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Nicholas Bhero

There has been a global call for women to take up positions of power and influence. Is it a question of equality or quality? Have you ever heard of a school of thought, which says, Gender is a social construction? Is women empowerment a social, political or an economic cause? Are we even created to be equal? Does equality mean similarity?

I deliberately entitled this article, ‘Home Economics’ borrowing the name from a high school subject. Home economics is defined as a curriculum usually including studies in nutrition, the purchase, preparation, and service of food, interior design, clothing and textiles, child development, family relationships, and household economics.

The definition alone lays out my thrust in this piece. In the Bible, there is a famous passage, Proverbs 31:10 – 31, the passage speaks of a woman who has mastered home economics. She is portrayed as a noble wife, one cannot easily find.

Whilst the passage seems to be pointing towards what is commonly referred to as ‘wife material’, I tend to read it as a girl power scripture; therefore, I read it with my sisters and my daughter in mind.

The economic capacity laid out in the passage, suggests no limits for the girl child. As the saying goes, charity begins at home.

The sooner we embrace girl power at household level, the sooner we will begin to realize the untapped potential in society’s feminine capital. 

It is this deliberate household level gender smart economic development approach, which I term ‘home economics’. The girl child needs to be raised with an economics responsibility not the traditional house chores mantra.

The village corner store ought to be renamed, and become ‘Bhero and Daughters’. Unless the society empowers the girl child at household level, institutional efforts will not yield the desired results but rather continue to demonstrate the current superficial equality, which speaks more of similarity than distinctiveness.

Social balance should not be an extreme topic, but rather informed by individual competences, acknowledging that no two people are the same. 

Parents and guardians ought to remember it is their primary responsibility to remind their children both boys and girls, how they have no limits.

An economic strategy that is non discriminatory in its design will tap into the full power of the UVPs (Unique Value Propositions) of all of its human capital.

When we founded the STIR Zimbabwe Trust, we had a deliberate mission to push for the empowerment of women, and it was one of the reasons why we were quick to forge a partnership with the Women’s University in Africa (WUA) for our innovation and transformation entrepreneurship courses.

 What other proponents describe as gender roles, which identify women with house chores and childcare have proven to be an obstructive weight on women seeing them sacrifice personal development for family orientation. This has resulted in urban women focusing on backyard or doorstep projects such as poultry and vending stalls.

Ideas are gender blind as all human beings are observant enough to ideate solutions to their daily challenges and turn them into opportunities. 

Considering the natural inclination of women in paying full attention to detail, it is not an overstatement to assume that; the best innovations are still locked behind our society’s doors, which seem to have the masculine human sign as if they are entering male only toilets.

I have met people who say they are now tired of hearing the women empowerment and gender equality message, some even feel like the boy child has been neglected in the cause for women empowerment. 

Whilst, I may not outrightly contest these sentiments, I also can’t refute the fakeness in 99 percent of the current efforts that are completely detached from the harsh reality.

The marginalization, which the girl child is still experiencing through social constructions laid at household level, cannot be hidden in marketing and political campaign messages.

The son is still considered the ultimate prize by most fathers, and this kills the women empowerment mantra in its tracks. By the time, girls and women begin to be targeted by institutions with the pro women messages they would have already been made to submit to a culture in which they come second. It is this early misplacement, which leaves societies with the tiring and boring feministic message which others find tiring and discriminatory to the boy child.

Other animal species have leant the power in females and have seen their communities giving economic responsibilities to the ladies. Prides rely on their lionesses for most of their hunting with the gents only invited to help where power is the key factor such as when killing larger prey and when there is a call for military protection.

Even elephants follow the direction of the matriarch in their economic activities, tapping into the feminine genius. When you study these species, you would hilariously discover that men are necessary mostly when there is a threat from other men, logically suggesting men are only necessary to solve problems other men create. In Ukraine, they have stopped all able-bodied men from fleeing the war, so they may face their fellow men from Russia.

Without losing the patriarchs it is important for me to wrap up this article by pointing out that whilst women show potential to participate in economic activities at the same wavelength as men, the efforts of inclusion should be based on quality not just equality.

May the right women be given right chance to do the right thing, thus were a quota system demands occupation of certain spaces by women, a deliberate approach which makes sure the right woman gets the job should be followed. 

Gender may not necessarily be a social construct as it also has biological suggestions to go with, but some of the cultural stereotypes and roles, which follow these biological specifics, leave a lot to be desired in the twenty-first century.

Women empowerment is not a social, political or an economic cause but rather a means to addressing gaps left by our society’s traditional orientation, which was largely patriarchal. It is not an effort towards similarity, but a position in which women get an equal opportunity to participate in the economics of our home country.

Nicholas Bhero is the Founding Chairman of the STIR Zimbabwe Trust and can be contacted on 0783184726 or [email protected]