Time for women to take control and make the ‘impossible’ possible

WOMEN’S Month is here and celebrations, workshops, talk shows, fashion shows and other events are at full steam.

But behind all these scenes at play, there is pain, teary eyes, hurt and betrayal of one woman by another. Let me be blunt: The majority of women in this country inflict pain on one another just for the fun of it at times.

While many are looking to celebrate being women, many more are rushing to court to defend themselves against other women who are causing havoc in their lives.

Women are smart, hard workers; they are in the majority; they hold better positions than men collectively, but are bad strategists compared to men but good ones compared to one another. Powerful women who occupy good positions sometimes use their positions to oppress other women.

I am not advocating for women to stand together to dethrone men. No, men dethroned themselves a long time ago. The throne is there for the taking.

I am reminding women that they are holding the deciding vote. I am reminding them that they marched to the Union Buildings on August 9, 1956, as a united front in difficult times.

What happened to that unity of 20 000 women? The conditions are ripe for women to march to the Union Buildings again, this time to take control. But for that to happen, certain things need to be put into perspective.

Women need to be reminded about their strength. They need to be reminded that they have a powerful voice in the public and private sector.

Good talk-show hosts in this country are mostly women. A significant number of women hold senior positions in the government, academia and the corporate world.

Having said all this, there are two impediments to women’s success, and these need to be dealt with by women themselves. The first is that women don’t need any validation from men about their capabilities. The second is women should celebrate each other’s achievements all the time.

Nelson Mandela once said: “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” Having a black man as president seemed impossible when apartheid was at its strongest.

Having a woman president in this day and age is inevitable; it is a walk in the park because there is an abundance of good women in this country.

Pretoria