Faith and Feminism

For some time now I've been soul-searching, trying to understand who I am, what I stand for and what my values are.

I'm a Christian and I believe in the word of God and the instructions on how to live our lives. I genuinely believe that those instructions are how I should live my life.

I believe Jesus Christ died, was buried and rose again so that I and the whole world might be saved from the power of sin and Satan. I believe in everything Christ died for on that cross. My life's purpose is to know Him and make Him known to everyone around me.

On the other hand, I also strongly believe that women have it "different", I would have said harder, but I choose to refrain from using that word because both men and women have their individual struggles, I believe and making it seem like the lives of women are harder invalidates the unique struggles that men have in this world.

What I'm trying to say now is, I used to own being a feminist. To me, a feminist was someone who believed in and fought for equal social and economic rights for women. I was indeed very passionate.

I saw the pain that women continually went through just because they were women. Little girls in certain parts of the world are being deprived of their rights to education, and married off to men old enough to be their fathers. Women are treated like lesser human beings and suffer many injustices. 

My passion for feminism also stemmed from my experience of what it is to be a woman in our world and most especially Nigeria. 

To me, it meant being uncomfortable when I stepped out of my house. Being constantly aware of what I was wearing and how my body was perceived by men.

It was being nervous about catcalls made in marketplaces or being grabbed by a marketman while I walked through the stalls. 

It was being extremely afraid that if I didn't give this man who made me uncomfortable my number, something terrible would happen to me.

It came from being the best student in my class and having constant questions as to why the boys weren't doing as well.

It was so many things to be honest, but I guess I'll stop there.

As I grew older and used social media more, I began to see how people talk about feminism and how it was evil and ungodly. I was utterly confused. How could this ideal be evil? How was wanting men and women to be treated equally bad? I couldn't understand it.

I also saw how many Christian women who I looked up to talked about how feminism was destroying marriages and how opposed they were to the idea of it. They'd make statements like, "I'm not a feminist." What did that even mean?

I thought all women wanted to be feminists, to be free of oppression.

This made me question my stance on Christianity. Did it mean that a person couldn't be a Christian and a feminist at the same time? Would it be a sort of hypocrisy to call yourself those two things simultaneously? Are they saying a feminist could not be a submissive wife? Can I still be a feminist and please God at the same time?

I'm not so sure anymore. 

There are so many unanswered questions in my head. It would take a bit more introspection and deep thinking to find an answer. For now, I'm relying on the Holy Spirit for better understanding.

 I'm just thinking aloud. What do you think? Can feminism and Faith have seats at the same table?

I honestly hope to write here more.

Anyway, a new government is coming in tomorrow. I pray for the best for our dear nation Nigeria.

Have a lovely week!

 

2023 Tagline; DISCIPLINE

 It's 2023!!!!!!!😁😁😁😁🎉🎉🎉🎉🎇 

Happy New Year Unicorns! 

    I'm super elated to see what this new year brings. I've never been this excited for the new year before now. I'm full of hope and very expectant of the various accomplishments coming my way. 

    Last year was a roller-coaster many highs and a few lows, but despite that, I'm super grateful for everything I experienced in 2022. Last year was not a year I accomplished much and if I am being honest, it was a result of being lax, undisciplined and very much complacent. If you remember I made a post in February about goals and how to bring them to fruition, but even with that, I failed to achieve most those goals😩😩Looking at it critically, the problem was nothing other than my lack of discipline and dedication. Also, I had no plan or program on how to achieve my goals. In order to avoid that this year, I have chosen and decided that my personal theme for the year 2023 is🥁🥁🥁 DISCIPLINE.

    Discipline is the gap between where you are and where you want to be. It is doing what needs to be done in spite of what you feel. Discipline is self-control, and most importantly it is putting your body under subjection. Discipline is doing what you hate in order to achieve what you love. 

    So, this year 2023, I am making discipline my new name. For everything I want to accomplish this year, discipline is required. My spiritual growth, academics, skill development, my writing, music, relationships, eating habits and physical well-being all demand a high level of discipline and commitment. 

I'll leave you with this quote I saw recently:

 "Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments."

I cannot wait to see all the things we would do this year as we become more disciplined individuals. 💖

Thank you for reading and have a wonderful 2023! 

This Circus; Nigeria

 It's another blog post, Unicorns! Thank you for always reading. It's always a delight to write here and get positive feedback from y'all.

I've wanted to write a blog post for about a week, but my ideas had not aligned properly. There were so many things jumbled up in my head, and there was no clarity on what I wanted to achieve by writing here. All I knew was that I wanted to write, and now that I have something I'm boiling to express, I'm here.

From the title above, I'm sure you've gotten a hint about this blog post. I'm here to vent and SCREAM through the letters I'm typing.

Nigeria has constantly been serving us breakfast for a couple of months now. The total disregard for its people and the nonchalant attitude of this current administration is appalling and unacceptable. From the 6 months strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU) to the insecurity all over the country to our dwindling currency and the high cost of living due to the rapid inflation occurring in the country. How can the supposed "giant of Africa" have an alarming inflation rate of about 18 per cent and increase? How can the Naira keep diving and diving constantly daily? Please explain to me how supposed bandits are terrorising the nation's capital city, killing and kidnapping average Nigerians and holding them for a ransom.

Despite all these things, what shocks (in the infamous words of our president) me the most is that the president of our dear nation is oblivious to the daily suffering of the Nigerian people. A retired general of the Nigerian Army cannot take hold of the security of his capital; it completely blows my mind. Even our general assembly members have gone on a 6-week break to escape the security situation in Abuja. 

I can't even begin to understand how the CBN governor ran for president, lost at the primaries and still has his job today. This same man has come up with many laughable policies to combat the financial crises we are passing through, and yet the Naira is 710 to a Dollar, and there is a scarcity of forex in the nation.

At this point, I'm just so concerned about the ordinary Nigerian grinding and working to have daily bread, provide for their families and basically survive😩😩

I think I can exhale now. Naija will go beta, but only if we can elect the right people into government in our upcoming 2023 general elections. Tomorrow is the deadline to register to get your PVCs; please do so if you haven't, mbok.

Beyond all of these, we need God to make a way for us. We must constantly pray and intercede for this nation. I particularly love this verse in Romans 8:18 that says the pain you have been feeling cannot compare to the joy that is coming. I personally pray that this verse shall be our testimony as a people in the 2023 elections. Amen!

Thank you for reading, I love you!