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.
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