All over the continent, as civilisation rises to its peak so does every gender strive to earn their place in the society. There has been lot of fierce battle about the concept of gender equality in developed and developing nations/countries but people never really took time to think about what exactly do we need, is it gender equality or gender equity? Both are similar but distinctive concept, so I would be doing a comparative analysis of both concept.
What is gender equality? It simply means equal rights and opportunities for both men and women in the society but when it comes to gender equity, it means fairness and justice for all individuals in the society while taking into account individual differences. In order to ensure a simple direction for this post, I would only be basing my argument on male/female and the default form of marriage with less emphasis on other forms of sexuality/marriages.
One of the bills that has been rejected repeatedly in my country is the gender equality bill. What is gender equality bill? it is a bill that propose the right of women, to be given same equal opportunity, share equal benefit and be offered equal representation in parliament and political matters in a country same as men. Various political tycoons tends to perceive the concept, significance and importance of this bill differently.
In Nigeria for instance, we are one of the countries with the lowest rate of female representation in parliament and in governmental political positions in federal, state and local level. Despite the strive of prominent women in government who have continued to prove there worth in politics and their ability to be able to undertake same leadership duties just like men in government, despite all this the society seems to perceive women differently. The few women that manages to secure a seat are being seen as bags of refreshments for their male counterparts in the Parliament, if you know what I mean.
The gender equality bill was rejected for the second time with several set backs, it was first introduced in March 2016 and 15th December 2021, it was rejected for the second time as a result of the members of the parliament who perceive and believe it to be infringing on socio cultural values, code of ethics, principles of religion and their beliefs of the right of women in the society.
What is the essence of gender equality bill? among many others, it allows women to be offered equal sit in parliament same as men, it empowers women on issues/matters of citizenship and ability of women to claim the nationality of their spouse and become natives of their spouse homeland.
Despite the continuous push of this bill in a country such as Nigeria, the bill seems to be dwelling back and forth. It seems the society is head bent on continuous subjugation of the female gender despite the world claiming equal right for men and women, especially in the practice of democracy where all voice matters regardless of gender.
Can a country claim to be civilised if it claims to retain the old ways things where practiced before civilisation? As many may know, in some part of Africa up till this moment freedom of expression and right to education is still not available to the female gender because they consider women as house or sex tools than humans who are capable of making their own decisions and making impact in the country in general. This practice has been happening for centuries but with the thought of civilisation and the rate at which the society is developing, it is normal to think such act will be abandoned but it continues to prevail.
With the continuous rejection of the bill, it has increased the rate at which women are discriminated in the society, it makes you wonder, is it a crime to be a woman? in the likes of Angela Merkel of Germany The former Chancellor of Germany who is considered to be one of the greatest female leader in the history of mankind, an example of the fact that if women are given opportunity to claim leadership and political seat they can perform extraordinarily.
Then it struck me, what if we have been taking this fight the wrong way? What if the structure of the bill were to be changed, wouldn't it change its outcome? When most women talk about equality, they always seems to be more interested in the rights being given to men in the society forgetting about their own roles. The fact is that, masculinity is often seen as a symbol for strength while feminine is seen as a symbol for submissiveness, this has always been so since the time of creation.
There is something we all forget as a result of being too focused on which right to be given to which gender. We all forget that not all forms of strength are physical, which means there is strength in being feminine and there is weakness in being masculine. The most annoying part is that, when I hear women talk about being deprived of some rights, I often say, do you think men are having it easy? If a man and a woman were to fight for custody of a child in the court, who do you think stands the highest chance of getting it? A woman can easily accuse any man of molestation or rape and the society will easily cancel such a man without knowing who is at fault but how many men have you seen in court accusing a woman of such?
Which means the society kinds of recognise the strength in being feminine and it scares most men in parliament having to give more rights to women than what they already got as a result of societal sentiments and social construct.
For instance, a man is considered to be the natural provider in the family, which means a woman should be provided for. If we are to relate gender equality in this context, it means the bills of running the household should be 50/50 between a man and a woman, most families are already practicing this already but with gender equality, we are neglecting some roles women play in the family that a man would never be able to. So if we are able to divide the financing aspect that is originally meant for men, how then do we make men play part of the roles that women play in the household? I would love to see a man go on a paternity leave and leave his business and career behind.
This is where gender equity comes in, instead of both gender trying to have equal rights, why don't we seek fair treatment and justice for both gender, knowing both genders are different in nature and might require different needs depending on the circumstances. For instance, an elephant is powerful but not a meat eater but as tough as a lion is, it will never eat grass. Both are rulers of their habitats, each recognising its own strengths and weakness. Based on my own opinionated perspective, I believe seeking fairness in our respective areas is more preferably than seeking equality which neglects our weakness.
This write-up was inspired by weekly featured content titled Gender equity in hive learners community.
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