Recently I did a research of what comes in the mind both males and females ,when they hear this topic “Africa , the World and the Girl Child.”. A few people most especially the younger generation were the people I asked to know what they think about the topic. Here’s is what a few of them said ;
” I feel like my society treats girls like they are stupid , useless , and treat like them like they have nothing to do than to stay in the kitchen.” – Anonymous 9 year old .
” Partial , and I usually do not know what is their gain for all this it’s really unfair ! ” – Anonymous 11 year old .
“I feel like the society or the world treats the female like we can’t be heroes , we can’t be like the men , we can’t do stuff . Girls can’t be Independent but deserve to be in the kitchen and get married and be subdued under man , even highschool boyfriends think they have the power to tell you what to do ! Which I find very unfair and disturbing.” – Favour Bassey , 16.
” We Africans perceive that the girl child is supposed to be trained as a wife . In the world , women or the girl child are only allowed to do certain things or certain jobs also there are rules for women . In recent times the girl child is taking on different leadership positions. Unfortunately for the girl child as though this time and age is not our time and age , the girl child is treated wrongly , the world has changed more than Africa has changed towards the girl child.” – Balogun Tomisin , 16.
” The African society believe that women do not have the capability to do what men can do , not because we can’t do it , but because they are scared ladies have a better insight than them . They believe they are superior , they believe that they have the strength , they want to be on top of the would. It shouldn’t be done that way! African men are scared to put their women outside , for they believe that women aren’t supposed to be heard . They need to grow up , grab sense and open their eyes and see that there should be equality among humans . This whole thing is about superiority and not equality . We need to change our ways and view points . What our forefathers did is not what we are doing now , this should be a different generation entirely.”– Cindy Samuel , 16.
“The society treats the girl child as dirt , I see the girl child as gold dug up from the deepest part of the ground
And all the society see is the dirt not the gold ! But most girls have refused to wash the dirt off.
Most girls don’t even know they’re more than dirt,
They don’t know they are actually gold.” – Charity Chide ,18
“Some people see women as lesser versions of men , some see them like they are worthless, in some parts of Nigeria example if you have only female children and no male children it is blamed on the female , whereas scientifically the gender of the child is dependent on the man not the woman . Some girls in rural areas are not in school as it is deemed as unimportant whereas their brothers would be in school. In some parts of India , boys are given full milk and the girls are given milk diluted in water . In some other countries , girls are married off as early as the age of 5, which is very sad.”– Feyi Akodu ,15.
“Okay here’s what i think , the girl child is more like a caged bird.
Caged bird in the sense that well they have ambitions, dreams and goals they want to follow but the gender inequality in the society won’t let them.” – Victor Fash , 18
Now that we have read the opinions of a few people here and there. Here’s a cookie bit of what I think ;
The way you treat a girl child determines the way you treat a woman. When the society has little or no regards on how to treat the girl child , when they go to be women, they wouldn’t be duly respected . Most especially in the third world countries and infact the same in the so called “delevoped” countries. The whole sexism idea or beliefs led to feminism , although some men think it’s as a result of the nonchalancy of women who think that they are better than men . I met a friend once who was of the opposite sex who just asked me out of the blue if I was a feminist, I replied saying ” I would be crazy not to be on my own side.” I asked him why he had asked and he said that he just didn’t like feminists.
Why ?
He doesn’t know ! You see this form of Hate is as bad as racism . Yes ! Biblically speaking it was said that God made man first and out of man came forth the woman , to HELP man , but then if man refuses to heed the advice or get help from women how then would the world develop ?
We can’t just be submissive towards the needs of men , women also have rights, dreams, ambitions and aspirations. No feminist is fighting for the supremacy of womankind . All we want is equality , as feminism means ;
* The advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the belief in the social , economic , and political equality of the sexes.
* The belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities.
* The doctrine advocating social, political and all other rights of women equal to that of men.
© Jennifer Sanni.
No part of this publication maybe used without legal authorization from the author .
