Gender gains in Kenya must empower women and men

By Mumbi Machera

NAIROBI; KENYA: Of Gender Gains, Women Monsters and Human Females
The song about gender gains through the Constitution 2010 has been sang and hailed far and
wide. Elections came and passed with a bit of drama here and there. Gender gains should
and must translate to the overall empowerment of men and women. The assumption behind
gender gains is that inequality is dangerous for development. While this is squarely true, the
gender gains sing song has been misconstrued and someone must open this can of worms. For
starters, empowerment means acquiring knowledge and understanding of gender relations
and ways in which these relations may be changed; developing a sense of worth, a belief in
ones' ability to secure desired changes and the right to control one's life; gaining the ability to
generate choices and exercise bargaining power; developing the ability to organize and
influence the direction of social change to create a more just social and economic order. That
is according to UNIFEM 1995, renamed UN Women.
Kenya has not by any chance hurdled beyond the feminist ideology which censures male
dominance for most woes in human society. My dear women, poor, rich, married, single,
widowed and separated should wake up and smell the “rat”. When women MPs and senators
continue to show nothing but lipstick, wigs and huge gold rings, a red flag is already in sight.
The lacklustre manner in which our female politicians have kicked off, reminds all of the
Maendeleo Ya Wanawake in the 80s and the politics of power struggles that reshaped a
national giant into a pathetic wimp.
The aim behind gender representation provisions in the constitution was to provide a
powerful platform for the female politicians to speed up the train of gender empowerment,
particularly for vulnerable women and girls whose destiny is determined by persisting gender
inequalities. Instead the gravy train is taking precedence. So what are our s-heroes up to?.
The no bra and suffrage wars were worn in the west, the war on whether or not to carry hand
bags was worn during the 8th Parliament.