3 reasons why men and women should embrace feminism

Three months ago I was looking for a job and I saw an advertisement on a local newspaper - a certain company was looking for a marketing manager. I immediately applied for the job since according to the advertisement the successful candidate was to start work the following week. I took the application in person and found the HR manager himself. He thanked me for having interest in their company but also said that the preferred candidate was a man. I sat down to have a conversation with him. One of the reasons he had for wanting to employ a male was that he believed that men are generally aggressive and therefore they are more likely to work overtime and stay late to get projects done. He also said that women go for maternity leave and during that period they always have to employ another person to stand in for them but since it was a small company they were trying to maximize profit. Apparently there were three other applicants and all of them were ladies. A few weeks later I found out that the company got a marketing manager but a high school graduate with no other qualification. He got the job just because he is male.

We should all be feminism, right?

If all of us were feminists, women would not face problems such as being judged as incompetent and not getting equal opportunities as their male counterparts.

Feminism is a topic that most people shun away from especially in Africa where more than 60% still believe in male superiority.

So, what is feminism?

Most people believe that feminism means hating men or women wanting to rule over men. This is far from the truth. Feminism lucidly means believing that men and women are equal and should be given equal opportunities. It is as simple as that.

Gender matters everywhere in the world. We should have a dream of making the world a better place. This can be achieved by raising our sons and daughters differently. What if boys and girls are given equal roles at a tender age? What if boys are not left to sit around watching TV or playing football while their sisters do all the house chores like cooking and cleaning the house? Do you think we would have a better world to live in even for the next generation? The answer is YES.

 


Why should men and women embrace feminism?

Recently I was eavesdropping on a conversation in a bus (as I sometimes do when I’m bored) there were a group of youths arguing whether men can really be feminists because according to them feminism only benefit women. This is a misconception, in reality feminism strives for equality of the sexes but not superiority for women. In other words both men and women should embrace feminism because it empowers people. If we live in a free world where both men and women are empowered we can create more peaceful societies.

Feminism leads to healthier masculinity. We are all familiar with traditional toxic masculinity- this is the exaggerated masculinity traits that have been accepted by many cultures. One of them being that ‘real men’ should not break down because emotions or vulnerability is unmanly. Through feminism we tend to shun away from these traits and embrace healthier ones.

Lastly, feminism being a basic demand for equality and justice. Men and women should embrace feminism because it is a beautiful thing. Imagine a world where both sexes are given equal opportunity at work places. A world that women are celebrated not just on how they look or dress but their ability to do extraordinary things.

We should all be feminists.