OPINION 6: Are Girls Still Better Than Boys?
I love childhood so much because it brings out the real person in every individual. Sometimes, it's not too memorable for some of us because of certain experiences but we can say that we performed the most cringe-worthy actions in childhood. Just recently, I learnt about the types of risk-takers with respect to farmers but I'd like to apply it here. Children can be risk neutral - this means that they pay no attention to the risks involved and take actions.
It's funny how we did the most unthinkable things with no shame or worry of the many eyes watching us. It is also funny how adulthood is a literal continuation of childhood; let's call it "advanced childhood". Many kinds of actions performed in adulthood are replicas of those in childhood polished with some grammar and maybe a little bit of "swagger". Among these is the ever-present debate of "Girls are better than boys".
I'm sure that 80% of Nigerian children have witnessed the debate and/or taken part in it. The topic of the debate was a very popular one and is still in use. As at last week, I checked my nine year old sister's composition school book and I saw an argumentative essay on the topic "Girls are better than boys". Needless to say, it contained all the elements girls always used to overpower the boys but the humor in the essay was overwhelming. I laughed so hard because the essay showed that times had changed and children of this generation are smarter than we think. Here's the point: The debate topic lives on but the points change. In fact, the debate spills over to adulthood but here, it takes a whole new turn.
Before I explain further, I've noticed something about adulthood- the "gra gra" is too much. Gra gra is a Nigeria slang. According to www.urbandictionary.com, gra gra means "Someone being arrogantly impatient, pretense of bravery, bravado, stubbornness or unrelenting". People don't have patience or, as our generation calls it: "chills" (they got no chills). It's so alarming to see how mountains are made from mole hills these days; a particular issue is raised and in a short space of time, thousands of people are at logger heads with one another. Although, there are issues that call for reasonable action but even these issues are met with the "no chills" reactions - reacting without thinking.
Moving forward, what exactly are we fighting for as girls and boys? Are we still fighting over who's better? Or has God made a mistake to create two kinds of human beings? I support change when it is positive and I love ideas that encourage all of us together. It isn't that a particular gender is better than the other but the idea is that the female gender has gotten a most undeserved treatment. It's quite true that the females undergo a lot of terrible things; thank God people have spoken up and fought for us but now, a lot of people have really extreme opinions and may have forgotten what exactly it is we're striving for.
First, I want you to have it in mind that everyone deserves love. This may even be the root of our problems because love is pure and would never want to hurt anyone. Who are you? You're first a human, a creation of God and one who shouldn't discriminate. The main issue is discrimination and as you may have seen for yourself, discrimination leads to hate. The female gender has been discriminated based on generalized physical abilities and misinterpretation of doctrines of religion. Therefore, we are fighting for EQUAL RIGHTS and FAIR TREATMENT. I think that's most reasonable enough.
Now, here's the plot twist. Some females go out of their way to make it obvious they're in this fight. They are the preachers of war, the liquid metal, the Indabosky of our time. They intentionally disrespect and hurt males who don't even deserve it. Now, I'm not talking of people who have been hurt because we all know that "hurt people hurt people" (the first hurt is an adjective and the next is a verb). It can be hard to forgive for hurt people and they find themselves pouring out their hurt on others unintentionally. Now, these particular set of females I'm talking about are overeducated, sorry to say, and want to be noticed especially in the social sphere using the media for advertisement of their unreasonable actions. Please, it's enough. There's so much going on in this world and extremely misplaced priorities shouldn't be added to our problems.
Do remember that we are all humans. Boys have feelings and they also have problems. What's to say that they haven't gone through unspeakable things too? Being over-exploited because of their generalized physical abilities or hardened because of their assumed emotional state. One of the statements I love about boys is "Boys cry too". It's so simple yet it speaks volumes.
What am I saying in essence? Am I supporting boys or girls? Well, I'm for humans. You're my brother, you're my sister. We're all together in this race and if you decide to discriminate, then I'll be sure to protect others from your ideologies. If God puts it in your heart to help a particular gender for whatsoever reason, do it with all sincerity and purity of heart, not necessarily condemning the other gender to prove your point. Prove it to yourself that you matter and you deserve love as a male or female, and even as a human. Fight your fight honourably because we all don't need to see dirty lining hanging out here.
More so, I think that it is best to think carefully before we air opinions on delicate issues such as this. There are many who need just a word to cross over to the world of insanity. As we always say: There's a thin line between sanity and insanity.
On a lighter note, hunger is no respecter of gender. Poverty is no respecter of gender. Sickness is no respecter of gender. The sun and moon don't care about your gender- they'll shine over you no matter what. Do you get the idea now? All really is vanity but be sensible about how you live this vanity.
In conclusion: I support humans. I support boys. I support girls. I support LOVE. I support RESPECT for all. Boys matter. Girls matter. We all matter.
ADEDEJI EBUNOREOFE
