Times Of Swaziland: VALUING OUR WOMEN

VALUING OUR WOMEN
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By Charles Simunenge on 05/12/2017 00:45:00


ONE of the great challenges in remedying the issue of the value and place of
women in society is that although policies and legislation are being passed by
governments to help elevate our women, some men are still struggling with
divorcing the old mindsets that view women in an unhealthy way.
Our real battle is the battle of re-educating our boys and men to look at women
in a manner that they will be able to honour and value them. Perception defines
how we see ourselves and others. There must be a reset in how most men perceive
women spiritually, emotionally, physically, sexually, socially, economically and
even politically. God made both men and women equal, unique and complementary in
design. A woman’s value and rights are God given and inherent in nature.
Women’s rights are not necessarily given to them by men, but rather by the God
who created them and put value on them. As women, we must know and believe that
we are equal to men in essence, even before any Cabinet or Parliament legislates
that. Traditions and cultures of societies have greatly distorted this over a
period of many years.
This has actually caused negative stereotypes against the value of women in
society, which has eventually imprisoned their capacity to manifest who they
really are. Though men and women are different in design, purpose and function,
they are equal in essence. The universal negative perceptions and devaluing of
our sisters and mothers should be stopped. I believe this can be achieved if
both men and women work at dismantling wrong belief systems, cultures and
traditions that devalue and belittle women.
Conversations that devalue, belittle or negatively impact on women should always
be discouraged intentionally and with passion. The fact that women are uniquely
different from men does not make them inferior, but rather special in design for
specific, important and necessary functions in society. Just because women have
a different biological and emotional make up, that does not necessarily mean
they are inferior. As a matter of fact, that’s what makes them uniquely
valuable to society.
Societies must learn to value, appreciate and celebrate the complementary
differences between men and women. We have some notable examples of women
throughout history who have accomplished great things, displayed exceptional
intelligence and contributed immensely to the betterment of society in spite of
being devalued and looked down upon by society. It is a social tragedy and shame
to look down or abuse women in any way or form.
As men we must unite and fight this curse that is becoming common in our
communities. Our mothers, daughters and sisters are being verbally abused,
physically raped, professionally raped and emotionally broken. Every form of
violence against women must be strongly and systematically discouraged through
instilling the culture of valuing women in our homes and communities.
It is not a noble thing to beat a woman, for whatever reasons. As men we must
learn how to control our emotions, especially the emotion of anger. We must
understand what anger is, where it emanates from, identify its many faces and
learn how to make choices about what to do when angry.  Real men don’t beat or
kill women. They are disciplined enough to walk away, or let her go if she wants
to move out of the relationship. We must educate our sons to honor and value
women.
We must educate our friends and relatives about the value of women in society.
We must intentionally discourage any negative language against women. Some of
us, who are legislators, must come up with policies and laws that elevate our
women and severely punish women abusers.
We must treat our women with worth and integrity, it will build the required
confidence in them to be the best they can be.
Many of us owe our success in life to a mother who gave up her own dreams and
pleasure just to make sure that we had food on the table and went to school. It
is, therefore, appropriate to appreciate and value our mothers and all women in
general for the value they add to families and communities.
One of the greatest ways we can appreciate our women is to help them accomplish
their purpose, dreams, tasks, or functions in society without any form of
social, economical or political discrimination.
Dr Myles Monroe said; “The source of our problems in this world, including the
misunderstanding and mistreatment of women, is that we have lost our
understanding of what it means to be human as God created us.
We have lost our sense of purpose. I am convinced that in every country in the
world, both men and women are suffering from this ignorance of purpose. The best
thing for us to do is to discover and live in the original plan of the one who
created humanity. Only then will we learn the inherent rights of women and men,
so that both female and male can live in freedom and fulfillment.”