Albert Einstein, one of the most gifted minds to ever exist once said “Before GOD we are equally wise and equally foolish.” Unfortunately, society has historically failed to include women when pondering some meaning into such aphorisms.
Similarly, when the fathers of democracy drafted the declaration of independence, these now celebrated figures noted in that famous document that all “men” are created equal, rather than all humans, and this sort of exclusion set the precedence for the creation of numerous narratives that would see women sidelined and oppressed throughout the course of history.
As Tomike Adeoye, host of the Y! Women Round Table, a talk show powered by the food brand Knorr, noted, she grew up singing a song whose lyrics read “mommy in the kitchen cooking rice” a seemingly harmless poem that would subliminally drive the credence that women belonged in the kitchen, that is of course till she knew better.
Sitting for yet another segment of the aforementioned show, Tomike hosted four other women, Maureen Kabrik, Entrepreneur, Chioma Nwakanma, Health and Wellness Expert, Ijeoma Mba, Programmes director at Reboot Africa, and Rolake Akinkugbe-Filiani, CCO Mixta Africa, and together they had the conversation on the harm predetermined gender roles have caused women.
Each of these women had an incredible take on the subject. Maureen noted that for there to be change in the family, African mothers must change the discrepancies in how they train their female children from how they train the boy child. She made the point of both genders being raised under the same set of rules, and how parents should learn to level the playing field. She also emphasized that basic house chores like cooking and cleaning should be handled by both male and female rather than leaving it for the ladies, which inadvertently drives the idea that, that is where they belong.
Ijeoma narrated the contrast between her perceived identity growing up in a traditional home, compared to when her father finally decided to level the playing field for her. She said that her perception of herself changed the day her father told her that he believed in her. That moment was the first time she started to view herself like a woman who can conquer the world. Her point ultimately was that parents must afford the same believe and motivation they afford the male child to the female child to help create a culture of self-reliance and self-sufficiency for women.
Rolake made the point of properly representing and encouraging women. She also made mention of the fact that there is a lot of pressure on women to act a certain way, and this causes a lot of women behave domesticated in society.
Chioma agreed with the points Rolake had made on representation, noting that people are a product of what they are taught. She added that, as a result, education is a key ingredient to liberate women. If girls are taught at home and in schools, the ideas of equality, then the problems of misogyny can be solved.
Overall the show was very insightful, identifying the problem and procuring possible solutions that can be employed to fix the inequality problems in society.
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