Gender Inequality In Africa?
In the traditional African society,boys were a highly esteemed lot,compared to the girls.The reason for this however isn't machismo,as propagated by some western writers,but a more fair explanation.To sum it up in a phrase,'boys belonged to the tribe,while girls belonged to the home'.Its boys who became hunters,warriors and elders of the tribe,while girls became mothers,cooks housekeepers,and guardians to the children as they are the ones who spent most time at home.
Now it would be wrong to say that either of the genders had a better role than the other,because both categories were equally important,but its true that the roles were different.If you think of the tribe as the external,and the home as the internal,then boys had the external roles,and for that reason they gained greater prominence,their place in society being more political than that of the girls,and t became a highly sought after child.
Notice that the boys roles were also harder and riskier than those of the girls.If you have tried walking in the African bush,seen a real life buffalo,or elephant,been bitten by a puff adder lurking in the soil or hidden in one of those thorny shrubs,heard a lion growl....then you know hunting isn't easy,especially if your only weapon is a bow and arrows.War is another world all together when you are expected to get close enough to chop to death with just a machete a ferocious enemy intent on eliminating your tribe.Yet it was the boys role to do this,while the girl child stayed in the safety of the home.
Today the situation is different,but the mentality isn't.An African boy still is expected to hunt for his people ,only this time in a company office,while the African girl is expected to bring up the children well,despite any other engagements.
In the poem African child i aim to water down the common belief ,largely outside Africa,that the continent promotes gender inequality,with a favoritism to the boys and bias against girls,by telling the story of the African boy.
*please read the poem 'AFRICAN BOY' the preceding post to this one.
Now it would be wrong to say that either of the genders had a better role than the other,because both categories were equally important,but its true that the roles were different.If you think of the tribe as the external,and the home as the internal,then boys had the external roles,and for that reason they gained greater prominence,their place in society being more political than that of the girls,and t became a highly sought after child.
Notice that the boys roles were also harder and riskier than those of the girls.If you have tried walking in the African bush,seen a real life buffalo,or elephant,been bitten by a puff adder lurking in the soil or hidden in one of those thorny shrubs,heard a lion growl....then you know hunting isn't easy,especially if your only weapon is a bow and arrows.War is another world all together when you are expected to get close enough to chop to death with just a machete a ferocious enemy intent on eliminating your tribe.Yet it was the boys role to do this,while the girl child stayed in the safety of the home.
Today the situation is different,but the mentality isn't.An African boy still is expected to hunt for his people ,only this time in a company office,while the African girl is expected to bring up the children well,despite any other engagements.
In the poem African child i aim to water down the common belief ,largely outside Africa,that the continent promotes gender inequality,with a favoritism to the boys and bias against girls,by telling the story of the African boy.
*please read the poem 'AFRICAN BOY' the preceding post to this one.
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