The Girl Child
The world in her enormity, can boast of diverse cultures, languages, food, great countries, e.t.c,. Her great countries can boast of superiority in terms of development, but sex? Sex (male and female) exist to unify and equalise countries, both great and small.
Luckily for 2nd and 3rd world countries, 1st world countries can boast of superiority in everything but when it comes to people, everyone has a say.
Happy International Day of the Girl Child to all the girls who can read this and to all the girls connected to you in one way or the other.
It's the 10th anniversary of the International Day of the Girl Child celebration and for those who do not know the purpose of this day in the calendar, “International Day of the Girl Child is an international observance day declared by the United Nations; it is also called the Day of Girls and the International Day of the Girl. October 11, 2012, was the first Day of the Girl Child. The observation supports more opportunity for girls and increases awareness of gender inequality faced by girls worldwide based upon their gender. This inequality includes areas such as access to education, nutrition, legal rights, medical care, and protection from discrimination, violence against women and forced child marriage.[1] The celebration of the day also "reflects the successful emergence of girls and young women as a distinct cohort in development policy, programming, campaigning and research."[2] (admin, 2020)
The responsibility of raising a girl child is actually really special on its own. Have you heard of unnecessary drama? Have you experienced it? Has anyone around you cried because her ‘teddy is hungry’?
Biblically, God created heaven and earth, the moon and the stars, day and night, the birds of the sky... and then man. We read that after man gave names to all the animals that God had created, God still wasn't satisfied until He took out of the ribs of man to create woman. Carefully thought of, perfectly crafted, God wasn't in a rush when He took out of the rib of MAN to craft WOMAN. He put man to a deep sleep and surprised him with the perfect present when he awoke.
Societally, biblically and generally, man comes before woman. Women take ‘second place’ because following the creation story, ‘they came after a pause’. Some might interpret God's decision as a second thought which I may not disagree with. I'll give you the positive sides of a second thought. Say you have a list mapped out, but after exhausting everything on the list, you look around you and something still feels undone. After a long/short pause, you go, ‘ah! that's it!’ and then you add that new item and voila! Completion! Yes, that's what a woman is. She's the icing on the cake, the butter to bread and the right amount of sugar to tea.
The role of a woman in God's creation plan was to COMPLETE. After making glorious Adam, He'd have left everything to Him, left Him for loneliness to finish him after tending to the animals and the garden, but God said no! He said, ‘ Adam, take Eve, she'll be yours to care for, yours to have and to hold until time immemorial’.
Back to the responsibility of raising a girl. If you had twins; a boy and a girl, you pay the same amount of attention to them when they're still really tender (0-2 years) but then notice that naturally, the boy begins to portray certain behaviors that scream ‘ leave me alone!’. He'll say things like, don't rub my head like that, don't sing to me like that, and so on. Also notice that the girl twin wants you to rub her head longer, sing to her softer, and so on. Did you just shake your head and mutter ‘weakness?’. Yes, maybe she's weak, too fragile to manage hurt and abandonment, naturally a clinger, but what's wrong with that?
The responsibility of raising a girl child requires patience. A half-hearted human being cannot do a good job. Going through processes like; the utilisation of sanitary pads for periods, bras for developing breasts, the womb for carrying foetuses, you realize that girls are built different and deserve extra care or if you like, special treatments.
Girls, who later become women, are nation builders, caretakers and natural conflict resolution specialists. How are these minor roles?
Is your idea as a feminist to be given equal rights as men? I see that as a reduction of value. Feminism in its true sense preaches inclusion; women want to also be heard as much as men are, we want to be given the same opportunities in high places, we want to speak up without fear of being looked down on, we want to do great things and be celebrated for them without sentiments.
I take the roles of a man as special as the roles of a woman. Why change anything? Personally, I feel what should be changed is our mindsets.
Should we hold a Bible reading/interpretation session for the whole world?
Comments
I’m going back to read and comment on all your previous blog posts🌚(You’re welcome 🤗)