Alex Banton | Re-education of the next generation

Is it possible to have a mutual yet intimate relationship with someone, or is it that the mutual aspect of a relationship ends after the intimacy?

I asked myself this question while I was deciphering an article of how a man allegedly murdered his girlfriend after she had supposedly ‘cheated’, disobeyed his ‘rules’ and tried to leave him.

The next question that popped in my head was what gave this man the ordained right to believe he had full ownership of this woman, the right to love, cherish, use, abuse or discard her as it pleased him?

Personally, I think that we should blame our culture, our religion and the contagious belief that sex and financial assistance equate to a slave-like ownership of a person.

For far too long now this outdated notion has been killing our girls, maybe not always physically but surely it has been suffocating and killing their dreams, ambitions and spirits with no apparent remorse or end in sight.

Now, let’s not play the blame game since we all know that such squabble won’t save this or the next generation of girls. Instead, let us focus on the re-education of the next generation.

For centuries now the leaders of societies have been dictating that women are inferior, and we chose to believe such ignorance based on the fact that the majority of people believe it, without ever thinking about the motive of the ancient males who penned this notion.

The truth is, both sexes are inferior and superior in some ways. It’s time we stop excusing ourselves from the responsibility of our own conclusions when observing the roles of a woman in society and recognise their strengths and, more important, their relevance.

The re-education of the next generation should start with a hard and long look at the patriarchy system, a social rule that gives males primary power and supremacy over everything, regardless of age, education or ability.

This patriarchy system is moulding boys into predators and has created an egotistical epidemic that we almost never recover from, especially since most boys don’t grow up to be mature men, and maturity is our only hope.

The symptoms of patriarchy are evident in the way we treat females, whether it be an acquaintance, a sister or a mate, and up until not too long ago, only our own mothers were safe from this learned ignorance.

We are being taught that girls are unfit to lead, unqualified to supervise, unworthy of our utmost respect, are most suited to prop up their male counterpart and to accommodate our egotistical behaviours.

And we are teaching our girls to be submissive servants to boys by preaching to them the importance of being a “good wife” and why they need a “good husband”.

The truth is, girls are mankind’s most valuable assets; they are born with a special glue that can hold societies together; a glue that only a woman can manufacture. They are also born with a complex set of emotions like: love, compassion, dedication and sacrifice – emotions that can inspire to build an empire, lead a nation or defeat an army.

Take charge

It is time we take charge of the present by putting history in its place, re-educate our girls on their values and their true purpose in life, and teach them that they are more than just mothers, wives, trophies or merely an extension of the men in their lives, should they choose to be.

We also need to teach our boys that being born male doesn’t give them automatic superiority over females, and pursuing, manipulating and sexually conquering unsuspecting or vulnerable females don’t give them any special power.

The fact of the matter is, being born male only gives us a superficial advantage and sexual conquest only creates misogyny, bloated egos and immaturity. For centuries now, our ego and immaturity have been holding us back, but now it is killing us, for we have weaponised our ego and are literally killing our girls.

I pledge and pray that you join the revolutionary campaign to re-educate, motivate and empower this and the next generation of girls.

- Alex Banton is the author of ‘The Memo To My Daughters’ available on Amazon.com. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and multiconcept1@gmail.com