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Feminism: The Bane Of Our Generation by The Writers' League


A DEBATE ORGANISED BY THE WRITERS' LEAGUE TITLED "FEMINISM: THE BANE OF OUR GENERATION"

On the ideology that has been breaking the internet intermittently, that advocates for political, financial and social equality between both genders: Feminism. It has been a controversial issue between members of both sexes as to if Feminism is a right cause, if the women should be given the right to be an equal to the men, and if the femalefolk are, in fact, ready to step in and snatch the reins for themselves. 

Many exposes have been written, many debates given and many theories propounded on Feminism, efforts have been made to unravel the mystery behind the unending argument on Feminism. 

Today, I will like to present to you, a trio debate by The Writers' League, a body that comprises a collection of writers and bloggers. The topic of the debate is FEMINISM: The Bane Of Our Generation, and three writers will be doing justice to it. The first presentation, by Miss Tabel Agada, goes thus:

Sincerely speaking, I've never had a thought on Feminism as a "thing" so I tried checking it up on Wikipedia and I got this as a definition: "Feminism is a range of political movements,Ideologies and social movement that share a common goal: to define,establish and achieve political,economic,personal and social equality of sexes."

   Someone once said women belong to the kitchen and in the other room and most people still have that kind of mentality which is absurd! I mean how can somebody even say that? God blessed the female gender with abilities the same way he blessed the male gender.The female can do way more than just handling things in the kitchen and giving birth to children. Yes, the female has every right to be active socially, economically, politically.

    Though some people has gone overboard with feminism saying women should be the one in control and in authority. Many people fear that feminists want to control the world and put men down, but this is not true. Feminism is simply about giving equal right and opportunities to the female gender. Most women are born to be leaders, CEOs, etc. Therefore women should be given an opportunity to maximize their potentials.

    In marriages and in family system, a woman is designed to only support and be a help mate to her husband. The male gender is the head and this can not be over emphasized.

    I'll leave you with this quote by Eleanor Roosevelt " A woman is like a tea bag you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water".

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And the next piece, a conflicting view,  is by Oseni 'Navas' Olufisayomi.

Hi Fam, 

Definition of Feminism to start with. According to my phone's dictionary — I guess I'm too excited about my ideas to check the big "dico" — Feminism is defined as "A social theory or political movement  which argues that legal and social restrictions on women must be removed in order to bring about equality of the sexes in all aspects of public and private life."

One thing that has always affected Nigeria as a country is the constant comparison with developed countries, US and UK particularly. 

With due regard to the ladies, we are in a country where culture doesn't and won't allow the existence of Feminism. Yoruba to start with; I grew up in a family where boys are never allowed in the kitchen. Everything I know about cooking today, I learned outside my home. The point is, girls are always trained to meet the demands when it comes to Marriage. Whoever it is/was brought the idea to Nigeria to confuse our young girls and women deserve a death sentence — no apologies. A lot of people have been misled, marriages have been broken, homes have been destroyed. Have you ever wondered how the culture hasn't changed much despite being in the modern world? No parent will raise his/her child to be a Feminist, even a feminist won't raise his/her child to be a feminist — I stand to be corrected.

Let me go biblical: God put Adam in charge of the Garden of Eden, he created Eve to SUPPORT him. Let us all have it at the back of our minds that women are meant to support. Some will say in some cases where men are not performing their marital duties and ladies are the ones who bring food to the table, have titles not been switched? I'll leave that for you to decide.

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And the last piece is submitted by Adebisi AbdulHakeem. 

Well, I am not exactly for or against Feminism, an ideology that advocates for the equality in both genders, the priviledges and all — my definition. 

In the course of this piece, I'd try to be a fencist here. "Try" because it is a subjective matter. Objectivity on such sensitive matters like Feminism is like derailing mobile train. With that being said, I will proceed.

Actually, there is nothing wrong in wanting to be treated equally with the male counterparts. There is nothing wrong with speaking: for one's self; of the subjugation and vile, misogynistic treatment being subjected to by members of the opposite sex; Overt comdemnation of rape and being blamed for being at a place or wearing a certain outfit; fighting for freedom of expression; freedom to every possible priviledge supposedly enjoyed by the male child. 

According to web ranking, most Islamic countries ranked the lowest in the treatment of women. Nigeria ranks 108 out of 144. Yemen, the war-torn country, holds the last position, preceded by other Islamic countries including Saudi Arabia. Now, if you look closely enough, you'd see that the common factor here is religiosity. I am not an Atheist and neither do I believe that being one makes you free of misogynistic traits. It is more related to some religious injunctions, either taken out of context or misinterpreted. Perhaps I can expatiate a bit.

In history, amongst the Muslims, after the obliteration of paganism in Arabia,  femalefolk were revered. Highly acknowledged. It was to a point that the first originally recorded Quran was placed or kept with a woman. Also, it was recorded in most of the Sitta, the six authentic ahadeeths, that whenever there is something confusing in the religion or state affairs, after the demise of the Prophets, they would go to the youngest wife of the Prophet, Nana Aishat RA. She was the most knowledgeable of all the women in Arabia. Women had rights to many things, just like the male, to some extents, maybe. 

Now, compare to this: A girl, as young as seventeen, was found guilty of rape, and judgement was passed that she should be raped by 50 more men. Publicly. This is very mild compared to some heinous crimes committed to them. Rape, Harrassment, etc.

This is to show that, Feminism was not founded on baseless grounds. It wasn't in existence in the days of the old. Because things weren't as damned as now, or recently. And the religious injunctions were tampered with. 

(I intend to make this shorter o. God save my soul.)

Now, after the advent of Feminism in the society, many ideas have been inculcated into our femalefolk. They are ready to overthrown the patriachial system. But they question is, ARE THEY READY? 

Well, with the looks of things, they seem to be overprepared, or underprepared. I will explain. 

The advocacy is for equality. In essence, it means everything, both priviledges and responsibility must be shared. Correct? 

I will bring in two instances out of many I intend, before I discuss a subject of compromise. 

One is, Rape. It should be known, if not already known, that no gender has the monopoly of being a rapist. As it is in male, so it is the opposite gender. 
Now, think of this: You got raped by a bunch of ladies/man, fine! You report to the Police Station, what do you think is they will say to the man raped? 
If they don't accuse the man himself of committing the crime and trying to blame the girls, they would tell him "didn't you enjoy it?" Many kids were deflowered by their older aunts and neighbours, and couldn't speak out because...they are male. They have bottle it all in, shy away from being called sissy in the end and not manning up to endure the emotional trauma that accompanies such intrusive acts. Malefolk get harrassed, too. You get fondled or groped in the worst kind of way and you can't say anything. You must enjoy it by force. Decline a sex offer from a female, they threaten to shout or call you out.

Two, it is scientifically proven, that males are wired to be stronger than the female. All facts. If I can punch a guy in the face when it comes to a fight, do feminists suggest I do the same to womenfolk? Nah, I'd be in jail before 5pm. 
But a female is allowed to do all sorts and will get away with it, that is if she  doesn't help the guy earn a night or two behind the bars.

These are the priviledges enjoyed by the female that males never complained about. Women have been playing the emotional cards from time immemorial. Recently, it is noticed that almost all Hollywood actors are being investigated or tried for sexual harrassment. With little, no or absurd evidences and all. Flirting now connotes sexual suggestions and can get fined heavily.

And then comes the extremism of Feminism. The "I can't kneel for my husband on my traditional wedding day.", "I can revoke the consent to sex even after having it", "we don't want chilvary" people. They want to overpower the male. To subjugate them.  Leaving the pertinent issues like FGM (Female Genital Mutilations) that has killed many female infants or other issues that require immediate attention. Well, let's just keep this for some other time.

The solution I would advise the world is, what we should seek is Equity, not equality BUT Impartiality. Justice to who ever deserves it. No one will get away for anything and...perhaps we will discuss this some other time, too. 

In conclusion, Feminism as an ideology, is an untested one, it may work, and it may not, if consequences can be faced. But one thing, subjugation and crimes committed against the femalefolk should be eradicated.

Thanks.

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So, it is over to the public. What are your opinions on this matter? Comment below.  


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