feminism a mindset

FEMINISM; A MINDSET Feminism has been defined as the idea that women are being marginalized. Then I ask, who is marginalizing us? the government? the male folks? the Society? I think women are just being limited by themselves. Feminism was real in the 18s when women were treated as second class citizens. Not until writers rose and write ups were written for the liberation of the feminine gender, Equality with the male folks was achieved, there and then feminism became obsolete. For feminism to be taken into account, it has to be understood as having already passed away. But now, some women especially African women still hide under the term feminism saying that they are being marginalized, prevented from taking a course, position, some profession and acquiring a skill. Then I ask, who are the men to do so? The truth is, if feminism is to be brought back to life, it would mean the believe that women are being marginalized where as they are not and they hide under it to produce beneath their God given ability. I used African women because they have championed this thought while women from other part of the world have positioned themselves to enjoy the dividends of the won battle; feminism. Let’s look at the statistics and see the effect of this mindset: · Women make up 33% of managerial and administrative posts in the developed world. In Africa, Asia and the pacific the figure is even lower- 15% and 13% respectively. · Two third of illiterate adult in the world are women. · The majority of the 1.3 billion people in the world living in poverty are women. No constitution of the world stipulates gender for any political position, women have the right to vote and be voted for, the right to acquire knowledge, wealth, education etc. same with men. The problem is not that they do not know it but they don’t believe it because “believe is action”. They refuse to get involved and those of them that are educated still allow the tenets of cultural value and misinterpreted religion to limit them and feed themselves the thought that they are been marginalized by men. The male folks can’t be blamed either because they’ve seen this menace but still proffer solution through women empowerment programmes, women development programmes, seminars and workshops etc. all this is but to no avail. Education is the solution of the myopic African women. Education has been defined as “the transmission of civilization”. Education says “work with your given right with the time when it is allowed”. The world has evolved, the input of both gender is needed for more development and a better Africa, a better Nigeria. It’s high time African women learnt a trade, acquired knowledge and got educated. It is not enough to be educated; it is essential to be civilized. So also, it is not enough to know that you know it but show that you know. Let all African women dream and stop looking at their male counterparts. The European countries were among the countries that perpetuated feminism decades ago but presently, Britain is ruled by a women; Queen Elizabeth. A woman can still be the president of Nigeria; we’ve had a dozen men rule yet no difference. It’s high time we tried a woman. Get educated and be civilized, because the world needs the input of both genders to be better place.