"A few years back if you asked me if I resonated with the term feminism, I’d have told you point blank that it was an agenda for women who hated men.

I’d have said you can fight for women without terming it feminism. Then I heard Chimamanda Adichie say this:

#UnbowedVoices

“Some people ask: “Why the word feminist? Why not just say you are a believer in human rights, or something like that?”

Because that would be dishonest. Feminism is, of course, part of human rights in general—

but to choose to use the vague expression human rights is to deny the specific and particular problem of gender.

It would be a way of pretending that it was not women who have, for centuries, been excluded. It would be a way of denying that the problem of gender targets women”.

That helped to shape my reasoning. Yes, all humans suffer but a particular gender suffers more. Hence, there is a need for concentrated efforts to help women attain equality.

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So if you ask me what I mean when I say equality- I’m saying Lara deserves to go to school as much as Lolu does, if Ngozi deserves the job, then her gender shouldn’t get in the way, everybody should do house chores, everybody should be treated with the same level of respect.

Another little win I still love was during my time at camp. Someone told me it was wrong for a woman to pay for things when a man is by her side. She is expected to squeeze the money into the man’s hand for him to pay.

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To handle this, I ensured that I paid for things boldly in front of my male friends that were from the area.

With a mix of humour and sternness, I gradually explained why their stance was pointless.

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I might not have been able to change them completely, but I planted seeds of change in them. Till date, they still refer to the experience.

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I have chosen to focus on this, though little, because it points out a key lesson—we have to help the society unlearn."

- Mosopefoluwa Okeowo ( @sope_o)
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Who is Mosopefoluwa? Read some her achievements here

#UnbowedVoices

#UnbowedVoices is a storytelling campaign that shares the stories of feminist women and why they believe in gender equality. It will run through March/April.

Read the previous story on #UnbowedVoices here:

http://orifunkelawal.com/tosin-akingba-unbowedvoices