Opinions of Saturday, 11 July 2009

Columnist: MP

The Sad Case Of Our Modern Ghanaian Women.

Our modern Ghanaian women have indeed come of age. And when I say that they have come of age, I really mean that unlike both their mothers and fore-mothers who went before them, these contemporary Ghanaian women of our time know it all, want it all and also know how to get it all by themselves. Until of course when they meet a man who happens to have what they want and desire, then they temporally postpone their drive and ambition. See, their fore-mothers and mothers who went before them weren't that privilege at all, because honestly speaking, some of them never had the chance to enjoy the rewards which accompany a good education. Most of them married young and were therefore confined to the maintenance of their homes and the nurturing of their children with their husbands being away.

The lack of education on the part of the women also led to the dis-empowerment of the women. Which meant that the women had to rely on the men for almost everything, thusly reducing the status of the women as exalted queens to mere servants in their very own household. The men made the money and also decided how the money was going to be spent. Fortunately enough for some good but illiterate wives, their well educated husbands would tutor them on the subject of trade, so they could know how to survive in world driven by men, should something evil befall them.

Whilst time did indeed prove them right, some not-so-clever and selfish men considered the passing of knowledge from a husband to a wife an exercise in futility, these men shared the notion that women were not bright enough to understand anything. They also shared a belief that women had an inferior brain capacity of reasoning to men. They moreover believed that should the women be given access to knowledge, not only would their authority be challenged, but they might also wind up losing their homes, where a timid wife prepares their meals, cooks their dinners and cleans up after them. Time would also prove this fear by these men to be right.

In fact the long and winding road towards emancipation from the mental, physical, emotional and sometimes the spiritual bondage for both our mothers and fore-mothers hasn't always been easy. The men used polygamy to rob the women's exclusive entitlement to the term wife life. But not only that, arrange marriages meant that the women had no rights whatsoever to choose. They would either accept choices forced on them by the men with no objection or fear the worse. Truly some say that if you educate a woman, you educate a whole nation, but equally true is that,when a woman is mistreated, an entire nation suffers as the result. Maybe the reason behind our suffering as a nation could be traced to how our fore fathers mistreated our fore mothers a long time ago. And how the hurt and mistreatment must have passed through the blood of our fore mothers to their present sons and daughters. Thusly creating a nation where suffering never ceases to end, like all the ceaseless prayers for deliverance by the women during their time of oppression by their male oppressors.

Which brings us to the Ghanaian women of the now. Most of our contemporary women are educated, employed and making big monies on their own. But for instance when you take them on date, they expect you to foot the bill all by yourself and woe unto you should you suggest 50/50. Because seriously, your first date might wind up being your last, if you are not lucky. Not only that, when you're in relationship with them, it seems that everything they want is everything that they see. But they're not going buy it, at least not with their money, but your money and get all upset when you call them gold diggers. To some of these contemporary Ghanaian women the worth of a man is his wealth and how well he spends on them.

Complimenting a woman on her good looks used to be appreciated, but for some of our contemporary Ghanaian women it's no longer the case. A good complimentary remark from you could easily be met with response like, I'm aware from them, making you look and feel like a fool.

Now I don't know what it is, but these contemporary Ghanaian women love take-away's, if they could eat take-away's like forever, I think that they probably would. I sometimes wonder what became of the fine culinary skills which they inherited from both their mothers and fore-mothers, if they have all gone to waste. People there was time when promiscuity was a game mastered and played by men, but nowadays our contemporary Ghanaian women have mastered and claimed this game. Thusly making it nearly impossible to know whether your wife is exclusively yours or not. Whilst some of these women are even upfront about their promiscuous behaviour without any fear or shame, citing that if the men could do it, then so could they, others are not even into men, they prefer women. And should you or anybody ask them why, they would tell you that only a woman knows what another woman likes so bug off. So much for our contemporary Ghanaian women who pretty much seem to have forgotten what their mothers and fore-mothers paid in blood and tears to change.