Weak men don’t deserve our respect

By Shirley Genga

The other day, while taking a matatu into town, I happened upon a very interesting radio debate about men and respect. 

Apparently, from all the phone calls that came in, men feel women don’t respect them enough. In fact, the men who called in were demanding respect and were outraged by how women treat them.

Not free

 While most complained about lack of respect at home, one man called in claiming he had two women and was a ndume (bull) because he had managed to subdue both.

I have heard of subduing a criminal or an erratic animal, but never in my life did I ever think it was humanly possible to put the word subdue and woman in the same sentence. Then it hit me that men don’t even understand what respect is all about. They don’t realise that respect is about responsibility and not about strength or power.

No wonder they are delusional. They stupidly believe they are, somehow, entitled to respect by virtue of being born male. Let me burst this delusional bubble: Respect is not free.

Nothing is for free in this world and anybody who tells you any different is a liar. In the real world, anything worth having must be earned and paid for. In short, you work for it.

Coup

  Men think women are just disrespectful for no reason, but that is not the case.  Of course, a man is supposed to be the head of the family (I can be traditional sometimes) but when the head is never home, a coup will always ensue.

   A king cannot lead his kingdom (his home) from another kingdom (aka the bar). So what you will find in most homes today is that women have been forced to overthrow their men and take over the throne.

  There are men who get home in the wee hours of the morning and leave home when the cock crows, and then for some reason are appalled when their wives’ and children show them no respect. It’s very simple, if a man wants to be respected then he needs to reclaim his thrown by spending ‘quality’ time at home.

Additionally, women like a man who is his own man and can make decisions independently. So when you have a man who cannot make any decision without permission from his boys or his mother, why should you respect him?

No compromise

A man who doesn’t have a backbone and can’t make decisions without a cheering squad at hand isn’t worthy of respect.

Then there is the issue of provision at home. A man must provide. There is no way around it. If a man cannot provide anything at home, then he should kiss respect goodbye. Women don’t, and shouldn’t, compromise on this.

Also, an insecure man, a man who lacks ambition and one who is a pushover is not deserving of respect from his woman.

I could still go on and on, but the bottom line, wearing trousers isn’t what it takes. If you want respect, man up.