Womanhood

Deborah, the Game Changer

Sometimes even ‘woman’ is a label, a ceiling you have been given, and unless you see yourself beyond someone else’s notion and vision of what you are you will never grow beyond that. Unless you see ‘woman’ as warrior, leader, influencer, one that transforms - and transcends - the norm, unless you realise that even the smallest action she takes is powerful and transforming to those around her, unless she sees that in herself, she is in danger of being defined by the world around her.

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Chiratidzo Chiweshe

It’s Not Fair

Any girl with brothers, older or younger, can tell you that the rules of the house were different when it came to the boys in the household. There was something about being the girl child that felt very restrictive and much of the policing was reserved for us. It seemed terribly unfair. I would often say that my mother was paranoid. She was always asking numerous questions whenever I wanted to go somewhere. It meant that I was constantly denied permission to go places or do things. But, that’s what mothers do; they worry about their children.

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Zanele Mhlaba

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Women Artists Need Economic Independence Now!

In Ecclesiastes 3:7 King Solomon tells us that there is a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak. I believe the time we are living in demands that we tear instead of mend and that we speak instead of simply staying silent if we are going to change the status quo in our industry.

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Rewriting the Story for Zimbabwean Girls

For the past 6 months I have worked as an assistant grade 2 teacher at a local primary school. This means most of my days are spent listening to and teaching 8 year olds to read, as well as playing judge and jury to the many cases that arise between kids when there are 30 of them packed in one room together for about 6 hours daily. One of the perks of my job is knowing children’s books inside and out, books that most adults have probably forgot they have ever read; life lessons they probably don’t
remember learning.

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Women Empowerment - Keeping the Promise

I promise you I will come back with something to eat. I promise I will pay your school fees. I promise I will buy you a new uniform. I promise I will play with you. Overwhelmed with the many promises made they leave the house in search of fulfilling these promises. “I am the mother and father and I must fulfil my promise to these young kids. Their lives must be better than my own.”

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Women and Sexmatics

Humans by natural design are sexual beings. Both men and women require sexual gratification from each other. The dynamics of sexual exchange-like any other form of exchange in diverse relationships- involve expectations. This is to say when a person gives up their sexual rights to another they expect to receive something in return.

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Forever Young

Why is it hard for women to tell the truth about their weight, age and size? Recently I went to a photo shoot for Soul Magazine and I was asked the dreaded question, what’s your clothing size? I answered back, 36! Then came the day of the shoot where clothes were already chosen by the stylist, all a size 36.

The Pain and Joys of Womanhood

It all starts with pink ponies, pretty ribbons with delicate flowers, Barbie dolls, which suddenly changes when she becomes a woman. I watched the movie I do not know how she does it at the request of my friend Pam who wanted to know if it was exaggerated. To be honest I related to most of it because I go through the many roles – woman, wife, mother, sister amongst a few. I don’t recall going through training but it happened so naturally and then I realised why God created the woman and made her special. This is because he believed he had created a good thing.

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