Gentlemen, if a person ever tells you that there is equality, and that women are not your serfs, do not be furious or argumentative.
By Collins Wanderi
Read more articles by this author HERE.
Tell them in slow and soft words that women are not cows or goats to be sold and bought in a market and neither are they handicapped or underage dependents to receive or expect alms from another adult.
"Selling and buying of women in the name of culture or religion is a very outdated and oppressive practice to the male gender (boy-child)."
Worse still, these days a lot of MEN are paying heavily in the name of culture only to later discover they took home skunks; second-hand slayers, butchers or bimbos. Be wise!
Additional Reporting by Ndung'u Wa Gathua
In the African traditional society, dowry or bride price payment was supposed to be a token of appreciation to the girl’s parents but the same cannot be said of it today.
Dowry, as Captain Wanderi rightly observes, has been turned into an object of exploitation of young men by opportunistic elders who demand exorbitant amount of cash in bride price payment.
As a result, some young men after dowry ceremonies will go home to a negative bank balance that to some marks the beginning of wretchedness and endless misery.
This has prompted critics to question the essence of this whole dowry thing and why we should continue to hold on the centuries-old tradition in today's society where dynamics have changed completely.
In a recent article on The Nairobian, Roxanne, a Lifestyle columnist, ironically writes in parts:
“I will be damned if I ever put my future husband-to-be through this idiocy. Dowry objectifies women and perpetuates the belief that women are property owned by men.”
She adds: “In a society where men and women have equal rights and opportunities, bride price payment, is a primitive and absurd tradition that needs to die, it ought to have no place!”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Captain Collins Wanderi comments on socio-political and economic topical issues. Follow him on Facebook HERE.