Chronicle Editor
Andile Tshuma, Gender
There is growing consensus among development practitioners especially those within the gender field that the boy-child has been side-lined from the development agenda, and that ongoing empowerment and development efforts offer nothing much to our boys.
This has spurred debates, with some saying that boys need no holding hand as the world is still a men’s world anyway, while others are saying it’s a men’s world for the very few but the rest of the male population is not necessarily connected to those empowered few in privileged positions.
Boys are falling behind and are becoming more vulnerable.
This shows that there is indeed a vacuum that needs to be filled, and boys need mentors, guides, opportunities and empowerment too, or they risk falling on the wayside and succumbing to risky behaviour and some very bad peer pressure, leading to shattered dreams and broken futures.
Not to say that we must take away anything from our girls. Our girl child deserves all the attention she is currently getting and the good things coming her way. Girls and women have been dealt a raw deal for generations and these efforts to address those un-doings are necessary.
However, while we are at it, we must not neglect our boys, such that a few decades from now, we will be having boy-child empowerment programmes. We would have lost the plot and made no real gains in addressing gender inequalities.
Let children be children and know that they are equal and that their dreams are all valid.
It’s important for boys to be made to understand that the world has been less kind to their sisters, hence the global efforts to ensure that more opportunities are availed to women and girls.
However, this can be made without side-lining boys, but through involving them in the development agenda and ensuring they understand that there is enough space for them to coexist, compete and excel together with their sisters as they navigate through life and opportunities.
In Zimbabwe it is encouraging to see the works done by organisations such Padare/Enkundleni men’s forum on gender, and the podcast programmes by Men’s conference.
It shows that there is hope in ensuring that there are spaces for the boy-child and men, and that they are included in the development agenda. Without such programmes, our boys risk being ‘umhlambi kazalusile’ or a shepherd-less herd.
They also need grooming, role models and mentors. Just because the world is still being run by men and there’s so many of them in leadership does not automatically mean that these boys have leaders guiding them.
How is society reaching out to boys and helping fight drug and substance abuse? It’s not only men who should be responsible for the welfare of the boys, empowered women and girls can also involve their brothers in this journey.
We all want a better world, and it can be achieved if we all play our part towards that better, more equal future.
In school, both boys and girls must be made to understand that they are equals and that the world is waiting for all of them to excel and take up their spaces in their chosen fields, and that they are all gifted, in their many diverse ways, and that the world is big enough for all of them and there are enough opportunities to go round.
However, it must not only be in the classroom. It should start at home. Communities must have role models, that inspire both girls and boys to excel and to make the right life choices.
While girls are watchfully walked through puberty, the boy child is often left to fend for himself and is expected to know the way. Boys are taught from an early age that they are leaders and that they must ‘do better’ but when they lack the ability and resources to do so, they feel unable to express their frustration, as men do not cry.
This has been said to contribute to boys being more likely to abuse drugs and up to 20 times more likely to be imprisoned. Such behaviour among boys today could partially be linked to the boy child emulating his own father figure who is seldom home and seldom speaks when he is home.
At school, culture and biology still limit girls from achieving their potential. One in ten girls in Sub-Saharan Africa will miss classes due to her monthly period, according to a Human Rights Watch report. In fact, 22 per cent of females who drop out of school, cite a lack of sanitary facilities as a major reason.
Both genders face a variety of challenges – societal, cultural, biological, economical. Moreover, they have their own uniqueness, differences and fortes. We must always bear in mind that an effective society needs both effective men and effective women making equality between genders a necessity for society rather than an idyllic value.
For Zimbabwe today, the varied needs of both the boy child and the girl child need to be catered for so that they are able to make the most of their potential. Empowerment, celebration and support of one gender does not mean shrinking of the other as both genders can progress individually and thus together.
We will truly reach a place of equality when we can stop thinking in terms of ‘boy child’ or ‘girl child’, rather just value a student for what they are, a child.
Girls have over the years been acknowledged as suppressed, neglected and in need of the world’s attention. Attention and targeted effort to lift and empower girls and women have been made in Zimbabwe. The work has to some extent been successful.
There is however a side effect of such efforts. Boys tend to fall behind and become more vulnerable. Research has shown that boys are suffering from neglect and can therefore be regarded as vulnerable in a way that has not been acknowledged before.
Reaching out to boys and starting their inclusion journey can start at home. Encourage your boy to feel and to express his emotions.
Having a range of emotions is healthy and normal. Create opportunities for your son to discuss his feelings.
The earlier he can communicate his emotions to you, the more able he will be to sit with these feelings and regulate his reactions when faced with more challenging situations.
Let children be children and let us help ensure that they all get equal opportunities in life. -@andile_tshuma
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