As a little girl, I knew and understood what gender inequality
was even when no one explained it to me.
I was always whisked away into the kitchen to learn how to
cook, not because it was a necessary life hack or skill to survive, but because I
will become a woman that will get married someday and will be expected to cater
to my husband and children.
It made me hate cooking because my brothers were left to play
all the time. I was flogged and punished if I don’t get to stay in the kitchen
and learn from my mother.
It took me moving out of my family house and living alone to
like and enjoy cooking. It became clear to me that I was being kind to myself
and taking care of my health by taking out time to cook the things I loved.
I also remembered how I got beaten and was stopped from
playing football because I sustained an injury on my leg. I was told that I was
a girl and didn’t need injuries on my leg because it would spoil my leg and
make me unattractive.
I wasn’t also allowed to go outside the house because I was a
girl and a girl is supposed to stay at home and do domestic chores. Well, thank
God it helped me learn cleanliness and organisational skills.
One day everybody grew up to the realisation that being just
a girl isn’t enough for survival. It took a lot of unlearning to understand
that being a girl is much more than what was ascribed to her.
In the following years, I started living alone, pursuing my
career, purpose and living life on my terms. Everyone around me is beginning to
understand the importance of what a girl really is and how much she can
accomplish if uncaged and left to fly her wings.
They ones who once wanted me confined now wants the sky to be
my starting point. They want me to soar and reach any destination I want. This
is how a girl should be. She should be allowed to live her full potential and
experience life because she is much more important in the society like her counterpart.
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