 Equality is human. Speak. Ever wondered why, as a woman, you have encountered situations where your voice has been threatened or forced into silence. That's because your voice is your power. True, women are empowered. What type of empowerment are we talking about? Financial, isn't it? Tremendous work has been done to get women financially empowered. But with your money, as a woman, even then, your voice is shut down a lot. Remember going to the market and being grouped, but can't really say anything, try to assert yourself, and your family shoots you down because of your gender. As the first born, pass over for the next male sibling because you're a woman. Try to speak up, protest, or stand your ground and you are shut out with words like trouble maker, a shower, prostitute. Or statements like, you are a trustee woman, I get your type for house. I bet the answer is yes. And you most likely felt powerless. True empowerment will be a woman literally using her voice to determine and control her life choices. What exactly do I mean by your voice, the sound of you? When you find your voice, you don't find something new. Instead, you find a little more of you. You find a little more freedom to speak, express, and let yourself be heard. When you speak, are you listening to, heard or seen? Yes, right? So why the need to find and harness your voice? Because as a woman, we are generally dismissed on the basis of our gender. Therefore, we're actually not seen, heard, listened to, or respected. The most important thing to consider is, what are the fallacies? And what are those voices that keep you from speaking? If you don't feel free to speak, and many of us don't, those fallacies need to be told and the lies within them challenged. What were you wearing? Why did you scream louder? Are you sure you didn't enjoy it? Ah, that's why you haven't found your husband. No one will marry you. Women are not allowed to speak here. You are a woman. What do you know? Keep quiet when men are talking. Can't you control your wife? Women are shamed into silence. It is shrinking themselves. Being you comes with consequences, especially if you don't conform to society standards of who it says you should be. Even in the bedroom, a woman's voice is muted. I'm not allowed to express myself sexually. I can't say what I want done to me or what I would like to do. I can't dress to express my sensuality. I can't speak my truth. The search and enjoyment of Big O. If I have sex with 10 men, I can get pregnant only once. While he can impregnate a whole village, yet I am the one with the burden of using contraceptives. How did you get pregnant? We're not alone. We are left alone with the dilemma during men's cause. Body being betrayed by nature literally not considered a woman anymore or cast aside for a younger woman. I'm shut up on the premise that I cannot give birth, should not have desires anymore and therefore not entitled to natural desires. These issues seem insurmountable. But to be a whole human being, we must find our voices and speak up courageously even in the bedroom. It isn't going to be easy or Rome wasn't built in a day. So the next time you are asked what were you wearing? Clothes. What do you know you answer with the knowledge instead of shrinking? Over to you guys. Oh my goodness. Like literally spoke half of my heart. I practically jumped out or right on her back as she finished talking. But I just wrote down in my notebook this week that the power to say no you're right to say no. And this interestingly I realized that for a lot of women you know how they say can a husband rape his wife, can a woman even in a relationship it's almost difficult sometimes for you to say no. I want to say no to you. When she said talking about all things were shrinking ability not to be able to be ourselves to accept ourselves for who we are men of course, many things and the part about being cast aside for a younger woman you know when we were discussing before the program I said why is that the issue of competition why do you think so those things those narratives that have been sold to us and I'm like look you know what the meaning women say you know what so you think that when I as a younger man or you as a young woman think that I will now come and just rubbish me like you but I'm going to deal with you trust me men will start thinking twice when we are when we're each other's friends and when we're standing up for each other so when you're when you're saying no and someone is asking you where do you want him to go I'm wondering what of all the times you didn't want how is that even how is that even something to ask where do you want him to go hahaha awesome do you understand what I'm saying and yes you're right comfort I mean we've been made to shrink over time where again we've been shamed into believing that even the natural things that come to us as women announcing and so much weakness and because we're again fighting to be seen we're fighting to be heard we're almost having to suppress that innate thing that makes us women but I want to compete in the corporate world and I have to dress like a man I have to wear those power suits and just lose my femininity I can't want to go into a bank I mean see yours meeting and wear nice floral dress and just look nice no I have to conform and look like a man we just have to change the narrative I think I mean if we talk about all these barriers and things there's so many things that each one of us at different time can just identify as things that we've gone through and I think it's such a crying shame that even at this time with all the things that women bring to the table we're still we're still being silenced you know I was just talking while everyone was talking the theme of this IWD for 2022 is breaking the bias so in my head I'm saying how can we actually break the bias because everything comfort had mentioned there are things that a lot of women are familiar with some might be familiar with it more than others but at different places you've actually experienced some form of bias or stereotypes so I'm thinking in my head okay we may not necessarily I mean we can change what is happening in the present but I'm also thinking for the future the younger ones coming on ground how you groom your children I'm blessed to have great parents and from my family are all girls one thing I know my father drilled in our heads was that you are as good as a guy you're not worse than a guy you're not less than a guy you are as great as a guy so don't let anybody tell you otherwise and that sort of pushed every one of us to actually achieve the best we can not every female has had that kind of you know affirmations while we were growing up so it's important that even as we raise up our kids and as we mentor people we also teach them and let them understand that they are not limited because they are females even because you are married you can still go ahead to do as much as you want to do may I just say something though I'm thinking where are these men coming from they are not aliens someone raised them so do we as women again then take responsibility for the fact that how are we raising our sons because these people are very behavioural they learn to believe that women are inferior women are less than so do we have a responsibility to take as women to say maybe we are dropping the ball somewhere I disagree actually I don't just think it's a bad thing because I think over time you are saying something I agree with you around the conversation that yes we are dropping the ball but it looks as if we are even going further and dropping the ball now and raising the girls now honestly I really don't know where we are going to see the next generation but as we said we are here to break the bias and the bias here is that somehow women are less than guys but everyone is a human being we should start by looking at both genders first as human and if we look at them as human man which is the cause is right for the woman which is the standard before we round up I actually wanted to say something on what she just mentioned because I feel like over the years we have actually placed the responsibility solely on women I believe that if a guy is able to show examples to his sons they are going to learn better that this is a way to treat a woman she is equal she is less than you but that guy again must have been raised by his mom who has shown him that I know we shouldn't say raised by the mom because obviously parenting is a two way there is mom and dad we have seen that the raising is usually left to the mom isn't it for a man who grows up seeing that example in his home of his father affirming his mom maybe he would be able to show that to his daughters but if you are growing up in that environment where mom is just subjugated she is not heard she is only seen then that is all you know and that is what you are going to do isn't it equality is human women please speak your truth truth is after the break