By Bamidele Oni
Since time immemorial, women have often played significant roles in the entirety of human history and in a more direct way; they have often assumed the responsibility of maintaining the natural order of human posterity and in a more honourable way of description, they are like the Earth in every tune of characterisation; naturally receptive, selfless and sacrificial such that nothing fits more agreeably in describing these amazing beings other than been regarded as” MOTHERS” the custodians of all.
While by societal default they have often been categorized as the weaker sex in the regards of gender dominance and prowess, such that societal privileges of leadership hardly avail on their relative mind-set of possibilities. This singular predisposition of attitude has overtime undergone a long history of evolution within each race, and tribes of man such that the degree of attitudinal manifestation varies significantly.
While some human societies have been able to adjust significantly into recognizing the place of women in the overall development of a typical society, some have largely held back to the norm of been insensitive to the functionality and the significant importance of the so called weaker gender in today’s world.
From statistics, the percentage of societies with this norm of insensitivity way outweighs those that have come to accept a step of advancement in the rise of women functionality beyond the supposedly default family functions. This in a way has contributed largely to the level of vulnerability attributed to the female gender such that they are often exposed to societal dangers that might have been well avoided if sufficient attention had been provided in the first place.
There has been no other gender that has faced more discrimination than the female gender, and most causalities are often found in the developing world where less attention is provide other than in the regards the societal assumed roles of women (child bearing, food catering, home grooming) , of course , there is no contention to this fact of duty but, it becomes a concern when these roles do not commensurate with the degree of appreciation they receive alongside with the less opportunity of being part of important dealings in the society.
Considering the human right ethics and rule, everyman deserves an equal right to life and at no point should one be subjected to another as a result of gender forms. So if we are seriously considering the rule of law, women are to be treated in every regards like man while they have the right of being part of decisions that would in most instances influence and affect their relative societies.
One very significant point of consideration is for the fact of the motherly nature of women in their appropriation of issues, they could do so much if given the opportunity and given the necessary support.
For societies that are yet to completely evolve to the point of women assuming leadership positions other than domestic responsibilities, there is the need to make specialized provision of support for their day to day management such that an average girl child has no fear of being robbed of a future as a result of societal informed risks. Every girl child has the right to all that makes life live-able just like the male counterpart.
Climate change is here and their pains have become doubled as they would have to cover more miles to get water for their family, the girl child would have to walk the distance to till the family farms and she runs the risk of not attending schools and getting pregnant at an early age.
So much is at risk here if we chose to be insensitive to the plight of women in our relative societies most importantly in this era of climate change as we tend to lose the essence of our posterity and just like planet Earth, we lose them, we lose life.
Oni, Executive Director of Green Impact International writes from Abeokuta, Nigeria
It is so sad that African traditions has been a huge contributor to the continued use of the word ‘vulnerable’ for our women and children. In crisis, they are the most affected. Why? The natural role of men to protect have been perverted and selfishly converted into ‘sexploitation’. Women are natural advisers while men are built to serve and protect and not rule! Matter of fact none of the sexes are created to dictate. However, my focus will still be on African men because in the end they are the ones saddled with the responsibility fix the missing pieces of the gender jigsaw and checking their misplaced priorities. We need a 21st century approach that is saturated with a growing common understanding of our gender-defined roles.