The Role and Position of Women in The Community

In some African communities, the woman was the leader of the society. She was brave enough to stand up for the whole community. (James, 2014)The Ugandans had a queen that helped them to rebel against the British rule. People at that point saw the strength and power of the woman but the man still had a sense of greatness in him. In other countries, most of the leaders were men. Looking into the colonial period, most leaders were the men. The woman was to stay home and prepare food while the men were out protecting and fighting for their land.

A man’s source of pride was the number of children and the vast lands that one owns plus the cattle. The more the children the more the respect they gained. For them having children was their drive. For example when a woman could not bear children, the man opted for another wife. This brought a bought polygamy. They never had a problem having many wives as long as one had the children they wanted. It really never mattered about how many wives one had but the number of children that wife had. The more children the better when it comes to favors from the man. (Kramer, 2017)

We can say that change has really occurred over the years. We have the woman having to accept themselves and with time, advocating for gender equality has proven to be hard because in one way or the other we; men and women, will never be the same. We cannot perform the same duties but we can have a voice differently and air out opinions.

Being a change in the world about the women has not really changed for every woman. This is because there are still some women that are deep rooted to the past. They still believe that the man is superior to the woman. It still has some sense in it basing in to the religion. The woman from the beginning was given a task to be the helper of the man. The man being the leader uses the woman when need be. Many women who live in big cities or in other words a woman that is well educated has changed that perspective with time. The women that are not educated for some reasons because of where they come from still depend on the man. They are still deep rooted to the olden times. They are subjective and don’t seem to be bothered. (Churchyard, 2009)

There is a certain incidence in Mombasa to be specific where the men don’t believe that their children should go to school. They also don’t believe that going to hospital for health needs is important. It’s a taboo for them because their forefathers instilled that in them. The government had to intervene and arrest the parents for depriving their children the right to education and good health.

This doesn’t mean that other women do not subject to their men, on the contrary, they do respect them but just don’t give in to everything that the man says. The new woman is in a position where she is willing to try out what she couldn’t do. All these possibilities and opportunities she is maximizing them. Having to compete with the men and take their position is a big accomplishment. Embracing change and moving with it is very important.