Becoming A Gender Activist.

“You are too young. You are uneducated. No one will listen. You don’t have nearly enough influence,” they said.

There is more to activism than just supporting movement, activists are not only tasked with maintaining their own will to fight against what feels like insurmountable odds, you must inspire others to join in. Activism is not paid or career work. It is heart work. Many are doing the work on top of full-time jobs, parenthood, school and other day-to-day realities and it can be exhausting. For me, I got into this gender activism after experiencing some stereotype threats in my field of study. These gender stereotypes have effects in a girl's performance and interest in certain subjects. There is more increasing workplace diversity than just admitting more women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) careers. And the research shows that stereotypes regarding women’s capabilities in STEM also start affecting them long before they would ever consider a career.

In today’s society women are still restricted in their freedom through religious and cultural norms, taboos, and behavior and clothing restrictions. As well as development through denied or substandard education and inescapable poverty. Women are also restricted mentally through the promotion of immaturity and self-debasement and the imposition of a stereotypical image of femininity. Restrictions also affect their dignity through representation in the media, in advertising, and in pornography as well as bodily integrity through the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM), which occurs thousands of times a day in large parts of the world. Every day women are victims of gender-specific forms of violence around the world and this may be due to the supposed inherent inferiority of females.

Allow me to introduce to you, “A little too African,” a feminist founded in 2018 with the aim to promote education amongst women and make a life without gender-based discrimination, violence, and exploitation possible. I not only focus on the female as a being but all matters related to femininity thus gender related issues, race related issues and sexual orientation related issues.

Due to my current work load with my studies I found social activism favorable as social media has revolutionized the way we communicate and is a powerful tool for most activists. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube… whatever your social media platform of choice, there are tons of connections made with individuals and organizations that share the same values and goals as I do. Gracefully with time I do hope to make the most of this feminist movement through networking with like-minded people, I believe this will help strengthen my cause and will benefit from their camaraderie, support and knowledge.

One of the reasons I love social activism is FEEDBACK, both positive and negative, is very helpful. Feedback is valuable information that I use to make important discussions. Every time we communicate amongst each other we communicate feedback. In actuality, it’s impossible not to give feedback. I always try to understand the person giving feedback and see things from their point of view. Mostly people mistake feedback for criticism. In fact, what is viewed as negative criticism is actually constructive criticism and is the best find of feedback that can help to formulate better decisions to improve and increase performance. I make an effort to invest time in asking and learning about how others deal with particular experiences and this helps me develop and improve relationships with my audience.

Feel free to visit me on my Instagram page! Feel free to follow me, @alittletooafrican.

Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong…it is time that we all perceive gender on a spectrum not as two opposing sets of ideas.