We looked at the incidences in two of our schools in the recent weeks, and considered the implications for society, of an ‘enlightened’ and ‘liberated’ world, and the new responsibilities that should not be ignored . This week we bring the article to a close
- Modernity – We now live in a modern world that people are interpreting in many different ways as suit themselves. People are daring the established systems and that is good, if society changes for the better. In this instance, I don’t think the change is positively calibrated. Imagine if in 5 or 10 years, students of Queens College all show up with painted faces, miniskirts or bum-shorts, and bleached skin? Would that have been positive? So we have to think seriously about ‘modern’ things happening around us and know how to react to them. That QC girl is not new in the school. She knows the rules. But these days, children try to dare their parents, their schools, everything! If we demand strong institutions, we have to identify when such institutions come under attack, and resist, especially when they still appear to be working. Our country is this way today because of the culture of ‘anything goes’, especially in our public service. People dress anyhow, work anyhow, behave anyhow, and so we have an anyhow country.
- Sexuality – Following from the above is the matter of sexuality and perhaps this is the big one. The idea of fake eyelashes, fake hair, fake bum, fake nails, fake bra and fake everything is to enhance women’s sexuality. Well, many say it is to make them feel good about themselves. But we have to consider that we men are increasingly boxed into a corner and told to man up – as we have been. The body of knowledge on the reaction of man to women’s bodies and the impressions created by these enhancements is limited to the body anatomy of white women. If men are more responsive to visual stimuli, what do we do with say, the curves of our women, which is more ample that what white people have? At what time will some of our opinions make it into that body of knowledge? The QC girl enhanced her sexual desirability to school. What did she want to achieve? Women entice men but expect men to be quiet. This is not a sustainable expectation and though I am not justifying bad behavior on the part of men but women seem to be trying to totally dodge responsibility. In western countries we see where men are bottled up for so long, they decide to change their sexuality at 55 or 60 – ask Kim Kardashian’s father or is it her uncle?. We need to start discussing the granular issues. At what age is a typical girl aware of her sexuality and influence on the oldest and strongest of men? Has anyone seen any woman deploy her power of female attraction on a typical male (apologies Tina Turner)? Are wars not fought, won and lost on the power and allure of female attraction or the quest to win them? Why are we living in a world of deceit and denial today where all these kinds of issues are beyond boundary even in academic circles?
Why do some women go daggers-drawn anytime we speak about them accepting some responsibilities? Why are men being beaten down and psychologically castrated en masse? Why are men being depicted as the villains, the beasts, the aggressors, and any analysis that points in the direction of dissecting issues from a male perspective, is seen as anathema, archaic. Why do we never have associations that help the male specie through their problems, but the focus is now entirely one-sided? Does this not help the world to keep producing men who behave badly? If women believe they are winning, and extracting their pounds of flesh I think they are mistaken. Just yesterday I was in the same room when Dr Joe Odumakin said some women called her not to take up the issue of the lady lawyer who killed her husband. They said men have been killing women and it is now time – or is it okay – for women to also kill men. Well nothing one will not hear in a foolish world. But there is no gain in beating men down for past sins.
- Social media – On one hand, people blamed those who dared to share the picture of the eyelashes girl on social media, saying she will be traumatized. I believe that most people who dare the system so boldly that way are usually ready for the limelight. These days, many young people – and the not so young – live for social media, Instagram especially. Though I registered on it, but I see it takes so many people’s time and the content on it is hardly intellectual, just pictures and a lot of attention-seeking plus self-worship. Why for example was the Babcock girl staring so intently into the camera while engaging in raunchy, steamy sex with her colleague in a hospital? Is there no shame again because of social media? Or is no one learning at all that too many things make it to social media for the world to see, and so there is no point in recording your illicit actions except you are ready for blackmail, or are the blackmailer yourself?
I will leave it at these. There are many more implications to these sagas that challenge society. Overall, we must be able to discuss these issues from an intellectual perspective, to show that we are ready to take charge of our own history and future. We must not be led by the nose. We must know that our society is everyone’s responsibility, and that every right comes with a responsibility. We cannot ask for strong institutions on one hand, and court anarchy on the other. And something must be done, to review how fast people are maturing now, to synthesize that with what children are exposed to – hundreds of channels on TV, millions of pages on the internet, a more synthetic diet and much more – to understand that society has shifted remarkably and the arbitrary 18 years old to attain adulthood needs a reconsideration. Concluded
