The world has made great strides in advancing the cause of the girl-child. Thanks to various efforts, the girl-child has been taken from being outcasts of society and so-called second-rated citizens to being almost on par with their male counterparts. This is commendable.
It is laughable and simply unfathomable that just by virtue of being a woman, one cannot advance to certain levels of society. Somehow, the world believed that certain roles should only be reserved for men – a myopic and narrow view, as has been consistently demonstrated.
It is clearly not yet uhuru for women out there, but the trajectory of empowering women and the girl-child has been a positive and encouraging one.
Perhaps the Chinese put it better in their philosophy of the Yin and Yang. This a fundamental concept for them, signifying a state of balance between seemingly opposing forces that are complementary and interconnected. It emphasises that all things exist in a dynamic relationship of opposites, where one cannot exist without the other, and where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
The aggressive empowering of women – while being a completely good move – led to the inadvertent neglect of the boy-child. Suddenly, the boy-child finds himself not only in an unfamiliar world, but one where the odds appear to be stacked against him.
He appears lost and disoriented. Those to speak for him still view him a threat to the advancement of the girl-child. He is the obstacle. His kind has been getting their way for far too long, and the roles need to be reversed. As a result, he is left to feed on crumbles off the table of advancement and mental, psychosocial development.
On the other side of the coin, the empowered girl-child finds it difficult to accommodate the morally and psychologically unfit boy-child. Simply put, her advancement – again while necessary – placed her light years ahead in cognitive and social skills that makes it difficult for the boy-child to match up.
While there can be no excuse for breaking laws and inflicting physical or psychological damage to another, the boy-child appears to find some form of solace in this. His unfettered mind appears to tell him that such acts are perfectly normal.
In society’s approach to the matter, the boy-child is shamed for his lack of respect for the law and/or human life and dignity. Society is right: he does appear to lack such – but how did we get here? At churches, graduation ceremonies, community initiatives, the boy-child is absent. And society and the world move on unhindered, unbothered.
And then the boy becomes a man. A man forced to teach himself the art of living; albeit learning the wrong lessons all along. A man made to rely on his own gotten perception of right and wrong; and most times appearing to be choosing wrong over right.
The default setting of strength accorded to him now appears to be a weapon. He uses it, for all the wrong reasons, against a defenseless woman. Again, society points fingers at the man, and they might be right too. But how did we get here?
Surely, this is not how society saw matters panning out. As such, it would be wise to correct this while still in its infancy. The boy-child deserves an equal seat at the table. Restorative justice for the girl-child does not need to come at the price of a perceived or inadvertent injustice against the boy-child. We cannot develop one whilst ignoring the other.
Prominent leaders have spoken out against the exclusion of the boy-child from the mainstream. Surely, this is a great concern which needs urgent redress.
That being said, let’s take off our hats to our Namibian sisters, mothers, aunts, grandmothers and wives who have risen above all odds to claim their rightful places in society. They have clearly shown that what a man can do, a woman could even do better.
You have risen, and continue to rise above societal norms, and continue to break the so-called glass ceiling.
Salute, partners.