So here comes another unforgettable Women’s Day. The men are supposed to sing praises to the women and do all the house chores. 2013 and the years that follow ought to be better than has been. There is such a fallacy in the air about women running the world, of how they can do without men yet they run to sperm banks and so on hence a battle of the sexes. Surely both men and women are to blame for this nonsense.
Let us start with “the beginning”. Gen 1(taking in assumption than you have studied the book of Genesis also as a source of philosophy) Genesis 1:26. God said, ”Let us make man in our own image.” Note that neither female nor male is referred to in this context. It is humanity. The command that follows is, ”Subdue the earth and rule over it.” Basically to have dominion over it and all that is on it.
Later in verse 27 and onward, He introduces gender,”…male and female He created them. And God blessed them and told them to be fruitful and multiply”. Dominion was given to human beings not to man that woman should take over! No mistake is made in commanding male and female to be fruitful and multiply. Not male by himself nor with another male and the same applies to females.
Anyway, my focus today is on the fact that we are supposed to dwell together on this earth in unity. So when I was asked about who runs the world, I said,” We do, and we should be careful about how we do”.
Clay Shirky in his book Here Comes Everybody emphasizes that we are social creatures – not occasionally or by accident but always. The writer, teacher and consultant on the social and economic effects of internet visits old truths and makes mention that, sociability is one of our core capabilities and it shows up in almost every aspect of our lives as both cause and effect even in negation. “One of the most severe punishments that can be meted out to a prisoner is solitary confinement; even in social environment as harsh and attenuated as prison, complete removal from human contact is harsher still”.
Not so different is the African saying, ”It takes a village to raise a child.” An individual cannot make it on his or her own. This is a global truth. It is as simple as that, we are meant to work together. Gender based conflicts simply divide us farther apart than focus our energies concertedly.
Now today being women’s day and everyone is asking me, don’t you celebrate women?
Well I want the celebration of women to be more meaningful than it has ever been since I can remember.
I want to celebrate women than understand that they are important and special the way they are created. Women that cherish mother hood and have raised children theirs or not. I want to celebrate women that are the voice of reason amidst quagmire and confusion. Women that have stood for what is right even when the majority will not. I want to celebrate all women standing for unity and not taking up the falsehood of emancipation, Women that have added something positive to the earth. I want to celebrate women being the example for us to follow, showing us how we all ought to be; Women who understand their value and that of men without inclination.
So to all the women crying for attention on such a day and the praises of the world, are you worth celebrating?