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Women empowerment groups have asked the president and his deputy not to do away with the gender ministry. The plan was to have it as a department in one ministry rather than give it an entire docket. The groups claim that if the ministry is done away with, it will sideline all the developments made in helping women especially the girl child. Much as I think it needs a docket on its own, I have one issue with it; why is it all about the girl?
A lot has been done to give the girl child her voice. Groups and activists come together with many projects that are all about helping the girl child unshackle the chains keeping her down. But the boy child has been left behind. While the girl child is enjoying her freedom and coming out of her shell, the boy is fighting to be treated better.
The female gender is considered to be the weaker sex. We are thought to lag behind in most things. In every field, a man is considered superior so that qualifying standards are lowered so we can fit in. Our issues are given more prominence since its assumed men can handle their issues.
I believe a girl is more likely to open up if overwhelmed by huddles. On the other hand, a boy mostly bottles up every bit of anguish or pain. He has been brought up to not show weakness, most cultures believe a man keeps his issues to himself. Should he come out and talk about it, his peers will call him weak, he will be told to deal with it on his own, that only women cry and expect to be helped. The sad truth for their silent agony is because very few listen. Rather than be shunned for speaking out, he will “man up†and secretly deal with it.
The fact that society seems more focused on the girl child is rapidly suffocating the male child. He is just as vulnerable as the girl child. Due to society’s underestimation of the boy’s needs, they are now being subjected to various tormenting acts. He is prone to sexual assault and suffering as any other child. For solace, they are turning to vices. They need to find a way to fend for themselves or to deal with their issues. Narcotics and alcohol abuse as well as crime seem to the way for them to do this. It is the place they can find consolation. Society sees this but brushes it off as “boys will be boys†when girls are found in such situations, activists come out guns blazing saying its because they have been ignored. They defend the girls and seek help for them. The boys are left to go back to their old ways. This needs to stop.
Intervention is crucial before our young male generation gets devoured. A child is a child. It should be remembered that no gender is more superior or stronger. Girls have been the weaker sex for ages, but as they get stronger we must remember to also care for the bo. It is wrong to empower one sex at the expense of another. Don’t let the boy child succumb to destitution. He is just as vulnerable as the girl child.