Haven taken ample to time to go through the GEO bill which was unceremoniously thrown out of the senate for the umpteenth time, I decided to look out for reasons why this same bill has continually failed to see the light of the day.
In light of all, I do personally think the bill is wrongly labeled. Because in actuality, Gender equality is quite a broad term which the context of the bill has failed to adequately cover.
The multi complexity of this issue has its origins in time immemorial. And like the wise men say, what preludes the future forms the stepping stone for what would be included in it.
I have always tried not to irk the wrath of the opposite sex, more so the avoidance of being labeled a chauvinist on issues like this given its sensitivity but the intricacies that continually labels this issue are interwoven with its historical, biological(sexuality inclusive) and grossly religious components, which cannot be separated, and also which has always been the bedrock for the failure of this said issue time and time again.
I like to look at the problem of “gender equality” like that of trying to force water to drain against a steep slope. Even with the best of engineering matrix, it seems a daunting task and rightly so. The term woman is not just a label, it’s one you can’t separate from its biological architecture.
Trying to separate it is more like asking an obligate aquatic life to thrive on the terrestrial plane. The way women are built has greatly influenced how they function even if we take our cue from a historical perspective till date.
There has been workplaces with policies that forbid women of child bearing age from conceiving during their first year at work. Women’s most productive years physically coincide with their years of child bearing. So would such policies be deemed discriminatory?! Certainly not. And I have my reasons. If you are hired by a businessman who of course is profit-driven, the resulting absentia following gestation, an inevitability that comes with being female would grossly affect the capacity of his workforce especially in the setting that the said female occupies a key strategic position in the company. His profits may dwindle. He doesn’t want to take such risks. So he clearly prefers to hire a man to fill the top key positions and probably would only consider a post-menopausal woman for such if need be. On the other hand, a disgruntled male co-worker who apparently shares an office and of course, enormous workload with a certain dysmenorrheic female would be struggling to contain anger tantrums each time their boss gives the said female some days off work following her monthly bouts of dysmenorrhea.
You can’t separate women from their biological makeup and that unfortunately defines by miles who they are and how they function.
Bordering on sexual objectification, it would be rather honest for the world to admit that the notion that women do not want to be objectified is rather a mirage when you take a look at the percentage of women in question. It is without a shadow of doubt that a good percentage of women have enjoyed the attention that comes with sexual objectification. some modern women objectify themselves as an expression of their empowerment. Typical example is the routinely annual beauty contest held world over in the guise of Miss this and Miss that. So who are we really deceiving?
Tons of women have used their sexuality as a means to garner favor from high places and typical example in our tertiary institution is the act of female students offering their bodies in return for high grades, a trend which has surprisingly not left our institutions, but rather on the increase with more sophistication nowadays.
No one is doubting the fact that women have over the years been subject to discrimination and injustice spanning centuries and bordering on issues ranging from family to that of the society at large. But This ugly trend is changing with the ever changing world. Women are found in all top positions and top occupations world over. So what is the case? For more women to play more active roles in nation building? Lest we forget, women have held the juiciest ministerial positions in the past administration and administrations before that. Hence it is been reduced to a game of numbers; quantity over quality. So then it seems like a “greedy prospect” rather than one set out to actually empower the womenfolk.
Some of Those who dismissed the bill on the floor of the senate may have had proven track records of misogyny or even peadophilia but the bill on ground bounds more on the issue of content than the character of the debaters.
Apart from religious and cultural sentiments which unavoidably swings issues like this especially in the Nigerian context, some other subtle facts however trivial they may be also do add to the militating factors against gender equality. For example a woman is being identified as “owned” by a man once she is married and takes up his name. This, however trivial one may view it does subconsciously influence the issue of gender equality. To put it in harsh reality, in this world that we live in, there must be a master and a servant. Not to demean any gender, but reality checks are vital parts of human. It is worthy to Note that Millennial men with the increasing perception of being viewed as “being soft” and a fading in the traditional technical skills and “fix-it-all” attitude of masculine generations gone past, the idea of having women as equals becomes grossly scary.
We are gradually breeding a society where gender lines have become increasingly blurred and its threat to masculinity cannot be overlooked, albeit subconsciously.
There are countless living proofs that women have broken free from the ascriptive restrictions of gender – but so have men.
Over and over again, the world pretends that we are nearing gender equality in all its ramifications just like we do racism. However like we have seen in recent weeks, a front line GOP candidate seems to have woken up the racism that was deep buried in the heart of many Americans- it never went away. It was just concealed; and so will be/is the case of gender equality.
I think we owe it to coming generations to properly educate them that in as much as we are to aspire to the greatest heights we can possibly achieve, it is important to note that differences form the uniqueness of life- women were created to do what men cannot do, not what they can do already. Hence I do not fear for my unborn daughters.
All animals aren’t entirely equal. Ask George Orwell.
Ps: this isn’t chauvinism.
Victor Effiom 
🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻