Woman, you are enough

In Uganda today it looks like we are in the era of groups, clubs and Saccos in fact if you don’t belong to any group you feel like a leper on the fringes of society crying unclean, unclean.

Recently in one of such group meeting to which I am a member the unanimous view was that we should take a two-holiday with our spouses and all expenses should be funded from the group’s coffers.

But after the meeting a minority view emerged that felt that spending Shs6m on a weekend was quite extravagant in these hard times.  

But our chairlady who was part of the majority was not happy and among other things she told us that she was not surprised by the turnaround after all we are women.

The gist of this comment was that there was something fundamentally wrong with being female that had caused us to reject her idea of spending our hard earned money frivolously.

Herein is the heart of the matter, all our gender issues will never be solved if we do not get rid of the fallacy that being male is somehow better or greater than being female. 

That hormonal differences determine the worth of a person. Being male or female has nothing to do with your output as a human being. 

We are wired differently; our strength, abilities, competences are different. Whereas masculine strength may be seen on the outside, feminine strength is like an iceberg with 90 percent hidden beneath the surface. 

This phenomena has inspired sayings such as a woman is a like a teabag, her power is not evident until she finds herself in hot water. 

We may not have enough women with Mike Tyson’s brute force but we see the tenacity of women and their silent impact on societies and generations. 

Their strength is seen in their resilience, patience and forbearance in war-torn countries, we see them carrying huge loads and children strapped on their backs protecting life rather than promoting death and destruction. 

The strength of any chain or rope lies in its flexibility and Gold is gold because it pliability.

Being a woman is not a handcap, especially if you understand and embrace your power. 

You do not need to outcompete everyone and be the only woman at the table to matter. 

You do not need all those those false trappings that the consumer economy says will make you a better woman, you were created wholesomely and you are enough in your own skin.

Happy women’s month.