Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie would probably cuss me out if she read this. Which is a good thing in real sense because I am safe in the knowledge she would never read this article. Not in a thousand years. Maybe in a hundred….but by then the world order would be so different from how we know it today, men might be the ones staying at home taking care of the kids as women go to fend for the family. Don’t look so shocked….hundreds of years ago some cultures actually practiced this. Don’t ask me to name a few, go yee forth and carry out some research. While at it, remember it still happens in some cultures, with the only difference being the women will go fend for the family AND take care of the kids at the same time as the “man of the house” spends his entire life in some drinking den.
God, how fast and easily I drift…..that isn’t even how I wanted to start this article. Even I I’m shocked at myself. Focus, sunsetter, focus…. Let’s try this again, shall we?
How discredited is the term “Feminism?” how many times have you seen that word on your screen, or heard someone use it and cringed? When did we get here? Is feminism a bad thing? No, definitely not. I personally believe in the ideologies of feminism. Are the people who call themselves feminists’ bad people? I think not. However, the problem could lie in the fact that most of the people who refer to themselves using the term are usually uninformed and highly intolerant of other people’s views. For the most part, these women (and men. Yes we have men who call themselves feminists and I have to warn you, they are far worse than the women because most of the time they do it for political correctness or for some ulterior motives. In short, with most male feminists it is a case of preaching water and drinking wine). So, for the most part these people’s position is pretty simple but complex at the same time. What we call a paradox. They believe women should get the pros of being a modern man with the pros of a traditional woman and none of the bad from either front. Pretty simple, no? That, ladies and gentlemen, is what feminism has become. Tainted by uninformed people who have made it a sexist women empowerment group.
As such, I am pro equality. Because equality is NOT the same as feminism, however much they try to make you believe otherwise. With equalism there is no double meaning as with feminism. It is just that, EQUALISM. EQUALITY. Because the biggest problem with feminists is they ended up warping the ideal original message. At the least, this feminist concept has bred groups that led to inequality (which was what was being addressed in the first place) disputes among them and unhealthy competition.
Like I wrote earlier in one of my articles, feminists seem to be losing the agenda –if they haven’t already. A pal of mine even told me they don’t have an agenda. This is sad really, because equality between sexes is a beautiful concept. Oh, that pal of mine is a man. This could translate to anything or nothing at all. So, feminists no longer want women to have equal opportunities with men. They no longer want to be equal to men. No, they want to be superior. They want to look at men from on top of their noses. Granted, the same cannot be said for all of them. Some want genuine equality while others just want to tramp on men till they no longer have a voice of their own.
In a perfect world, feminism stands for equality. In reality though, in the world we are currently living in its message has been twisted and warped and turned into something even we the believers do not recognize anymore. Therefore, if you really are pro equality, call it that; equality. Because sadly, current feminism does not and will never translate to equality.
I am pro equality. I believe in social rights for women. I believe in equal political, cultural, personal and economic rights for women. As women we are forever grateful for the strides that have been made, the sacrifices that were made by the original feminists that gave women of today the right to vote, the right to earn fair wages/ equal pay, right to own office, right to even work, rights to something as necessary as maternity leave and equal rights within marriage. Women like Susan B. Antony, Elizabeth cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. Women who campaigned for the abolition of slave trade first and later for the voting rights of women. Notably, these amazingly courageous women were influenced by the Quaker theology of spiritual equality, which evolves around the belief that men and women are equal under God. Women like Hoda Shaarawi, who founded the Egyptian feminist union and later became a symbol of the Arab women rights movement. And men like Qasim Amin, considered the father of Arab feminism.
I am grateful to women like Venus Williams, who took it upon themselves to campaign for equal pay for women in sports. All it takes is that one courageous woman to take the initiative, while the rest are resigned to fate. For these, we will forever be grateful.
I stand for equal rights between my sons and daughters. I do not wish for my daughter being superior to my son. I want them to have equal opportunities, not fighting for superiority. And for that, I am pro equality. I am pro girl power.
