Random Thoughts Of The Lady Next Door

“The way my mother explained it, the traditional man wants a woman to be subservient, but he never falls in love with a subservient woman. He’s attracted to independent women. He’s like an exotic bird collector. He only wants a woman who is free, because his dream is to put her in a cage.”  Born a Crime by Trevor Noah; Pg 195. Some of us were born into freedom, so to speak: born to liberal parents, born into families populated by brilliant, dauntless women and raised under their strong influence, and so we are, by default, audacious; a constant nuisance to patriarchy and its custodians, and unapologetically so. But there are also some of us who did not get these privileges. Some of us were raised by timid women who stifled the desire in us to break free from stereotypes, raised by abusive male figures who killed the confidence in us and left us alone with no support to face the highly prejudiced society.  Thankfully, we have strong women around us who have taught u...

Today on WORLD BOOK DAY, I acknowledge the Holy Spirit, author of the most controversial yet life-changing book ever known to man—the Bible. PC: biblestudytools.com I also celebrate the young icon, activist, feminist and brain behind the #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign, Marley Dias. In 2015, the then 10-year-old of Jamaican-American descent challenged the crying lack of diversity in children's storybooks and launched a campaign to collect 1000 books featuring black girls as the protagonist.   By the end of the campaign, Marley had successfully reached nearly ten times her initial target for the book collection. Today, she distributes these books to young girls of colour across the world so that they can see themselves represented in the books they read. PC: smithsonianmag.com 15-year-old Marley Dias has made something more out of her love for books. She has turned her hobby and passion into a tool for repressing racism and gender bias as enable...

I'll tell you one particular question that stood out for me after I dissolved my relationship several months ago. "Why? You found someone else?" Why it stood out? It was the most obtuse question I had ever been asked since I started developing breasts, and its ludicrousness caught me off-guard each time, such that I never had any bright answer for everyone who asked me. I always wondered at the dullness of the mind that would so quickly jump to conclusions. I also began to question my public reputation. Do I really look like someone who would remain in a "situationship" because I was waiting to find another man to rescue me and give me what I truly desired? Really?  No. That's not what I really want to ask.  Are people aware that in this century, there are heterosexual women who love LOVE, but are not obsessed or frantic about being in any romantic relationship?  Are people aware that "You will not find a man to marry you" is only as ominous a thre...