Not everything is a woman thing
Not everything is a woman thing, yes! Not everything is a woman thing. Sexism is a prejudice based on a person’s sex or gender and it really can affect anyone but it primarily affects women and girls. Statistically, women and girls are exposed to more negatives; physically, emotionally, and psychologically than men and boys are.
Girls, in some homes, before they even are old enough to understand their environment are made to believe there is the need for them to be timid for the simple reason that they are girls. They grow up timid and anytime they exhibit their timid nature, they get comments like, as for girls, they are timid. Ironic right?
But not everything is a girl thing, not everything is a woman thing. Some things are just a person thing, or better still an everyone thing and that’s just it.
There is often the generalization that women are too emotional, too afraid, too weak; check the scenario where someone steps on a fire literally and she screams and jumps in search of any cold water around to put her foot inside, only for the chauvinistic friends around to laugh and remark; “as for girls de333”.
Now in displaying their chauvinism they believe she screamed from the pain because she is a “she” and not because she is just a human being whose sensory receptors are working just fine, and her brain which makes the final prompting before she feels the pain is not damaged either.
So you see, not everything is a girl thing and certainly not everything is a woman thing! It is saddening that even in this day and age, there are still some Senior High School girls out there who are tagged as not feminine enough just because they are intelligent enough to beat their male counterparts at maths and science, they are studious and serious enough not to engage in unnecessary campus extracurriculars. Having fun is good, but not at the expense of important things.
Wesley Girls’ Senior High School beat their male counterparts from Prempeh College and Achimota School to progress to the semifinal of the 2019 National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ) but unfortunately, we could only celebrate them enough till some individuals spoiled the fun with some demeaning remarks after the girls were booted out of the competition by St. Peters Senior High School on their way to the finals.
I saw a headline from an online portal which read; “St Peters boys send Wesley Girls back to the kitchen.” I talked about it, I guess other well-meaning gender advocates talked about it too as I checked the headline again and couldn’t find it.
One would have thought “the kitchen is for girl’s analogy” is a thing of the past, but as it turns out, apparently not!
St Peters did not beat Wesley Girls because the latter was an all-female group, no! St Peters beat Wesley Girls because they were better students than them at that moment, as were Wesley Girls when they beat Achimota and Prempeh schools.
Because, not everything is a girl thing, certainly not everything is a woman thing. A few days ago, the Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Madam Cecilia Abena Dapaah made headlines when she trashed Adom fm for letting an intern prep her for an interview. Miss Rahinatu Abdul Bach also made headlines as she was the intern who received the scolding from the minister.
Facts of the issue aside, there were subtle attempts by some people to make the whole situation a ‘women thing’.
Some asked how could a female treat another female with such disregard, while others had the effrontery to ask whether the minister’s reaction was a result of her being in her period.
I do not have any idea whether the minister is still in her menstrual age but that is irrelevant. The point is, she could have been in a sour mood before the young lady called her, or she simply is one of those people who prefer not to be prepped for an interview by people they do not know or have never heard of.
We meet such people out there in this our line of work; some males, some females. The gender of the individual is highly irrelevant; besides, a woman is not always in her period! So you see, not everything is a girl thing, certainly, not everything is a woman thing. Some things are simply a person thing or better still an everyone thing and that’s just it.
The world has come far in the fight against inequalities of all kinds, hence when we look at the bigger picture, we become happy but the fact is, there is a lot more that needs to be done, especially with sexism for men and women. No matter how easily we breathe the air of equal treatment, we should not overlook the subtle attempts of some people to display sexism whenever the chance avails itself.
We can fight this menace together by first of all acknowledging it exists and then we begin to call off culprits. Who knows? We can change a sexist mind or two when we actually make a move.
Suraya Alidu Malititi
