Editors Note

Let’s Switch

In a patriarchal society, it is a given that relations between men and women are designed in such a way that they always maintain binary codes that perpetuate asymmetrical role expectations.

Thus, men invariably assume the master status while women are subjected to that of appendages.

However, as we celebrate Fathers’ Day and Day of the African Child this month, I wish to challenge our men folk, for at least this month, to subvert conventions that sometimes imprison and limit our mental capacity to realise and act to change the world if needs be.

I am well aware that such topics always evoke strong emotional responses between and among sexes but we must not lose sight of the fact that gender is just a performance. 

It is not an ascribed status but a human construct given that, distinct from our physiological and anatomical make-up, men and women act differently in society because of role expectations.

We are told and taught that men are naturally providers but all of us are.

The only difference is how. When we were all born all our lives depended on the woman.

She breastfed us, bathed us, fed us, taught us language and survival skills.

When we became boys she taught us to do the dishes, cook and even bath our young brothers and sister but immediately we grew up to become men and entered into sexual and other relationships with women, we relegated such duties to femininity.

Thus, femininity equalled domesticity.  In other words, the interaction between women and men, regardless of the space they operate in, always foregrounds the essentialising link between economic power and masculinity as men see themselves in a privileged position of being providers and carers, while women are subordinated to the status of dependents.

And men will do everything and use the concept of man as a provider as a subterfuge to maintain patriarchal dominance over society.

However, my suggestions this month as we celebrate Fathers’ Day and the boy child this June 16 which is Day of the African Child, let us switch roles with women and become stay-at-home husbands - doing all the household chores while our women become providers for the family in the sense men would do it.

This means cooking, washing, feeding the kids, cleaning the house and preparing for the next day’s work.

Let us dispense with the wrong notion of treating those who are provided for as mere appendages that have nothing to offer. Let us not be masters, doing everything by remote control under the guise of “providers”.

Let this be our first step towards a gender balanced society which is alive to challenges that confront us such as domestic violence and child abuse.

In this issue, we feature fathers who have demonstrated that besides being providers for their families, men can also be hands-on fathers who are much involved in raising their children.

Our fashion pages also showcase fashion for men and children as way of commemorating Day of the African Child.

Let me then take this opportunity to wish all fathers a happy Fathers’ Day and all the children a warm and fulfilling celebration of the Day of the African Child! Ends

Editor,

Mr Thomas Nkhoma