Maravi

Sata's erroneous ideas about women

Sata's erroneous ideas about women
By Editor
Sunday March 09, 2008 [03:00]

There has always been justification for the marginalisation, discrimination and unfair treatment of women. Today, Michael Sata is justifying the political marginalisation of women on a clearly false claim that they are difficult to trust because they are corrupt. It cannot be denied that there are some women who cannot be trusted, who are corrupt – who are criminals. And it can also not be denied that there are more men than women who cannot be trusted, who are corrupt – who are criminals.

Police and prison statistics will clearly reveal that there are more men who are thieves, who are corrupt, who are criminals than there are women. Despite the number of women being higher than that of men in this country, there are more men in our prisons for corruption-related crimes.

Even the current cases of corruption going on in our courts, there are more men being prosecuted than women. It’s only one woman, Stella Chibanda - a former permanent secretary in the Ministry of Finance, who is being prosecuted in the so-called plunder cases. The rest are men.

And if men were so trustworthy, were the least corrupt, there would be no corruption to talk about in Zambia because men dominate all positions in government and in business.
There are a lot of prejudices against women.

Men and women’s conduct is judged by different standards. If a man is corrupt, this is not extended to all men. It is only that man who is seen as being corrupt. But if a woman is corrupt, this is extended to all women. It is not only that woman who is corrupt but all women.

Even in family or personal matters, if a man is unfaithful, it doesn’t constitute a problem or a worry, but, if a woman is unfaithful, that becomes the subject of discussion everywhere. There are double standards for judging the sexual relations of men and women. But this does not end here. As we have seen from Sata, this is extended to all areas of human endeavour. And much more so to politics.

However, we agree with Sata that women must realise that things are not going to be easy for them; they will have to wage a difficult struggle for them to be treated as equal human beings. We have to fight hard, very hard, against these deep-rooted prejudices. There isn’t any doctrine or education in this regard; instead, there are many male chauvinist concepts and prejudices in our society.

It cannot be disputed that women have a high degree of those qualities deemed necessary in a good leader, in a leading administrative and political cadre.

What Sata is saying, simply shows that we have not made sufficient progress in this area. It shows how women still suffer from certain discrimination and inequality.

This is the reality of the situation, and we must recognise it so that we can all struggle against such inequality and injustice. We should not forget that Lenin said the proletariat cannot achieve final victory until it has achieved the complete freedom of women.

We say all this in relation to the self-criticism that we should make. Of course this problem will not be solved overnight.

But we must be aware of the need to fight against such injustices, abuses and discrimination. All people, men and women alike, must be mobilised to participate in this struggle. And women must take the lead!

The eradication of injustices against women, of the marginalisation of women is not an act of charity by Sata or any other person, the result of a humanitarian or compassionate attitude.

The removal of injustices and prejudices against women is a fundamental necessity for the advancement of our country in all areas of human endeavour, the guarantee of its continuity and the precondition for its realisation.

The main objective of our effort should be to build a society that is more fair, just and humane which releases the potentialities of all human beings, reconciling them with labour and with nature. This is the context within which the struggle to remove the marginalisation, discrimination and perpetration of all injustices against women arises.

Generally speaking, women are the most marginalised, humiliated and exploited beings in our society.

How can we make progress as a nation without the removal of all these injustices against women? Will it be possible to establish a just, fair and humane society in this country while keeping one part of society marginalised, discriminated against and humiliated? One cannot only partially wipe out injustices, one cannot tear up only half the weeds without even stronger ones spreading out from the half that had survived.

How can one make this country a fair, just and humane one without mobilising women? If more than half of the marginalised, discriminated against, exploited and humiliated people in this country consist of women, how can they be left on the fringe of things?

To make progress, it is necessary to mobilise all the exploited and marginalised, and consequently women as well. If we are to be successful in creating a better society, we must eliminate the whole system of injustices, including those against women.

Moreover, if we all consider the basic need for progress in our country to be continued by the new generation, how can we ensure the progressive education of the generation which will carry on our work if mothers, the first educators, are marginal to the whole process?

How can one turn the homes of the exploited and marginalised into cells of progressive struggle, centres for the diffusion of our line, encouraging the involvement of the family if women remain marginalised and are apathetic to this process, indifferent to the society which we are trying to build and deaf to the call of the people?

Women feel their marginalisation, discrimination and humiliation, they feel the need to change their situation. What happens is that the domination imposed by society, by stifling their initiative, often prevents them from expressing their aspirations, often prevents them from thinking of how to wage their struggle. It is here where the intervention of all of us is required.

It is essential that we understand this phenomenon so as to avoid false and futile debates.

It is clear that the fight against the marginalisation, discrimination, exploitation and humiliation of women demands, as a first step, the clarification of our ideas to avoid erroneous explanations like those coming from Sata. This requires action on several essential levels.

Labels: SATA, WOMEN

posted by MrK @ 3:47 AM