This is a very sensitive topic, and as much as I would love to prevent stepping on any land mine, my perspective is quite a controversial one. There are a lot of proponents of feminism, with differing ideas of the concept. This is a bold attempt to challenge the status-quo while also being thoughtful of the series of events that lead to the development of this school of thought.
I will rely on Wikipedia for a well-rounded definition of feminism. Feminism is defined as a range of political movements, ideologies, and social movements that share a common goal: to define, establish, and achieve political, economic, personal, and social equality of sexes. It goes ahead to state what feminist movements have proposed. Equal rights in marriage, right to vote, receive education, enter contracts, hold public office, work, earn fair wages/equal pay and own property. All the aforementioned sound very logical and you would have to be a sexist to oppose this ideology.
Sadly, feminism is now being used to fight flimsy battles. Trivial issues are the subjects of long heated debates on social media. All this is due to the fact that, both sexes cannot be equal, and gender assigned roles cannot be ignored. Innate qualities of both sexes, presents two profiles, the protector/provider and the nurturer. This profiles go a long way to define roles both sexes assume. A man wouldn’t mind being in a romantic relationship with a ‘slay mama’, with no other source of income than her man. A lady however will dread dating a broke guy.
Also, feminism has being practiced with a somewhat double standard, which the cliché example I will give, typifies. A feminist will expect that she and her husband will ‘equally’ carry out all house chores while fantasizing about him buying her a Ferrari. An elaborate gift for her hubby however, is a well-knit tie or the epic singlet and boxers.
Seeing this in writing, would sound absurd, but in reality, it’s a generally accepted double standard. Following the backlash from the recent comments of notable Feminist ambassador - Chimamanda; it is obvious that it would be hypocritical, to try to abolish all gender assigned roles.
A school of thought void of speculation or sentiments, devised feminism as an effective tool against cultural practices that are oppressive and harmful to women and the girl child. I read a story about a cultural practice synonymous to the Becheve tribes in Obanliku Local Government Area of Cross River state, South South Nigeria. It is called ‘Money Marriage’. Young girls are sold at a tender age for a risible fee as low as 6 dollars to pay off debts among other reasons.
The victims of this taboo are called the ‘Money Woman’. The Money Woman supports her new family and caters for her children who are products of ‘statutory rape’. The Money Woman is shunned by her biological parents and warned to never return home. An occult bond is made between the Money Woman and a broom. If she attempts to run, the broom could be burnt and the Money Woman will suffer the same plight.
This heinous act for example should attract global attention and it trumps all the gimmicks and tantrums thrown by today’s typical feminist. It is safe to say that this unfortunate occurrence is one of too many in the world today. Most proponents of feminism use it as a tool to feed their arrogance. It should be noted that, feminism is earmarked for a much higher calling, bigger than petty talk and encouraging indulgence. Feminism should be preached and practiced for salient issues and not trivial matters.
This is also a call to human rights activists and NGOs to intervene in the ‘money marriage’ practice as soon as possible.