Being feminist is not something you proudly speak of. Being brought up in a country where speaking about it is almost illegal, it is something that should be unheard because it goes against the laid down doctrines by the society from time immemorial. A society that degrades woman and rips them out of their humanity. Young girls from the age of twelve being forced into marriages and FGM, among other things. 

For a gender that is the source of life, for a gender that gives birth, women should be treated better. With respect. 

I can not bring myself to give birth and raise my daughter in a society that is so ill and depriving for a girl. Why do women have to be spat on? Excuse my tone, I am angry. An anger that has been burning in me for over two decades. 

Why do women have to be lesser?

A society where if a woman is told to lie on the ground, you fall immediately. 

If someone asks you to jump, you ask, how high?

You’re supposed to obey without protesting. Your voice is literally taken away from you. You have no courage, just fear. Afraid that something is going to happen at any time. 

Why should it be that in a room full of women and a single man, the man feels like a great Romeo. But in a room full of men and a single woman, the woman is scared.

Have you heard of freedom to movement? Well, that’s also taken away from women. I have been raised in a society where women can’t go out of the house as early as six in the evening. If you go, you go looking over your shoulder. Scared. Feeling vulnerable to rape, abuse, torture from the other gender. Why do women have to walk on tip toes any longer? I am scared to raise a scared daughter. I am scared that I might not find the right words to describe this ill society to her. I am scared that it won't end. From birth, to meeting small boys, to college, then to dealing with gender discrimination in work places. Sexual harassment, sexual abuse and everything that happens to a woman in their jobs. Being forced to make decisions between reporting a harassment to the Head of Department and losing a job or keeping quiet about it. 

But I promise you I will speak up against these things everyday, so that the next generation finds a better world. My fellow feminists and I.