A gender activist’s worst nightmare

There are many significant days in our lives. We remember the moments our children were born, when we got married and for me, I will add one more sad day to this list. My sexist son anniversary, Saturday, 28 January 2011, when my three-year-old son shared his sexist views with the world will be one more day to commemorate.

This was a sad day indeed for a long-standing gender equality advocate. This will be my ninth year working at the Southern African regional non-governmental organisation, Gender Links (GL). No prizes for guessing what GL’s vision is, “… a region in which women and men are able to participate equally in all aspects of public and private life …”

My three year old told me that only he and his Dad could play with the water gun because they were boys. I was trying to FIX the thing. Beneath my summer tan, I went white with shock. My first instinct was to emulate a scene from a Bollywood movie and run through the streets beating my heart and lamenting my fate to the world.
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Source: Gender Links Opinion and Commentary Service