Women emancipation is an excellent goal but it should not erode key family values

Women world over are an incredible gender. They are the fulcrum of every family and influence everything that a family is and should be. We are surely blessed to have women in our midst.  

Women emancipation is such a brilliant and powerful idea. It empowers women and ultimately gives them the opportunity to live their lives to the fullest. This is good for development whichever way one looks at it. It is the direction that we must take in this day and age.  

This empowerment rubs off every family member and ultimately propels the nation to greater heights. 

While we treasure the female gender, we must be careful that this wave of women emancipation does not affect our family values, especially family unity and respect between women and men.

Empowerment in most cases, comes with prosperity and wealth which should be used for the good of the family and society at large. We should aspire to have powerful women leaders with properly brought up children and loving spouses.

It is a joy to see a consummate professional lady with power, wealth and happy family for those that ascribe to the family concept. Empowerment should not be used against men but should be complimentary.

Empowerment should also not translate into a gender premised competition but a deliberate move to see that both women and men are partners in development. We all need each other. Men need women as much as women need men.

Men should endeavor to support their spouses and children, especially daughters, so that they overcome societal gender-based prejudices that have kept our societies in the backseat.

Access to education must be on the same footing for both girls and boys. Women and men should equally be in position to compete for electable political positions.

Employment should be open to both genders without any bias. I was impressed sometime back to read stories in one of the local dailies of women being trained to drive heavy duty machines and trailers.

This was a space hitherto dominated by men. It’s refreshing to have such developments after all women have proved themselves in different spheres that had been a preserve for men before.

Our Constitution supports this arrangement and does not segregate against any gender. 

This should however not come at the expense of forfeiting gender roles. Having a good meal fixed by a mother is not in any way disempowering to women.

This is not to say men should not prepare meals for their families when they can or in the absence of mothers while committed elsewhere.

Empowerment should not be the reason to blackmail men. On the contrary, it should be a platform to relieve men of some burdens to ease life for both genders.

We are slowly but steadily moving away from our traditional values that ensured harmony in families.

Traditionally, mothers, including those that had been emancipated, were submissive, respectful to fathers and ensured that they took good care of them.

For some feminists, this may be perceived as a systemic barrier to women’s progress. It is not.

On the contrary, a man supported by his spouse will reciprocate this support and ultimately empower his spouse. It does not take anything away from an emancipated woman to perform her role as a mother with all its attendant activities. It only strengthens her family and brings it together.

A strong and united family engenders empowered daughters. I have observed that some men out there are very afraid of emancipated and disrespectful spouses. They are not sure what is next in case of a disagreement in the family.

This creates unnecessary tension that at times affects families negatively. Emancipation should not breed disrespect. It should, in my view, create a platform for companionship and partnership.  

I have seen many young men out there who are not keen to walk down the aisle. They are afraid of women especially those that have benefited from empowerment and become successful in their respective callings. This is understandable as an empowered woman can be intimidating to a disempowered man.

We should therefore strive to strike a balance that nurtures women empowerment but jealously protects key family values as this is the bedrock of any civilized society.

Mr Isaac Walukagga is an Advocate of the High Court.