When it comes to women taking up space, dismantling narratives that disempower women should be the first step towards that. Needless to say, it requires a lot of re-learning of certain perspectives and mannerisms. It requires breaking the barriers of silenced women and this means the spaces in which women need to be inserting themselves need a re-direction to be accommodative.
This has to start with re-creating the identity of women and their perception in society. For many years, women have been perceived as weak and vulnerable, unable to do anything that is outside of their gender roles. The woman’s identity has been made smaller by patriarchy and what it stands for; the fact that it propagates the inferiority of women. The average Namibian women, who are not millennials, have had to stifle their dreams and aspirations because society and tradition indoctrinated them into thinking they belong in the kitchen. How then do we change the narrative around the identity of a woman outside of the household spectrum and let her have freedom away from stifled dreams?
Silencing women has always been one of the most effective weapons used by patriarchy to gain control over women. It has been said that silence presents the historical muting of women under the formidable institution known as patriarchy, a form of social organisation in which males assume power and create women an inferior status. My argument stands it might be late to let our mothers live out their carpentry dream and not exist because their identity is tied to that of their husbands; however, it is never too late to teach the girl child to dream bigger. Thus, it means as millennial mothers and sisters, it is our duty to re-learn the practices that groomed our mothers into corners of being obedient wives and living out the lives of being a mere wife. It means to fully allow the next girl child to be inserting herself into a space that has never accommodated women, we need to believe in the dreams of the girl child. This means as parents, we need to provide the platform of freedom for the next girl child in line, creating safe spaces for the girl child to articulate her dreams and give her a voice of her own. This means re-learning the narratives that certain things are only for men – a huge but vital step.
Here is to the revolution of spaces. May we do better for the girl child. May she know that society does not dub her as incompetent and not worthy of filling a space.