Gender equity is not about women doing what men do

Throughout the history of mankind, as we know it today, it is a fairly obvious fact that women have been the main victims of discrimination and other forms of social injustices that include sexual violence.

In the traditional African society, women were not allowed to venture into domains that were considered basically masculine. Women, for instance, were not allowed to own property, take on occupations that were male dominated or inherit property like land.

In some societies, they could not even be allowed to eat certain food. This left women with the option of entirely relying on men for their livelihoods. But even that had its challenges, especially when some men chose to ignore their responsibilities to their families.

As a consequence of this, most women were forced to take up the role of bread winners to educate and bring up their children, albeit without proper foundations. With time, the phrase 'what a man can do a woman can do better' grew.

This phrase has managed to change the world's view on the role of women in society. Across the world, feminists have emerged to drum up support for girls.

American activists Betty Friedan and Sudan Faludi were two feminists who believed that women are free to define their identities, but they did not support the notion that women should strive to be like men.

Gender equality has been a major issue in society for decades now. Governments have tried to address this issue starting with the passage of gender sensitive laws through progressive constitutions.

The Constitution of Kenya entitles women to enjoy equal rights and opportunities as men in the political, economic and social spheres. The Constitution in Article 81 clause (b) states that not more than two-thirds of the members of an elective body shall be of the same gender.

Despite this, the country has found it hard to actualise the law in elective positions owing to the fact that the electorate cannot be coerced to vote in a particular gender. Kenya has, therefore, not been able to fully actualise this law in elective bodies.

According to views expressed by some members of society, we have fewer women in positions of power because they are not aggressive enough. Some quarters advance the argument that women are reluctant to pursue their dreams and will comfortably sit back and accept what men give to them.

The argument goes further to state that while men are happy to compete by winning over followers in political contests, women don't stand up to push their agenda with the energy required in the political arena. This could be the reason why, in the 2013 General Election, few Kenyan women ran for senatorial and gubernatorial seats.

Most people believe that Kenya is a male-dominated society with little regard for women. Women are discriminated against in Government. Women are intimidated by men but come to think of it, don't educated women intimidate men too? Take, for instance, an afternoon out with a man courting a lady. Only a negligible number of men can be seen courting women who are pursuing second degrees.

The biggest problem with women today is that they associate gender equality with fighting men and trying to do everything that men do. This is not the solution to the myriad problems facing women in society. It is like digging a hole to fill up another hole.

It is important for women to stop trying to be like men. After all, men have always shouldered the overall responsibility of taking care of their families and even the biblical story of Ahab and Jezebel, where God punished Ahab for Jezebel's sins, reveals actual facts that equality is a mirage.