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Ruth Butaumocho Gender Forum
Proverbs 31 is a well-known chapter in the Bible and is highly revered by both men and women, though it is interpreted in various ways and speaks differently in their own situations.
The chapter and subsequent verses are often cited in praise of wives and mothers who diligently work hard, for everything and everywhere from dusk to dawn.

“Like a merchant ship, she brings her food from afar,” goes a verse within the same chapter.

The whole chapter explains how the Virtuous woman ought to behave, and should remain unshaken with goings on around her, no matter how turbulent the situation might be.

Her feelings should remain serene and acceptable; her thoughts tame and unthreatening; her needs silent and non-existent, while her appetite — for anything — should be measured.

If anything the verse is a source of inspiration and motivates a woman to do better than yesterday because she is the “ideal” one that one (man) cannot find. She makes herself small to fit in the scheme of things, no matter how bad the situation might appear. The same verse is also idolised by men, who pray, hope and wish that their own partners, wives, sisters will one day fall in the mould of the virtuous woman fervently described in Proverbs 31.

Suffice to say prospects of increasing the numbers of the Biblical Virtuous woman in Zimbabwe and the region are increasingly dwindling everyday because of numerous challenges that both men and women find themselves in.

Both men and women are facing a myriad of challenges on the economic, social and even political front, making it impossible for them to keeping their heads above water. The demands are even untenable for women, who on a daily basis, struggle to access basic services and put food on the table. The signal of dawn means more problems women have to contend with, including queuing hours on end for water, look for alternative source of energy because of load-shedding, while battling to put a meal on the table, as the dollar remains elusive to the ordinary person.

Adding to their woes, it is becoming clearer than before that women not only in Zimbabwe, but around the world, now need to adapt their lives to a changing climate. Increase in extreme weather conditions, droughts, storms and floods are already altering the economies, economic development and are likely to be among the biggest health threats for now and years to come. Studies already show that women disproportionately suffer the impact of all the aforementioned challenges and the effects of climate change because of the cultural norms and the inequitable distribution of roles, resources and power.

Added to that is a disintegration of the social fabric, as attested by the increasing incidents of gender-based violence within communities, from the clergy right up to the ordinary person in the street, further worsening the problems that women have to contend with on a daily basis.

With the onset of the rains, the workload for an ordinary woman increases. If she is gainfully employed, her contribution to buy inputs and offset other necessary overheads in farming is expected in time, while the rural woman has to gear herself to till the land and partake in other farming activities until the season comes to an end.

In the midst of this, she still has to keep an eye on the family, while battling to contain the bursting seams of a ferocious and turbulent relationship.

Can the nation expect to get a virtuous woman out of this? A woman who will remain quiet and acceptable, while her thoughts remain tame and unthreatening?

It is not possible.

However, the burden can be bearable once women get the buy-in of men, in all the challenges they face. Men’s willingness to acknowledge and understand the gender inequalities facing women is a huge step towards the atonement of the inequalities that exist between the two sexes.

Men then should become agents of change in the gender discourse and buttress their buy-in through ameliorated efforts to assist women in which ever way they can, be it in the home, office and especially in communities, where women seem to be failing to get their voices heard.

Men should be on the forefront of promoting and encouraging the gender discourse, because they hold the aces on how they would want women emancipated from historical inequalities dating back to thousands of years.

The Virtuous woman status may not be attainable in the near future, but women’s status can be upgraded, once their problems become everyone’s concern.