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Fight Fair and Square (Let the "Rules" Apply Equally)

"If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."-Romans 12:18. Paul in one of his letters recommends amicable ways of solving conflict among believers. But if peace is not reached and it comes that we must fight, if this be our only resort, then let the fight be fair and let rules apply equally.

That aside, the law of the land also provides for ways to resolve or follow in cases of conflict. Companies and every other institution have conflict resolution procedures as well.These resolution methods have been in place for years, they’ve been refined and reconstituted to fit particular times and institutions. One thing however, there have been cases where women have gotten hurt even when these methods were to help/protect them. We have seen cases where the victim being a woman ended up more hurt than she was by the actual event that led to the conflict.

We have seen cases of sexual harassment at work places leave women jobless even after winning the case. Even after the case is resolved and the villain dealt with, the lady was unable to remain at the work place thanks to the aftermath repercussions of the conflict.

In the political scene, the cases are worse. Milly Odhiambo, a Kenyan MP for Mbita narrates of an unfortunate ordeal when a scuffle occurred at the floor of the house and men tried to undress her. In such fights, men will be throwing punches at fellow men, pour water on each other but if a woman be caught up in the middle of this fight, they decide to undress her, why? I bet it is for the same reason people tend to attack women sexually when they decide to run for political seats. Why does it always have to be sexual with women?

A wife of the late Gatundu South MP, Joyce Ngugi decided to run after the demise of the husband and some days towards the voting day, propaganda papers rubbishing her saying she was cheating, she killed the husband, that she is not a native rather she was only married to a man from Gatundu were found littered all over the town. Whether true or not (high chances they were lies) it’s unfortunate that such moves are made against women all the time.

No one cares how many women a man running for office has slept around with but it matters that a divorced woman should not be a leader. No one cares if Waititu was born and raised in the slums of Nairobi but when he comes to Kabete and says he has relatives there, he is voted in but we care that a woman (Joyce Ngugi) is not a native, she is only there by marriage.

It is sad that someone has all the good qualities we seek in a leader but cannot be voted in simply because it so happens that they are female.  It’s wrong how a man will declare his candidature and no one really cares much about his family or his relations but when a woman does, every man in her life is suddenly a lover all aimed at painting her a slut. It’s unfortunate that most attacks against these women are against her sexuality rather that her abilities. We scrutinize how well of a mother she is, if she is a good wife and daughter-in-law  All moral meters are suddenly called to work, something we never do to the male candidates. No one really cares if he is married, divorced a good father or an atheist.

This is the kind of bias that feminism is up against. It’s simple, if it does not apply to the male candidate, let it also not apply to the female candidate. Let the rules apply fairly for all and let the fight be fair. Let people win or loose on grounds abilities rather than gender.

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