adminTsungai Chekerwa-Machokoto, Gender
The role that gender plays in society is not to seek to be equal with men. It is about social justice and I will never stop emphasising that until it gets into everybody’s mind
IN a country like ours where the economic and financial arena fluctuates, it is my pride to see that Zimbabwean women have thrived and found themselves a place in global markets.
There are quite a number, and a variety of women in business ranging from small businesses, cross-border trading to the big, globally recognised businesses.
The trade conditions in Zimbabwe, with the limited start up resources, has really refined women into the best entrepreneurs they can be.
Researchers argue that a person’s early socialisation can significantly affect that person’s level of confidence, achievement motivation and even ability to take risk.
A gendered conclusion arrived at is that patriarchy negatively affects women’s self-confidence, attitude towards success, and achievement motivation.
Differences between male entrepreneurs and female entrepreneurs have been found in respect to skill and background characteristics, especially in education and work business experience.
The above statement then is proof that a businesswoman or man, is made from infancy stages.
The role that gender plays in society is not to seek to be equal with men. It is about social justice and I will never stop emphasising that until it gets into everybody’s mind.
Gender is about social justice and the role that the society has in achieving it. As parents, the power to make or break our children lies within us.
Positivity can be their pedestal to success and negativity can be their constant hurdle.
I have witnessed parents who plan away from their children and make their business plans such a secret that it sucks the excitement about business out of them for good. Whenever they hear of business they associate it with secrecy and exclusion that they prefer to stay as far away from it as possible.
On the other hand, there are parents who include their children in business that they grow up wishing to own their own businesses. These parents talk about their plans with their children. They talk about their goals for the business, as well as the cash projections.
This inclusion is obviously age appropriate. You cannot shock children with big cash figures lest they do more damage to their education than good.
Now the problem is that our culture has conservative principles that have a negative impact on the girl child.
First of all, she is not allowed to show her face around “serious” meetings otherwise “usile/akangwarisa” (she’s too clever). That right there tells her that she is meant for the kitchen, bedroom and the rest of the household.
It kills the core of her ambition in everything else. The boy child, upon showing interest in business is given a pat on the back and such encouraging statements that he grows up with an unquenchable drive for business and for general success.
These two children grow up in very different life trails set by their parents or guardians and it’s a sad scenario. It will take a lot of education, a lot of reading, a lot of motivation and a lot of convincing to bring them to a place where they can start considering themselves as capable to succeed let alone do business.
I am personally inspired by people such as Professor Hope Sadza, who was socialised in a way that was empowering and different from every other young woman her age.
Her father told her that she could do anything she wanted and that she was no different from boys and back then, when it was unheard of for girls to go to university, she was one of the only first black girls to attend the University of Zimbabwe. Because she was socialised with an achieving minddset, she was not satisfied with all the education that she had acquired. She then started the Women’s University in Africa that is the centre for addressing gender disparities in Africa. Prof Sadza is an inspiration and will continue to be an educational legend for women across the world.
The person that should be responsible for this type of socialisation is the head of the house. The man — the father or the uncle. When the man of the house has a belief system and shares it with the children, both girls and boys, there’s no stopping the impact of what that does in the future of those children.
Today, we talk of women such as Zodwa Mthunzi, the chief executive officer of Traverze Travel Agency, Prof Sadza, the founder of Women’s University in Africa, Mrs Divine Ndhlukula, the founder and managing director of Securico, one of Zimbabwe’s largest security companies, Tsitsi Mutendi, the owner of Jewel Magazine and Mufaro Dolls, Jackie Mgido, owner of the prestigious Vault Cosmetics, Claudine Mayanja, the chief executive officer of Benji’s Fun Factory and Ruzivo Chonyera, the founder of Roar Consultancy. This is just to name but a few businesswomen in Zimbabwe. These women have established their businesses to success that is amazing. These and many other women make me so proud to be a woman in Zimbabwe.
When people go against all odds to become runaway successes, it is worth celebrating. A lot of women have had to fight their culture, their families, their religion, their in-laws, their own husbands, negativity and financial hurdles to make it. And they did in remarkable ways.
While there are a number of women that have been socialised in an encouraging way, a lot more of successful women had to do it themselves. They had to fight with everything that they had to become who they are today.
In a patriarchal professional arena, it has been a challenge to escalate the corporate ladder and to overcome the glass ceilings that are ever present.
The conclusion of today’s matter is that the seed for women to become businesspeople is planted in the infancy stages of their socialisation. Girls that were encouraged to achieve from early stages have found it second nature to achieve while the ones that were raised around negative stereotypes and patriarchal domination have had to struggle to achieve the same things.
Nevertheless, women in Zimbabwe have achieved admirable awards and recognition for the part that they have played in global markets and it is commendable and should be emulated by young parents of today for their children. An empowered generation is extremely achievable. It is completely up to us.
Online Reporter