By Salamatu Abdullahi.
Sit, my dear, this isn’t your regular essay.
We are spewing our tales on the godly mat. Here, you can spit your overt and even subtle experiences. We all know misogyny is real. It has become invisible, normalised, and pervasive as the air we breathe. In the face of civilisation, it hides in plain sight. It is the silent rule behind hiring decisions, the unspoken bias in classrooms, the whispered justifications laced with scornful gazes in mosques and churches, and the invisible hand scripting headlines. Frustrated cries, but it dares build obstacles and loopholes to thwart women’s progress, then sheepishly mocks the efforts of women trying to make an impact. Creeping in like a curse, misogyny is systemic crooked foundations embedded from homes into institutions.
I, along with many other young women across Nigeria, am navigating through these constraints on a daily basis in our respective fields. No one has been spared — from the editorial board to banks, politics, not even in the classrooms or our marketplaces. Our sisters are being taught they don’t need as much as men. It started as mere food portions to gender pay gaps, and when I silently protested, I was given a lecture on the difference between equity and equality. Fair enough. But this , this is war.
As a communication student, I was taught the media is the architect of public opinion, shaping the narratives and overall guardian or so it claims. Fuelled by passions, when opportuned to give practical presentations, pens trailed our interest to various niches. But we were halted and repositioned to be pretty faces who read scripts, present and melodiously cast them rather than shape them.
Women are underrated in the media. My sisters are underrated.Our voices are filtered, softened, or ignored entirely. Isn’t it pathetic enough for us to unfold our legs and tighten the turban. Because despite its power to inform and influence, the media often becomes a gatekeeper of gender bias deciding which voice should be heard and which is better silenced. Female journalists, even those cycling towards politics, crime, etc., are harshly and routinely confined to soft news like fashion, entertainment, lifestyle. While deservingly, men dominate any field their guts aspire.
Misogyny is worse in the educational sector. It begins early. Most times before a girl steps into a classroom. The societal norms that are still placing boys over girls are still prevalent in many parts of the country especially in rural areas. Girls genuinely interested are introduced to gender superiority and discouraged from pursuing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects, which are traditionally male dominated. It is in tales of “a woman can never graduate with a first class in our faculty" and the mockery that any girl in engineering is an engine boy. Education is power yet any woman confidently excelling is a threat to the sector. Furthermore, the hypocrisy is obvious but should not be compared to the misogyny in religion.
The misinterpretation, misuse and manipulation of religious scriptures has been used to justify the subjugation of women all around the world. The love and belief we carry individually has allowed this to happen. Reclaiming and understanding religion is vital and would go a long way but a lot of damage has been done. It cloaks misogyny in divine authority. In some religious communities, women are discouraged from speaking publicly, being on the table, representing each other in crucial sectors,pursuing higher education, or working outside the home. This is especially harmful when such teachings influence our social and cultural norms,laws and policies in a secular state.
To address this, it is important for religious leaders to emphasize research. We must learn to actively understand our faith, give women room to grow, encourage educational workshops, and community engagement that can foster a more inclusive religious culture without compromising spiritual values.
Do you want to face the heat of public hostility and exclusion? Actively put yourself into politics and economics as a woman. A short detail of why women remain vastly underrepresented in political leadership globally would be made clear. For several years, female politicians are judged not by their policies but by their appearance, marital status, or emotional resilience. They are often held to higher moral standards than their male counterparts, and any perceived “flaw” is magnified in public discourse. In some cases, capable women are discouraged from running for office by their families or communities, reinforcing the idea that leadership is a male domain and any woman threading towards that lane is loose, or better still, lousy.
Misogyny finds stronghold in the business world, manifesting in gender pay gaps, limited career growth, and workplace harassment. women dwell in stagnant positions and are far from rising to executive roles, despite the fact that organizations with gender-diverse leadership tend to perform better financially. This once again, Is war.
It’s non-violent nature has allowed it to settle comfortably. I hope your palms are ready to be sweaty because we are not going to tear tonight. This is war and every day is a call to amplify the voices of your neighbor’s sister’s daughters. Thank you.
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