A woman's worth

Women have become second best in society for so long that we think that this is how it was meant to be. The injustices that women face have sadly been normalised so much over the years that we do not see anything wrong with how they are being stripped of the power that is God given to them.

 Where did it all go wrong? Our society has come to a point where we are oppressing women; oppressing the mother of human creation...How can we hate something that we came from so much? Women need to understand that they are not being oppressed because they are weaker than men; but they are oppressed because of the power that they have within them. Power that most men are scared to acknowledge and let flourish.

Thanks to media and force fed ideologies from the west...The feminine principle has been dismissed and dominated by the masculine principle. Society is in its current state because of the lack of balance between these two principles. It breaks my heart when I hear of how some cultures deny women the right to be educated. Sadly this is not just a cultural battle, as some major religions ACTIVELY show very little regard for women.

 We need to get over this falsified notion of being almighty and dominant. It’s easy to ask ‘what have women done, that makes them so powerful/special’...Give them a chance so they can show you (Again).You possess the power and greatness of Queen Modjaji, Queen Mmamane of baTlokwa, Nyabinghi, Cleopatra and many more Kemetian(Egyptian) Queens  . The oppressor knows your power; which is why you are being desensitised, sexualised and demoralised.

 

 I would like us to look at the role that music plays in the way we look at women; more especially Hip Hop. I want to start by pointing out that I am not saying that sexism exists as a result of this genre or culture... but in all honesty, hip hop(especially commercial) has become a sexualised place where the exploitation of black women has been used to develop identities of many artists in the industry. It is astonishing how artists are proud of the lifestyles they are advertising; not realising that they are mere middle-men that make money for corporations from a distorted misrepresentation of women. This genre has created a culture that idolises violence, promiscuity and makes heroes of men who physically abuse women and refer to them as bitches and whores. Women; you are more than your thighs, legs; breasts…do not allow yourselves to be reduced to sexual objects.

 The empowerment of women does not come through your appearances, sex or sexuality. A key element that should be addressed is the kind of role models that our young sisters’ look up to; most of which are training an army of lost women whose primary purpose is to please men and stroke their ego’s at all cost (satisfy them)
Women (globally) have been told what beauty is, sadly if you do not match the Photoshop standards set then you are classified as a reject (ugly). The worst part is how cosmetics and surgical companies make billions from the orchestrated low self esteems of women. How sick has our society become! How can we say that we value and love our women; when an empire strives/survives by telling women how ‘imperfect’ they are?


 Where do we start in rectifying how we look at women? Feminism can be a powerful tool that can be used not only to point out or make men and women both conscious of the struggles women face; but also to educate them in the fundamental principles of feminism..One cannot be what one does not understand. You don’t necessarily have to be female to be a feminist; but you do need to be a Man to be one

The role of ineducation

Over the years we have been led to believe that education is the key to success; without it one can never amount to much in life.
How true is this statement really; is society really as educated as it would like to believe ?
Sadly i believe that our current educational system needs to be re-evaluated. How important is education really when there are people at home sitting with their qualification ? this post does not seek to change how you see the system but merely to make you open your eyes and really think of much it is really doing. The standards of education have dropped and this same system that is supposed to develop young minds is the same system that destroys them.

''Knowledge is power''; The power to do what ? Sadly we are not being educated to change, but instead we are educated to understand/know. This system is practically graduating functional illiterates. A wise man once said 'If we were as educated as we thought, then it would show in society''. Sadly this is our reality. How can you be an economist but you cant solve the economic issues of your society; how can you be a psychologist and the people around you (maybe even YOU) are crazy ?! Our education(as an Economist) gives you the opportunity to understand whats happening in the global markets but not the luxury to know how to change/better things.

Intelligence - what is it ?. Society has done a good job at enforcing the twisted ideology that it is measured by how well you survive in this system. Children in schools have a perception of being dumb if they do not do well in schools. We have to take into account that people are not ''wired'' the same and maybe these kids that are not ''made'' for this system.They should be able to have access to alternatives but music and art schools are expensive..what does this mean to the average kid from a ''middle-class'' family ?

Can we really not say that education has a direct effect on the unemployment and the crime rate in our country ?
Education should not be exclusive, but it should be available to all who want to acquire it. How much is being done to really ''educate'' us? The sad part is that some see just how flawed it is but we do not have an alternative to it..so basically we choose to conform. How is this supposed to change when even the few that see, subscribe to it ?

Asocial-Social Networking

Asocial-Social Networking  

Social networks have become an enormous part of our lives. Although they are the most practical mediums of communication between people all over the world; one can’t help but feel that they are doing more damage to our society than any good.

Social networks are causing alarming changes in the minds of young users. Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Mxit, Bebo and MySpace are said to shorten the attention spans of the youth and encourage instant gratification. These ‘social’ networks harm the social development of every boy and girl in the world as it detaches you from society. “Social networks have really become the garden fence of the 21^st century, and are used for very much the same purpose as community meeting places. We are at the end of the early adoption phase, which was dominated by young people, and social networking is now a mainstream activity enjoyed and used by all age groups, practically those in their thirties” –Carolyn Holgate, General Manager of MWEB connect.

Most people believed that these social networks are mostly associated with teenagers. What’s alarming is the fact that parents do not know just how serious this issue is; so it’s looked at as a phase in a teen’s life. Unfortunately that’s not the case; your child might grow up to be addicted to social networks as the average age of usage is from the mid twenties to early thirties. The issue is so big that companies suffer, due to their staff not being productive as a result of social networks. A survey was done in South Africa to calculate the average age of users for each social network and the numbers are an eye opener.

·         Facebook 33 Years

·         MySpace 32Years

·         Twitter & YouTube 31 Years

·         Mxit 27 Years

Social interaction through any screen (Computer or mobile) is fundamentally different from spoken conversations because spoken conversation occurs in real time with no time for you to think up a clever or witty response. Social networks are a dangerous place with many people; some not even who they say they are. Our generation spends hours and hours on these networks trying to keep friendships with acquaintances and the time previously spent interacting socially has increasingly been displaced by the virtual variety. Social networks have subjugated its users to the point where even in our physical networks, groups of people can sit together but still be detached from each other…are you one of them ? Unlike other living species, humans need social experiences to learn their culture and to survive. People are shaped by their social influences, so what generation of people are we being shaped to become? Baroness Greenfield, an Oxford University neurologist and director of the Royal Institution, believes that repeated exposure could effectively ‘rewire’ the brain.

These networks might be called social networks but there is nothing social about separating us from our physical networks. We detach ourselves from family, friends and people around us in general as we communicate less with them and chat more on these networks. These networks are channelling and controlling our minds/thoughts along with our perceptions…are they succeeding. Well, only you know the answer...

Feminist Society

Feminism is the advocacy of women’s right on the grounds of political, social and economic equality to men. Women began fighting for equal rights since the early 1600. Women’s rights movements were also influenced by the Revolutionary War and the French Revolution in the late 1700’s.

The word ‘Feminism’ only came to the United States from France in the early 1900’s. The feminist movement splintered off from suffrage-oriented groups after the U.S. women were given the rights to vote under the 19^th Amendment in 1920. After World War 2 the Women’s Liberation Movement surfaced when more women began entering college and the work-force. They wanted to revolutionize the way women lived in terms of education, employment, domesticity and sexuality.

Some people say that feminism only seeks to advance some women with a very specific set of ideals, and attack women who disagree. Very few men understand  the basic principles of feminism and most of them believe that through the use of hate speech, feminism only serves to promote hate against men and whereas  the quest of the modern-day feminist is to place women above men.

It is safe to say that feminism is hard to define, thus making it so hard to understand. The breadth of the movement includes wide diversity of views and internal debate that make it even harder to define. We all agree that this movement has a lot of concepts within it; but the basic principle of the movement is to the pursuit of equality between men and women but not exclusively sexual equality.

There are a lot of women all over the world who still feel like they are being oppressed by men and that their rights aren’t respected by men.  The question is; can we honestly say that this statement is false?

Jenniffer Sono is a  22 year old Computer Science student that was victimised at Noord Street taxi rank for showing off the legs that were considered sexy and won her the title of Miss Lovely Legs. She is only one of many young women who have been harassed by man at the taxi rank. In an interview she said “All along in was wrong to think that at the taxi rank, there are men who will protect girls”. These men are giving real men a bad name, not all Zulu men have the same mentality as them.

On 20 January 2012 women in Malawi staged a protest against a gang that terrorises trouser wearing women by stripping off their clothes. You don’t need to be a feminist to find this disturbing. The good news is that you do not need to be a woman to be a feminist. Women started the fight, and are still fighting for equality. It’s up to real men to fight with/for them.

It is much easier to sit back and watch as all this happens but it takes a real man to stand up and fight against the abuse of women all over the world.

Toxic Leadership

What can be said about the leadership of our country when we vote for change over and over but the change that we vote for never comes to pass. We vote for improvement but as things stand, there is nothing but decay.

Its always being said that our government wants to better our education..how can they start bettering education when there are others factors that will not make our educational system better ? We use our votes to teach leadership to exploit our society. Can u honestly say that there is progress in our country when there are certain infra-structural issues that prevent kids in disadvantaged areas from reaching school ?

Do our leaders really care about us, or do they care more about the power that they can swindle from us ? Its sad how active political parties are when its election time..the same people that put their trust in these leaders are the same people that get used to win over the votes of many people. Building homes for 50 people goes a very long way in winning the hearts of the lower class. Its sad to see how our leaders exploit our desperation and use that to get what they want.

It sounds like nothing but bad news..I know, but the silver lining is that now that you've seen how your vote helped in the distruction of your country..you have a chance to change that. Its your vote. Your country and your children's future at stake..make a choice u can be proud of.

The leaders are nothing without you..so stand up and let your vote count towards fighting a toxic system.

It all starts with YOU..

The Media as a Parent

Most societies consider parents as an important element in our nation's upbringing, these people's jobs is to cultivate and groom us as a youth into young men and women with strong morals and values.
What happens to our youth if these people are substituted by a different kind of parent..a parent that has many face and seemingly different mind sets but in actual fact preaching the same ideology ?

our generation lives in an era where most of ur education doesn't come from any textbook or teacher who u go to for an hour or 2 each day for a lesson, No! The education in this era that we live in, comes from a more permanent teacher that does not only master in math,science or even language..this teacher is a master of one subject, and that subject is the human mind.

This teacher is what we call 'Media'. Whether u would like to admit it or not, you have fallen prey to its false truths..the problem the problem isn't that our society is illiterate..the problem is that even those who sit with their degrees and Diploma's got the wrong kind of education. What a person knows about his or her history will affect him in the future. Sadly most south africans do not even know the history of their own people and country. The knowledge that we have or lack there of is exploited and the media fills in the blank spaces of what u dnt knw with what they want u to believe.

There is a saying that says ' you are who you are because of your choices' but most of our choices are made for us in one way or another by our media. Does this ultimately mean that we are what our media wants us to be ? I don't knw..u decide.