A feminist man indeed!

Ruvimbo Goredema
The reality of the feminine experience in Zimbabwe is in many ways the same as any other in the rest of the world. Here too, women’s rights have been suppressed because of a combination of factors such as culture, sexism and through the mainstreaming of what is believed to be “feminine behaviour” or “female sexuality” or the “feminine brain.”  Both women and men have helped to build and maintain the acceptable understanding of what is feminine and what it means to be a Zimbabwean woman.

So if one chooses to venture out and understand this identity, its constructs and its impact inevitably you will be fired head first into the murky conundrum called “feminism” — a poignant word that rolls around our tongues like bitter medicine if you don’t subscribe to its perceived ideology, or like a glass of cool water if you do.

With its many variants and expressions, it is difficult to decipher what all the arguments are about, however there is a core ethos that prevails, primarily that of the advocacy of equal access, equal opportunity and equal rights of women to those of men.

When put so simply, we have to wonder why it’s created such a fuss and why achieving this so called “equality” has taken so long to happen? And then by this definition why can’t men be feminist too?

Ooops, a male feminist.  Keep calm and hear me out. Let me illustrate the ironies of how feminism has already marinated the male consciousness and all that is left is the cooking. If you have educated your daughter so that she can have access to opportunity and a well paying job, if you have protected your sister from the harassment of other men, if you have asked women to vote for you, if you have promoted a woman at the workplace because she performed her duties better than any other candidate, if you’ve fought side by side with women for the liberation of our country, you’re a well marinated feminist. All that is left is to understand the irony that patriarchal behaviour against a system that is already in motion is a complete waste of time.

The point is that men and women perform feminist acts everyday that are now interpreted as simple courtesies, yet these acts have been and continue to be fought for because they require to be improved.

Of course women can admit that a fair amount of progress for women in this country has happened with the inclusion of men. It’s therefore pointless to continue to insist that feminism and women’s rights are an insipid and basic issue of men vs. women. To insist that women are trying to be men is juvenile and exposes an illiterate nature and Zimbabweans are anything but illiterate.

By simply replacing one hegemonic ideology that isn’t working and replacing it with one that is far more relevant and conducive to peace, progress and meritocracy and don’t we all want that?

Let us as a nation remove ourselves from the doldrums of mediocrity by accepting that both men and women can elevate each other and achieve parity. When we all have equal access and equal opportunity to the abundant resources we have as a country, not only will we positively change the fortunes for generations to come and achieve real wealth, but we will have trained our sons and daughters to better people towards each other, a better society for all.