In Ghana, we normally say “if you educate a man, you educate one person but if you educate a woman you educate the whole nation”. I asked a friend of mine if she knew the meaning of that phrase and she said it means “a woman will go school and then finish school and then give birth and then send her child to school and then…I just gave her a criminal offensive side eye because all that she was saying was over the bar.
People don’t even get the whole point of feminism, they just like the idea of it. I mean we are talking about standing up for women in society not saying that women should act tough as men. It’s not about women should stop cooking or women should not take up their feminine responsibilities. The whole point of this is that we should have fair and equal share as men. A female engineer shouldn’t be paid lesser than a male engineer. A female doctor shouldn’t be paid lesser than a male doctor. Girls shouldn’t be limited in the kitchen, and stuff like that.
It has nothing to do with what most people think about. A lot of people come up with so many arguments about how what a man can do, a woman can do better. When you go closer to hear what their argument is all about, it’s just funny. Some women even go as far as saying they will never get married and they don’t need any man because whatever a man can do, she can equally do it for herself but then after a while they end up looking for a sperm donor. People just interpret things very differently when it comes to feminism or women empowerment.
People are so into the whole feminism thing wrongly that they even find being offered help by a man offensive. A man offers to help them carry something very heavy and they go like “oh you think I can’t carry it because I’m a woman?”, but you really can’t carry it and that’s because naturally, your strength is not enough as compared to his.
This wasn’t created by science or anything. God in His own infinite wisdom created men to protect us.
So for those that don’t even get the whole feminism thing and think it’s solely for women to be in charge and be the protectors and providers and so on, I’m sorry to say I left that chat. You can still be empowered and fight for your place in society without leaving your gender roles. You don’t have to be a “tough man” at the end of the day. Being a woman is magical, it’s something beautiful. We should embrace our inner strength than trying to seek outer strength and make ourselves men in the name of feminism.
The whole point is for women to fight for what want. To be heard and given the attention and resources they need. To be empowered to do great stuff without fear. This has nothing to do with the kind of eye we look at feminism with.