Former Miss Nigeria, Ezinne Akudo has taken to Instagram to address people who say they are not feminists.
Ezinne’s post comes after a video of Annie Idibia went viral, where she said she is not a feminist and that women cannot be ‘Kings’.
Although Ezinne’s post did not make mention of Annie as a person, she made reference to the debate about women addressing themselves as kings, thereby making it obvious that she was referencing Annie’s viral video.
The ex beauty queen in her post, explained the meaning of feminism and advised people to look at more critical issues regarding feminism instead of petty debates about who should address themselves as ‘kings’ or ‘queens’, saying such titles are flimsy matters of personal choices really.
Ezinne’s post reads:
“For the record, each time you say you’re not a feminist, this is what you’re saying:
1. You do not believe that men and women should have equal access to rights and opportunities.
2. You support child marriage, female genital mutilation and the re-victimisation of rape victims.
3. You are comfortable with earning less than your male colleagues for doing the same work.
4. You believe boys should have better access to education because girls belong in the other room.
5. You are comfortable with being asked to choose between your work and pregnancy or being refused employment because you are pregnant.
6. You are sexist and a patron of patriarchy.
(E.t.c)
If anything above offends you, then I hate to be a bearer of bad news but you are a feminist. (At least until the word evolves to equalist, or humanist or something)
You might refuse to label yourself a feminist because you are scared of being disliked or perceived as angry or maybe you just don’t understand the movement at all but,
FEMINISM is simply the belief that men and women should have equal access to rights and opportunities. It is the freedom of choice, a choice to live and become whoever you choose to be! Marriage is such very tiny aspect of this entire conversation, but somehow, every time the subject of feminism comes up, that is all we seem to think about.
Plus just when we think we are moving forward, we wake up to debates about whether or not women should address themselves as kings or queens(personal choice really). We have far greater issues as evidenced by the inexhaustive list above, can we please refrain from arguing on this level?
Yes, yes we have our culture and we know that these ‘anti feminist’ beliefs are based on traditions but maybe it’s time to sit down and ask ourselves if these beliefs are still valid, given the evolution of civilisation.
But pray tell, What does feminism mean to you honestly?
