A man was created as the ‘provider’ and the
woman, the ‘receiver’ but nowhere is it written that the woman’s place is
beneath the man.
Having that argument settled, let us
continue. I care not to count but many years ago, the workplace was male
dominated. The man was the go-getter, his role as a provider and a family man
was to go out into the world, fight off the wild beasts to bring back home a
piece of ‘bacon’ that would then be turned into a meal by the woman left to
look after the home. This pattern of life can be traced in history up to the First
World War right down to the Industrial Revolution. When the men left to fight
in the war, the workplace became vacant. What followed is a trend so prominent today
(women in the workplace). After the men left for the war, the women who
initially started off as home keepers were now required to work and what they
did was to make bullets or ammunition which the men needed to fight the war.
This is a very significant transition to note because the majority of problems between
men and women in the workplace emanate from this among other reasons.
When the war ended or rather when the men
returned from war were shocked to find that instead of doing what they were doing
before, the women had now taken charge and this is as you see it today. However
this is only one side of the story because women have been supressed to work
for a long time emphasizing that their place is in the home to look after the
family. To this you can testify about women activists who have stood up for
women’s rights.
Why am I telling you all this? Well, so
that you can understand the present trends and especially in relation to
Information Technology (IT) should we narrow the scope. The IT is an elite
club, a special club that has however unfortunately unfairly been blown out of
proportion as far as reputation goes. It’s not a geek club, the doors to this
club are wide open but what is perpetuated out there is that in order to join,
you have to get your geek on. Maybe that perpetuated lie would have held true a
few years ago, but today? Really? Pick a random person off the street; it’s
highly likely that they Google most things e.g. how to toast bread on an ironJ. The point is, if a common man can figure their way around the so-called
sophisticated technology, imagine what advantage the majority of people are
sitting on to realise their potential in I.T. but are unfortunately held back
because of fear to try.
Having said all this, it’s only fair to
acknowledge that women have come a long way. I stand proud to see more women
taking charge and breaking into the IT industry. I have met with many women in
my days that can do things with computers that most men can only imagine. This
is not to stab my fellow men in the back but seeing a woman rise like that is
intimidating because the position that the man once held so strongly and
defined the man is now up for grabs and the women are bidding too. I think as
men we should embrace this trend rather that fear it and be intimidated that
now a woman can rise as far as top management and more. We are co-workers and I
truly believe that together (men and women) we can achieve so much more. What
we title ‘Men vs. Women’ should not even be the case but then again what do you
expect of a society that is brain washed with broadcasted nonsense such as ‘girls run the world’ or ‘this is a man’s world’?…We are setting
ourselves up to fail if we advance with a mind-set that we are at war with each
other and in the end it doesn’t even matter the amount of effort we put in to
make life work. I despise this premature African mentality of preventing a
fellow brother or sister from advancing and succeeding in life and it all has
to do with a mind-set that needs to be unshackled. I.T in Africa still has a
long way to go as far as development of its infrastructure goes and the more
women can stand up to this call, the faster we can develop our Information
Communication Technologies (ICTs) and bridge the gaps between the digital and
non-digital worlds. It’s up to you how you advance from here but tread
carefully for we are all created equal but they will convince you that some are
created more equal than others *Such nonsense*.
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