen people insult others using a woman in their insult, this is wrong. You will hear someone say, “you punch like a girl”, to mean your punch is weak. Some will also say, “Come and face me like a man” to mean with boldness. It insinuates men have a “better/bolder” way of dealing with issues. All the above insinuate that women are weaker than men. One would be right to say such language has been detrimental to the feminism agenda of fighting for equality. Such language only appeals to patriarchy. In my country-Kenya- we have seen this language being used over and over by public figures. They use women to “spice up” their insults. You will he...

Of Equity and Equality

More often than not, conversations about equality start off as just that-conversations- but speedily escalate to debates. I would know, I have been in many of those. Those against the equality agenda turn the debate into an English lesion trying to argue out what equality and equity really means and how equity is what we should seek instead of equality. Whilst there may be point to their opinion, it is the way they fight equality that makes void their whole point.  According to many, equality is the enemy. Well then, let’s get into some English lesson then and let us understand better what these two words really mean: Equity - Justice, impartiality or fairness. Equality -The equal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences.  - The fact of being equal, of having the same value. After that brief English lesson up there, we can all agree, both equity and equality are noble pursuits that all humans should be involved in. They that advocate for e...