Gender Inequality
Africa is notorious for her rich cultures and traditions and the manner by which custodians follow each one to the latter and religiously transfer them from one generation to the next with little or no alteration in the process. Among these cultures is the issue of women and their place in the home and in society.
A true African woman is meant to live in the shadow of her husband, striving endlessly and without complaints to please him at all times. She has no business in the administration of the state, her business begins and ends in her home. She is meant to be seen but not heard, except in the labor room, and if the fruit of her labor turns out to be her kind, it will be regarded as a waste of the man's strength.
This was the plight of the African woman as well as women all over the world, until in 1848 when Elizabeth Cady Stanton alongside Lucretia Mott, an abolitionist, and many other activists held the first Women's-right Convention in Seneca Falls, New York, USA, after Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her husband Henry Brewster Stanton were refused entry into the World Anti-slavery Convention in London because female delegates were not welcomed.
This movement begat organizations like The Uganda Women Network(UWONET), Nigeria Feminist Movement(NFM) etc. These groups were created to defend the women’s fold. They advocate for equal rights in civil, social, and economic matters with the men, much to the dissatisfaction of many.
Many women have been branded as rebellious and ostracized from their communities because they spoke against the injustices done to them.
The issue of equality is not applicable in every society. In some religions, for instance, the man is regarded as the head of the home and is tasked with the responsibility of loving and caring for his wife who in return, is expected to be submissive to him. As a member of this community, you are expected to abide by these rules, in order to ensure peaceful coexistence. In this aspect, the issue of equality is not welcomed because the supreme authority of the community in which you agreed to be a part of, demands otherwise.
Outside this setting, a woman has the right as a human and a citizen to be treated equally with the man. It is an outrageous act as a landlord, to refuse to rent your house to a law-abiding citizen just because she is a woman. Why should a woman be made to pay for employment with her body? Why should a girl be forced to exchange her body for grades after studying very hard?
She cannot contest for an election because there is high chances of her loss at the polls because a large portion of her community still believes that she is weak, but, "though the sex to which I[she] belong[s] is considered weak, you will nevertheless find me[her] a rock that bends to no wind."(Queen Elizabeth 1). In her weakness, you still find her enough strength to combine her primary duties as a wife, mother, and a member of a community.
The role of women in the society can never be undermined because women have continued to prove their relevance in so many ways, making groundbreaking contributions to the society: imagine a world without a Computer, if Ada Lovelace had not written the first computer program or if Grace Hopper had not invented the first compiler to translate written language into computer language. What would have been the fate of cancer patients, if Ann Tsukamoto had not developed a technique to isolate stem cells?
Both boys and girls should be given equal chances at life without discrimination. The issue of denying the girl child education and rushing her off into marriage should no longer be raised in our homes. The issue of 'men don't cry' should no longer be mentioned because humans are emotional creatures and we have the right to show our emotions irrespective of gender. We do boy disfavor by boxing him in our idea of masculinity, "we stifle the humanity in boys. We define masculinity in a narrow way. Masculinity is a hard, small cage, and we put boys in this cage."(Chimamanda Adichie). True masculinity is exhibited in the way a man treats his fellow human paying due attention to the vulnerable.
Bridging gender gaps will go a long way in modifying the minds of future generations to treat each other with respect, rid our society of abuse and create a society where no one is regarded as a lesser creature.
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