Feminists have gone too far….but we’ll go further!!

I had an article written a few weeks ago about how I was done with this whole feminism thing. And I was done, for real. I no longer wanted to be associated with feminists; neither did I want the tag on me anymore. (Yes, I am a proud advocate of women rights myself, seeing as I come from a family of five girls. Plus, my mother. Six women in the house, no man. My father passed away a long time ago.) I’ve seen people – especially men- try to take advantage of us, knowing- thinking- we couldn’t stand for ourselves. But we are tough as nails and they all retreated with their tails between their legs.

So yes, I was proud to be called a feminist. Until I started wondering if we were losing focus. Were the feminists of today losing focus? What was the real agenda of these noble women? Was it that they had no agenda at all?  Initially it was about equal rights for everyone, man or woman. Then it became a war. A shouting contest. And then we totally lost the plot, we wanted to be superior. It wasn’t about equality anymore. Feminists wanted women to be superior. They wanted to rule men. And this is where they lost me. Because in all honesty, this wasn’t a war on who was superior or inferior. All the women who ever conquered in the Bible, they dint do so by chest thumping. Abigail, Esther, queen of Sheba. Name ANY woman, who conquered in the Bible, they didn’t do so by trumping on those men and trying to make them look like fools. Or embarrass them.

All these thoughts were passing through my mind as I shelved my article for another day, when something unexpected happened. I landed upon the now infamous embassava video. I was, to say the least, horrified! Hardly had a few days elapsed before someone forwarded the video of the lady in Mombasa being stripped; in blue jeans! Let me tell you something, that video was so gruesome I cried for a whole five minutes. I shuddered as I thought of that woman, the trauma she’ll have to live with for the rest of her life. Did she have someone that night that would be there just to cry with her? Would she ever trust a man again, top of all, would she ever trust strangers again? Ever?

All that violence, all that violence! And for what? I am tired of the statement “what if it was your mother, or sister or daughter?” what happened to just respecting someone else first and foremost because they are human beings? Isn’t that reason enough anymore? What the hell is happening in this country?

When I saw that video from Mombasa, I realized it wasn’t about indecent dressing anymore. That lady was not indecently dressed. She was in a pair of jeans. They hit her, groped her breasts, and opened her legs wide (My God, MY GOD!) That was violence against women, plain and simple. Violence against every woman. Sexual harassment at its best. It’s like men are trying to prove, in a very twisted way, that they are still powerful. Granted, we have many decent men in this world. But those I saw have major issues. It’s like they are angry at every woman. I don’t know what their mothers did to them. Or how their wives have wronged them. But these men need help. It’s not about dressing anymore, it’s like there is a power contest going on. The excuses are becoming vague every day. Jilted lover, ignored cat call, excuse to steal etc, etc. These men need to be stopped.

That’s when I realized the fight must go on. We as feminists cannot afford to give up. Not now, not ever. If anything, we have to go harder now. These men, who think they hold the power over women, can treat them whichever way they want, must be stopped. We shall march on, till they know the strength of a woman. They have provoked now and there is no looking back. From now onward, its Aluta continua. We shall continue fighting for our rights.  The right to dress as we want, the right to walk these streets without fear of the unknown. The right to stand up and say enough is enough. We have come a long way from the early 1900’s where women weren’t allowed to vote. Or even attend school. Yes we’ve come along way and now is not the time to give up.

If you are a woman, sited behind your computer or phone sneering right now, thinking, those women had it coming. They got what they deserved. Your time will come. And because you sat back and said nothing when it was someone else, when your time comes, nobody will be there to defend you, because everyone else will be long lost.