Opposition hypocrisy on women’s rights exposed
Most male opposition supporters on social media are die-hard sexists, who see no intellectual hope in women.
WITH the opposition politicians making unsubstantiated noise about democracy and human rights in Zimbabwe, it is incumbent to put them to a democracy test in order to find out if they practise what they preach.
Since the subject of human rights is broad and cannot exhaustively be covered in the given space, this writer would like to focus on scrutinising women rights in the opposition.
No better platform availed itself to this interrogation than the social media, where most people, in a jinx of emotions, would unintentionally lose their guard and unwittingly expose their true self.
As an animated social media participant, this writer found the study to be much easier than anticipated.
The question to be answered is whether opposition leaders and their followers are upholding women’s rights in their parties or on social media?
The first part of the question has a ready answer since female politicians such as Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga are bitterly bemoaning the unbelievable lack of gender equality in opposition parties.
Of recent note is the barefaced sidelining of women in filling leadership positions in the loose opposition coalition dubbed the MDC Alliance.
Misihairabwi-Mushonga was not the only one to raise a red flag on the matter, but other women in the opposition circles registered their displeasure, with MDC-T co-Vice President Thokozani Khupe taking a more belligerent route of silently distancing herself from the stillborn alliance.
Khupe’s move did not go down well with her principal, Morgan Tsvangirai, who is said to have immediately deployed a rag tag of hoodlums, who cowardly manhandled and pummelled her together with her sympathisers.
For a party that claims to be promoting human rights, this incident spectacularly tore the veil of democracy to reveal the mean and undemocratic self it is. Worse still, Tsvangirai continues to behave like an alpha-male, who treats women as second class citizens created for his sexual gratification.
His despicable sexual flings are all on public record, hence calling such a person a democrat would be misleading and a charade.
Against such an appalling backdrop in opposition parties, it came as no surprise that the majority of opposition activists on social media are toeing the same line of undermining women’s rights. Most of them do not tolerate women who deliberately stray into the realm of political debates, particularly if they hold divergent views.
Most male opposition supporters on social media are die-hard sexists, who see no intellectual hope in women.
Any attempt by women to join debates on trending political or economic matters are rabidly met with condescending and dehumanising comments.
A saddening example I encountered on Twitter is that of ZBC news anchor, Rumbidzayi Takawira, who was savagely attacked for simply submitting her views on a trending debate on the newly created Ministry of Cyber Security, Threat Detection and Mitigation.
In the midst of negative reviews against the ministry, Takawira harmlessly tweeted that, “it’s sad how people actually don’t understand the impact of cyber crime or what cyber security is.”
This decent comment attracted a volley of expletive responses and sexual innuendos directed at her.
One of the infamous social media misogynists calling himself Matigari avariciously pounced on her, calling her all sorts of degrading names.
In one post Matigari said, “in any case, she (Takawira) is famous for sleeping her way thru to that newsdesk, so I guess she is aiming higher now. Everybody at ZBC apedza naye.”
He was joined by a motley of his cheerleaders, who also threw in their sexist comments against Takawira. One of the goons calling himself King Goodhope Mataya gleefully said, “so it’s true that if a woman has no brains it’s the private parts that suffer!”
All this vitriol was aimed at silencing Takawira, whose only crime was to dare join a political debate as a woman.
To opposition activists on social media, this is anathema as women should spend time in the “kitchen”, discussing social issues, rumours and beauty tips gleaned from daily tabloids and magazines.
To them the area of politics and other “serious” matters is the domain for men and a no go area for women.
Similarly, opposition leaders are also actively involved in stifling the voice of women on social media. This writer was swiftly and cowardly blocked by MDC-T co-Vice President Nelson Chamisa and former advisor to Tsvangirai, Alex Magaisa, who both could not stomach being challenged by a woman on social media.
This behaviour gives women a foretaste of what is to come if the opposition ever comes into power.
If women are presently disparaged for simply discussing politics, what more would they bear under an opposition government? They will definitely be consigned to the “kitchen” and not be allowed anywhere near the corridors of power.