Is Woman Empowerment a Hoax and Are We Falling for It?

Noemi:
There is talk of a “girl code” and there are clubs and societies dedicated to “sisterhood” but how do we identify and separate genuine woman empowerment to faux activism?

About a year ago I was disappointed to read a series of tweets from a young woman I follow on various social media platforms, about how she avoids working with and befriending women because she feels that women are “problematic”. This is a woman who has built and who coordinates an online platform that is supposedly built on and aimed at women empowerment.No matter how you put it, woman empowerment is (or should be) the act or support of empowering or elevating women and girls. When a woman speaks of or represents woman empowerment, it should mean that they are committed to uplifting other women, supporting other women, fostering relationships with other women and paving the way for other women to succeed.It is my opinion that the concept of woman empowerment needs an immediate and urgent rescue from the clutches of those who are misusing the movement. At the heart of woman empowerment lies the demand for a more robust global sisterhood.Another important aspect that needs to be examined is how inclusive is your Woman Empowerment. Who exactly are you empowering and are you leaving anyone behind?Is your Woman Empowerment an exclusive club for a certain type or class of women?

What is genuine Woman Empowerment?

I always say that a woman alone has power, but collectively we have impact. It is about learning then teaching, getting then giving. It’s about passing the baton and sharing the wisdom. It is about creating an enabling environment for the women next to you and those who come after you. There is enough space for all of us to thrive.

Lerato:
The phenomenon Woman Empowerment has existed for quite a number of years and extensive strides have been taken by women who firmly believe in this notion. From luncheons, conferences to taking a girl child to work and mentorship, you name it, women have done all they can in their power to foster a breeding ground for stern sisterhood that embodies support, emotional, mental and economic growth amongst many other essential values applicable to the empowerment of women.An interesting question arises however… amongst these great efforts to purport this phenomenon – are women genuinely for women empowerment or are they using it to look good in the eyes of the community and for the advancement of their respective brands? I believe this question to be one that hits home really hard and would obviously be subjective to every woman who supports woman empowerment. Personally, I have been an advocate at heart for everything that has to do with empowering the next woman, it started with very menial things to extremely major efforts which actually leave me with the most incredible, humbling feeling ever, and which actually in turn teaches me how to become a selfless human being and a better woman. So essentially, if one truly knows and understands what Women.

Empowerment is about and why it is necessary, I believe there would never be reason to seek approval or to do good deeds just to gain recognition from others, this phenomenon holds a really fulfilling feeling when practiced straight from the heart, and when the fruits of it start to ripen. Should it be an issue of doing it for brownie points, then self-introspection and evaluation would be critically necessary for one.Genuine woman empowerment, I firmly believe, can not only be directed at a specific “class of women”. What I mean by the latter is that every woman who as the power to empower another woman or the next group of women must absolutely do so without fear or favour in their calibre. From influential women, right down to those who live ordinary normal lives, do whatever you can, however you can to ensure that you leave the following woman skilled, loved, celebrated, enabled and empowered. Choosing who qualifies to be empowered defeats the whole purpose of this beautiful phenomenon. To be blunt and brutally honest, however, woman empowerment is effective and has been proven to take much more efficiency and effectiveness when extremely influential women take it upon themselves to provide career advancements, leadership positions and business and work opportunities to other women, which in effect is for the personal and economic betterment of woman empowerment as a whole.

What is genuine Woman Empowerment?

The kind of woman empowerment I carry out is versatile and varied. It ranges from mentoring high school girls, tutoring university students, undergoing community outreaches with a group of younger pupils, right up to mentoring and coaching pageant girls, giving etiquette classes and providing nail and make up services for free.Woman empowerment begins with any female willing to support and sacrifice for other women in efforts to create power in other individuals over their lives, society and communities. Let us as women transform each other, and ultimately the globe!