#IWD2024: Women do not need to be empowered?

By Irene Reid COMMEY

Interesting will be a word too generic to describe the ongoing debate, argument and conversation about women empowerment. While at some point I think this conversation may be unnecessary, at another point, it may serve as wake up call for some women.

This article seeks to outline some similarities and differences between men and women with regards to their biological and intellectual make-up, the status quo and/or stereotypical attributes that have hindered the progress of women and the need for these to be discarded, as well as draw conclusions as to whether there is a need to empower women or not.

To begin with, it is important to note that both men and women are powerful beings with great intellectual prowess. The development of some parts of the brain of each gender contributes to their intellectual capabilities.

While the right hemisphere of the brain of men is more developed than women – helping the former to deal more quickly with mathematics-related operations, women have the left hemisphere of their brain more developed than men – helping them to have better memory, practical thinking, communication and work orientation. This definitely explains the choice of career of the two genders.

However, of the two genders, research has shown that women are able to strike a balance between the two hemispheres of the brain, propelling them to be able to venture into fields of study or careers that are traditionally perceived to be male-dominated. With the afore-mentioned, it would make sense to conclude that the difference in the brain development of men and women makes way for variety and does not suggest in any way that one gender is better than the other with respect to intellectual prowess.

Admittedly, men are physically stronger than women. Therefore, while a man can carry out work that require great stamina, the strength of women may be limited in this regard. The biological make-up of women render them a ‘weaker vessel’ compared to men. Referring to women as a ‘weaker vessel’ does not in any way give the indication that men are better than women.

A perfect example that can help to understand this concept is having two vessels – a wooden vessel and a glass one – that are very useful. It is common knowledge that glass is more valuable than wood but by virtue of the glass’ delicateness, it is a weaker vessel. If both vessels fall, the less-valuable wooden is picked up unscathed; but the valuable glass may not be complete.

To draw the correlation, women are powerful vessels in the family and community. As Sir Kwegyir Aggrey asserted: ‘If you educate a woman, you educate a whole nation’; that is how powerful women can be. Yet, their biological make-up can affect their stay in the boardroom. Some necessary aspect of women can sometimes adversely affect their careers.

For example, menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, among other family engagements – taking a toll on their professional life or career.  As a result, one may question the efficiency of a female president in her eighth / ninth month of pregnancy and the first few months of childbirth; or one can imagine the female Board Chair dealing with pregnancy and, sometimes, its attendant complications.

That notwithstanding, a few women have been able to stay in the boardroom or other C-Suite jobs – but mostly after childbirth. Serena Williams – the female with the highest number of Grand Slam titles – had to take a break of about 13 months from her career for her first child, came back to pick up from where she left and had to ‘retire’ for the second child and other engagements; on the other hand, Kamala Harris is able to carry out her duties as Vice President, with her children being adults already.

Do these scenarios render women less powerful compared to men? Definitely not! Both genders are powerful in their own way and their capabilities are rendered differently – one complementing the other.

The bottom-line, therefore, is that men and women are not the same in their physical make-up but they possess the same intelligence. There are things that men can do better than women and there are equally things women can do better than men. Hence, it is imperative for both genders to see that their roles are complementary.

Furthermore, what is considered as status quo and / or stereotypical attributes have stifled the growth of most women. A lot of women do not even know they possess power because of these stereotypes. They grow up constantly hearing such expressions as “a woman’s place is the kitchen”, “the role of the woman is to make babies and take care of the home”, “women do not need equal salaries as men because they are supported by their husbands”, “women are too emotional to undertake certain kinds of jobs, especially when pregnant”.

A girl-child who grows up in such an environment will think that nurturing the power within her and honing her capabilities to the betterment of the world is a crime. Based on this ignorance, many women do not explore their potential nor broaden their horizon to see ways to utilise their power from within to benefit themselves and humanity. But what has time and history shown us with respect to the place of women?

For the most part, most women have feared taking up male-dominated fields of endeavours, especially the STEM-related fields, because they have been branded as solely for men. Ironically, some women have been able to tread this course and have successfully excelled, with a considerable number of them outperforming their male counterparts.

Typical examples are the late Dr. Ewurama Addy, Prof. Elsie Effah Kauffman, Dr. Angela Tabiri, Dr. Afia Animwaa Mireku, Dr. Millicent Kert Narh, among several others. What is the point? If stereotypical attributes and the so-called status quo about the place of women are discouraged and discarded, women – especially the girl-child – will have the liberty to explore their potential, honing this to propel the growth of the community.

Consequently, if women have as much power as men and can contribute to their communities as much as men do or can, will the former need to be empowered? One does not need to empower a powerful entity because they already posses the power – it is inherent.

On the other hand, it is one thing having power and it is another knowing how to manifest and utilise it for personal and public good. When a young lady grows up knowing she is a powerful being who can venture any field of endeavour, she would not need to fight for empowerment and not see her male counterparts as threats or competitors. She would rather use her potential as a tool to complement that of men to build a better community.

What, then, do women and girls need? Charity, they say, begins at home. Parents should nurture the power of their girl-child, helping them to be self-aware of their potential even before they start schooling; and continue throughout the growth process. This will also help them to know that their biological make-up should not be a hindrance to their goals, regardless of the stereotypical attributes about women.

Again, school owners and facilitators should create an environment in the school that guides girls to bring out their power; they should be aware of the power within them while showing them real-life examples of women who have reached powerful goals.

Also, government can create avenues for girls and women to know the legal framework. This may include setting up civic education clubs in the different levels of education to teach them their rights as women in order to voice out any unfair treatment or injustice for the law to take its course.

Most importantly, with all stakeholder doing their part to help them harness their power, girls and women must take up the responsibility to bring out the power in them. They should follow the trend of women who are making bold and ambitious strides, read about them on how they made it, educate themselves, learn, unlearn and relearn to keep up the pace.

Yes, women are inherently powerful entities. The musician Shaggy once sang: “Don’t you underestimate strength of a woman”. But just as every master goes through an apprenticeship before becoming a professional, the potential of girls needs to be nurtured over time through the avenues mentioned earlier, among others. Then, they can confidently unleash that power for the society’s good.

In conclusion, as this year’s International Women’s Day is celebrated, I will encourage all girls and women not to wait for an outside entity to empower them; but to hone the powers they possess, making good use of all the resources that the technologically-powered era provides as well as the legal resources available to realise their ambitions and contribute their very best to their community – not viewing this process as a competition with men, but working hand in hand as complements.

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