Media

So hilarious really, was how it ever felt, years ago, whenever I heard or saw older teenage girls, say to their opposite sex, in all seriousness, “WHAT A MAN CAN DO A WOMAN CAN DO BETTER.” To me it made no sense, not even a pinch of it, considering the fact that everything around me fought against the otherwise. Men naturally by the almighty himself; at my early age were more like smaller ‘’gods’’ on earth; at list so I thought 15yrs back, otherwise, (I was thinking) why else were they so strong, mentally and physically even at puberty, and then turning naturally into the initial strength itself at adolescent, why else, I was so convinced within the girl in me, must it always be a male child that would come first year in-year-out in school, putting easily to dust the smartness of the most brilliant girls in the same class, worse of all to my amusement, In a funny way though, I was fascinated to know they end up heading and running the family when they become MEN…, funny right! My way of thinking, you would say, plus, poor me I guess you imagine, how on earth could anyone born of a woman see him or herself as inferior on this bias bases Ok guys! Seriously, am a grown up now, and with that, I mean you’d agree with me at this point that, men this days without being told, on their own dimes it fit, strangely enough, to allow or give to their girlfriends, wives, woman, baby or whatever it is he refers to you as, the rights we deserve, to fantasies, put to action that conceived thought and sometimes, even; with their help, we achieve for ourselves, what we consider to be our most passionate ambitions in life. Getting to this point I understand, took almost like forever to happen, but…! You know, like the old saying goes “joy comes after long suffering”, and it has indeed, thanks to the likes of Dora Akunyili, Funmi Iyunda, and many other, whom; not just in words but clearly practicalised via their patriotic personalities and determined act of truly making a difference, the message; “WHAT A MAN CAN DO, A WOMAN CAN DO”, at times even better. Now we can explore, now I believe we can make meaning of our lives, now for heaven’s sakes! We can make for ourselves the choice of a husband, become of age before having babies we can psychologically handle, and like never before we can work and cater for our kids all at the same time without having thunder bolted eyes, rolling in disgust against us. At this point; freedom at last…! I hear the ignorant and disgrace (beg your pardon) amongst us exclaim, in gratitude to time and chance, whom at this time has brought to pass, in this generation they seem to be part of, a solid ground on which FEMINISIM gracefully can stand tall and vomit from her mouth whatever nonsense she deems fit, forgetting to pause and think for a moment that if truly, we want this “what a man can do a woman can do, EVEN BETTER”, not to crumble in our faces, like unprepared receding soldiers, we (women) subconsciously are in for more than we have bargained, cause; not only are we gonna work hard but harder; From how we think and handle issues, to how we work, cater efficient for our children, satisfy our men, to how we groom ourselves, influence lives, make stark raving impacts, create u-turns to societal problems, attain discoveries, dream dreams and even see visions. Then only, can we pause for a while, look back, chin up, chest out and say, looking into the eyes of any male folk closest to us “this is just the beginning of more to come’’ This I know in no doubt, isn’t in the slightest of ways; easy, but still I understand and agree that, SO LONG AS WE CAN DREAM IT, WE CAN DO IT, hard work yield results in diverse ways, let’s not restrict ourselves, let’s explore having at the back of our minds, either as a girl child, a lady, a full grown woman, a granny or close; that, being feminine is a privilege that can be traded for nothing , make yours a life time experience for the creator might ask how you spent it.. Peace…! BRIDGET OJEBA, DEPT. OF MASS COMMUNICATION, 300LEVEL.