Women are their own liberators

Freedom Mutanda
Last week on Friday was International Day for Women, a day that every woman celebrated as it reminded all women that their fight for the male species to recognise women as human beings and not second class citizens had borne fruit. It is instructive that women do not need any input from the male quarter to achieve their objective of being treated like equals.

One of the positive effects of the First World War was the emancipation of women in all spheres but more specifically, the fact that women could vote in Europe and the United States of America was a step forward for women. They could be part of the process to change leaders when they failed to perform according to the expectations of the majority.

In the early days of the feminist movement, some chauvinists felt threatened by the lobbyists who wanted a better life for all women concerned. Florence Nightangle had showed that women could provide the nursing expertise in a war situation and she is regarded as the mother of Nursing as we know it today. During the Crimean War, female nurses proved handy for the British soldiers.

The United Kingdom had Queens but the monarchs could not protect their fellow women as the bureaucracy was manned by men who were reluctant to relinquish power to women. In the Elizabethan era, William Shakespeare, the renowned playwright and dramatist, used young boys to play women characters on stage. Queen Elizabeth was the leader of Britain at that time yet it was anathema for a woman to portray Portia in ‘The Merchant of Venice’ for example.

As women began to enjoy their equal status in life, they failed to put women politicians into top positions and the British people, for all their claim to upholding equality, only elected a female Premier in the late 1970’s. Margaret Thatcher became the first female head of the British government in 1978. The USA did not vote for Hillary Clinton for her to occupy The White House.

Zimbabwe has a proud history of women who helped their kingly relatives to be effective rulers. In the Mutapa and Rozvi States, the king’s wives played an important role in the affairs of state. Granted, the king had the final say but he allowed women to have a contribution in whatever he did.

The spirit medium of Nehanda Nyakasikana, Charwe, fought the British in 1896 and left them with egg in their face despite the fact that she was captured and hanged. Her crime? She had dared challenge the mighty British Empire in spite of the inferior weapons the Shona and Ndebele warriors had.

Nehanda challenged the British to go back where they came from.  Nowhere do we hear our forefathers complaining about Nehanda as a leader in the fight against colonialism. That, shows beyond doubt that the African culture is not inherently anti-women as Europeans want us to believe.

Women have to be assertive; the legendary Queen Nzinga was a thorn in the flesh for the Portuguese in Angola many years before the dawn of colonialism. It is this heroic aspect that women must always wear on their faces today as they go about their business.

Many women took up arms during the protracted war again the Rhodesian regime and some had to be promoted into the highest echelons of political power. They had a conviction that being a woman was no barrier in the broader picture. Today, Zimbabwe is independent and the sacrifices of many women combatants have a clear reward.

If we can recreate and re-live the female combatants’ deeds during the war, we will see the SADC quota system in the parliament being achieved without much ado.

There is a belief that women can’t stomach another woman getting into power ahead of them; to spite the other woman, they fabricate all sorts of stories about her, how she slept her way to power and so forth and that is a huge step backwards for women. It is only now that women have realised the essence of unity; numerous organisations have been formed that play an advocacy role for women. Women in Politics Support Network easily come to mind. Do we need NGO’s to champion our cause?

Non-Governmental Organisations partner government in fostering women participation in the political, social and economic affairs of the country. As partners in development, these two entities have to be driven by women. If women remain as bystanders, it will take forever for the Beijing Declaration to be achieved.

At Primary School, in the first three grades, girls excel and they hog the limelight as the top three best students are announced. Sadly, by the time the girl reaches Grade 7 or even Form 4, she is a pale shadow of herself in the lower grades. Her peers have drummed into her the fact that as a girl she can’t do better than her male counterparts; she is contended with those average marks; it appears as if she would be struck with a rare disease if she shies away from tradition.

Mathematics and other Science subjects are said to be for boys only and any girl who shows a propensity for the Sciences is said to be strange; it is for that reason that a greater number of female students fail Mathematics yet when they were at Grade 7 level, they had very good grades in the subject they now regard as extremely difficult. Why is that? A concerted effort from all sectors is required lest girls continue to fear the Sciences and rush to the Arts and Commercials.

There is nothing bad in pursuing the Arts — where are we going to get our social scientists and lawyers — but we need a feminine presence in Medicine and Engineering.

Remember, I am not in any way insinuating that the Arts and Commercials are easy.

We want female visibility in all walks of life; after all, 52% of Zimbabweans are female according to the 2012 Census results.

Parents must tell their girl children that they are special and they are the best in anything they aspire to be. If one has two children, a boy and a girl, they ought to be treated in the same way.

We have heard about parents who do not send their children to secondary school arguing that a girl child temporarily lives at the family homestead whether in the urban or rural area and very soon she would get married. In other words, notwithstanding the intelligence of the girl, she is condemned because of her gender. The unfortunate part of it is that her mother’s voice is clear as she says, “You must go away from school mwanangu because you will get old before I see your baby.”

Since the dawn of independence in 1980, women in the country have made great strides in the empowerment arena. 1982 marked the re-birth of womankind as the Legal Age of Majority Act was passed by the government. From then onwards, women went from strength to strength as a separate Ministry responsible for women was set aside and has been there ever since.

The government initiated the affirmative action phenomenon where girls with lower points would access university programmes. While women and men may feel that it is a humiliating policy, I am of the opinion that girl children are saddled with a lot of things to do at home leaving them with very little time to study. With that in mind, the government policy on affirmative action was spot on.

Mao once said women hold half the sky. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Nkosazana  Zuma easily come to mind. They went to the top because of their ability.

Closer home, Cde Mandi Chimene, Minister of State for Manicaland, is justifying her elevation to that lofty position by her work ethic.

As we pay tribute to the heroines of the women struggle, we must take stock of the essential elements of women of substance. They must be dedicated, committed, honest, patriotic and devoid of a pull him/her down syndrome. They must eschew love for the country to go forward.

Above all, women must be fearless in the face of adversity.

Women are their own liberators; they don’t need men to achieve equality; men and women are equal before the law and that is decisive and final.