Feminism

FEMINISM

WHAT IS FEMINISM?

According to the Oxford Dictionary, feminism is the advocacy of women’s right on the basis of the equality of the sexes.

The feminist movement started due to how women were treated differently in the social, economic and political sphere. One might wonder when this movement started and what propelled it to start, because it wasn’t like this from the beginning of time. Feminist movement started in 1848 ( first wave 1848-1920), it started as a organized movement aimed at gaining rights for American women in July 1848, the convention was organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott.

One can say that the first Industrial Revolution played a major role in this movement. Prior, to the first Industrial Revolution (1760—1840), the human life was not men dominated, and both men and women contributed equally in the society. During this period, men started to work in the industries and women (even those qualified to work in industries) were restricted to the domestic sphere.

IS FEMINISM A CURSE OR A BLESSING?

Many people have a different stand when it comes to this topic of “ feminism”.

Some may agree with me when I say that feminism is a curse. Before this movement came into the limelight, there was peace in the household and society at large with everyone knowing their role, what and what not to do. There was a lower rate of divorce, till the so-called women’s advocates decided to seek what they call knowledge and oppose everything we were used to. The women were happy in their ignorance before you made them feel like they wanted more.

It is funny, when I hear things like this and if you agree with that, you might be one of the problems we are facing

The feminist movement is definitely a blessing, and I mean healthy feminism not damaged women who hate every man. The movement recognized women as individuals with different interests and not just a figure that occupies space.

This movement has helped many women, to know their rights and give them freedom as humans. In the past, women were not allowed to open a bank account, serve on a jury, go to school, etc, if this was still in practice till date we would have lost a lot of assets because society looks down on women. Women have contributed greatly to society and this was only achieved because of the feminist movement, so it will be an idiocy to consider this movement a curse

DID THE FEMINIST MOVEMENT ACHIEVE ITS GOAL OF EQUALITY?

The movement achieved its goals, because women have better opportunities than they did years ago. This doesn't mean that everyone looks at women with respect, they are still people who think of women as lesser than men. Even though the first feminist movement was 176 years ago, society still treats both genders differently. And, of course, men and women are different biologically, men are stronger than women are physically but that is not the same when it comes to creativity, innovation and intelligence. I will use leadership as an example, it is not a hidden fact that women population is higher than the male population. Women are 52% of the world’s population but at the same time they hold fewer positions of power. I can remember, in December 2022, I was a conversation with my elder brother and one discussion led to another and he told me that women can't lead that they are meant to be led and I asked him why and he couldn't even pinpoint the particular reason he said that. And it is sad that most people think like this, shouldn't a leader be someone who is creative, innovative, and intelligent, irrespective of the gender. The late Kenyan Nobel Peace, Laureate Wangari Maathai said “ The higher you go the fewer women they are” and it is sad that she is correct, women get rejected from place of power not because they are unqualified but because they are women. Just like in my secondary school, a guy has to be the head of prefects then a woman assists him. And even when the woman is qualified to be the Head of Prefects, she won't be given the position because she is a lady. Society should do better, parents should raise their kids better, because changes in a society starts with the family. Society has taught men to mask how they feel, show no emotions or you will be seen as weak, you have to provide for women to be seen as relevant. That is why you see a guy in his second year in the university being pressured to provide for his girl who is in the same year as him. They get used to this, and from a young age they are taught to be hard men, but the more hard a man is compelled to be the weaker his ego gets. So, in order to accommodate their weak ego, women are expected to shrink their abilities. You can have ambition but don't be too ambitious, you can be successful but not too successful, you can earn just not as much as your partner, so as to not hurt his ego. The main question here should be, why will a woman’s success be a threat to a man?

Earlier, I said that for a society to change, the change should start from the family, in most families girls are taught how to aspire to marry and take care of the family and the boys are not being impacted by such knowledge. I thought that marriage involves a man and a woman. Just like girls are taught how to cook in most families while the boys are left out and this has always surprised me because isn't culinary skills essential for everyone to know, this is food we are talking about. We all need food for our nourishment, why then are girls only expected to have the skill. Also, parents are more chilled with their sons having a girlfriend rather than their daughter having a boyfriend. While girls are been shamed for having sex, guys are praised for having sex. And it is confusing cause it takes two to tango, so why do one have to bear the shame?

Gender prescribe how we should be rather than recognizing how we are. What if in raising kids we focus on ability instead of gender?

I know that they have been a lot of definitions about who a feminist is but Chimamnda Adichie’s definition remains my favorite.

“ A feminist is a man or woman who says yes there is a problem with gender as it is today and we must fix it, we must do better”.