Why women's attitude must be of emancipation and not empowerment.

Having recieved a substantial backlash from some brothers for my views on conformist African men, I thought that it is only fair that I attempt to level the playing field. Nevertheless, this article should not be taken as a digress from my previous position.

While it is imperative to reproach conformist African men for their iniquitous actions on women, ascribing sole blame on African men for the tribulations of African women is not completely fair. The quandary on who holds the ultimate responsibility lies not on the tyrants of gender injustice but on the erudite recipients of said injustice.

It is commonly said, especially in my field of criminal justice, "don't blame the victims". However, a victim is one who is powerless over her oppresors and in this particular case erudite recipients of injustice cannot really be termed as victims. As a matter of fact, African women and all women in general should be cautious on taking on a victim mentality. Accurately speaking, a victim mentality characteristically evolves to a pusillanimous mentality, which in turn empowers the oppressor instead of the "victim". This brings us to the debate on whether women empowerment is detrimental to the progress of women and whether we should actually use the term empowerment as opposed to emancipation. There is a formula to my madness.

Empower is synonymous to approve, authorize, allow or sanction while emancipation is synonymous to liberation, set free, deliver or unshackle. Subsequently when women seek empowerment they in retrospect ask men for permission to be free of injustice and gender discrimination. This in turn bolsters the tyrannical and imperceptive attitudes of conformist African men instead of working in favor of the women seeking gender equality. Ascetically speaking, emancipation demands rather than request relief. Women should never have to ask for what justly belongs to them.

In conclusion, this writer, implores progressive women to focus on emancipation rather than empowerment in curing the ills that plague oppressed women all over the world. A special note to women in muslim societies who suffer untold misery. An emancipation outlook sets the stage for battle against gender injustice and the violence against women. Bureaucratic figures need to be held responsible for non-enforcement of civil rights and women should use the tools they already possess to fight bigotry. Remember, there is no greater resource than human resource.