I refuse to accept that a dress - or lack of it - predisposes a woman to the piratical nature of many a man - and by extension to fellow women - today. I refuse to acknowledge the raw definition of the person of women as espoused in many of our afro-social constructs. I refuse to accept that a woman's character should be measured by the shape of her genitalia.
Let's confront this painful truism. Development which sidelines half of humanity stands no chance to materialize. Males alone cannot turbo power the engines of progress. Women's input is indispensable.
For it is only by disembarking from this one-sided-ism that we shall discover the hitherto unexploited positive reserves of our female folks.
Talk about one-sided-ism and the push for the recognition of the rightful place of women and you'll confront the gripping reality that is female genital mutilation (FGM) and all the attendant risks that characterize the very act of commercialization of our women.
Mark you, ending FGM isn't a simple ball game. There is a growing need to deepen our understanding of what FGM really is, the logic behind it and the ultimate beneficiaries of its promotion. For it is totally blind to purport to cure an ailment whose foundations we comprehend nothing about. Let's not sugar-coat our discourse about the achievements brought about by anti-FGM laws (especially in Kenya).
Many girls and women still undergo the cut - albeit the existence of these laws. This brings us to center of our discourse. Men - especially the tunnel-minded ones - hold the key to ending FGM. The prevailing philosophy - among communities practicing FGM - on matters of marriage, bride's "qualifications", processes of arriving at such "qualifications" and many other undocumented issues all run counter any scholarly or legalistic interventions geared at ending FGM.
FGM is a tool of domination. It is designed to put women at "their place". FGM is the vehicle in which the "moral correctness of men and the immoral being of women" travel. It has nothing to do with culture. For I know one thing - no culture is static. Any culture is subject to constant questioning by the people purporting to own it in order to improve it and make it responsive to their daily needs.
Which therefore provokes a bitter question: What makes FGM a near-sacrosanct a subject to be shielded from the constant questioning of people - and even the law?
Don't boil up. The culprit is right here.
Women's genitalia have never ceased to be football for the many folks in FGM-leaning communities. Wait, this game is two-sided. One, the dominant player, is the man. His power to veto a marriage on such flimsy grounds as a bride wasn't "shaped" to his tests cannot be wished away. You see, marriage down there is everything. It is a prerequisite for social recognition and standing. It strikes at the core of personality indexing of the concerned parties.
Two, the accept-it-all type of woman out there is her own enemy. (Excuse them please.) They are victims of a system that rewards them on the basis of their "loyalty". This ritualistic woman is in need of a dose to pick up and pull the stinger. It is time women stood up to explain their intricacies themselves.
A recapture of these women must be grounded in what touches them on daily basis. Economic muscle is the dividing line between "loyalists" and "rebels". The point is, therefore, a question of how economic scales can be tilted in favour of women.
For if a society has used economic blows to subject half of its membership to the dustbins of degradation, ritualistic acts and commoditization and elevate the other half to the level of demigods whose morality is beyond question, then it is no rocket science that the same economic means (with some little changes and improvements) can be used to right the system.
Again, the aforementioned tunnel-minded men and their cheering squads need not be forgotten. Yes, women's genitalia won’t be football for tunnel-minded men only if we bring them on board and prove to them that a bellyful, empowered woman is a plus to all.
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