21ST CENTURY MISOGYNY

A man smashed his newborn baby to death because he was angry that the child was female, as opposed to the male child he had been anticipating. This happened here in Nigeria, not three hundred years ago, but three days ago.

I do not enjoy writing sensational gossip, neither do I ever seek to take advantage of people's misfortunes by writing about it just to enjoy increased readership. But this story had to be shared, even if for no other reason than to remind depraved intellectuals that misogyny still exists in our society, and that gender inequality is not a figment of the imaginations of gender equality advocates.

That murdered neonate didn't have to grow up to do anything that would warrant hate. For the mere fact that she came with a vagina instead of a penis, she was already doomed to abuse and hate.

The nation is led by a president who declared that his wife is useful in no other place except the kitchen and the "other room," and lawmakers who beat women up unprovoked in public and get away with it (never mind that these are the same people we depend on to pass and sanction bills that cater to the interest of both/all genders). 

Yet, when we talk about misogyny in 2020, we victims are relentlessly gaslit into silence. (By the way, are you aware of the new method of oppression: victim-shaming? Shaming you for talking about your experiences. Disparaging your voice of activism by dismissing it as an entitled whinge. Don't let them get to you. Stay woke.)

Woman, even in twenty-first century Nigeria, you are still not considered a full human. Your life is not considered sacred. And that is why they will murder you in a hotel room if they can, and feel justified. It has nothing to do with you being a sex worker or not. 

Tell me what the infant's fault was.

Tell me what she was a victim of. That's right. Misogyny. Strong hatred and contempt of women. 

But there are many things that women can do with the hate and disrespect that they are subjected to: live in denial of it, cower in the face of it, live with it and hope to outlive it, or confront it by calling it out. 

And for those who continued to insist that gender inequality in our contemporary society is a hoax, they can begin their walk of shame now.