Beyonce drops her much anticipated album Lemonade and as expected patriarchy comes with various theories and analogy to undermine the work of a female. It’s ironic that it takes a female like Beyonce to make a few realise the role males have played in defining the female perspective and the manner in which females perceive issues raised in the arts.

African cultures and customs have had this unreasonable expectation that women need to protect the black man. Oddly enough for decades females have been subjected to horrific acts of abuse and in turn they are expected to protect these black men. Women have been killed, raped, sexualised, objectified and expected to play a predetermined role of subservience. Remember when Kola Boof went on what was called a “wild tangent” and she was expected, by a male President, to protect the same black man who she called out for his infidelity? Remember how many vindicated her for sharing her tales that depicted the dark side of black males? Remember that? To the few who seem to have forgotten it’s hilarious to see how selective your memory is when chances are you chastised her. Females have always been expected to play unreasonable roles and to be superficial beings in protection of a male figure that did nothing more than break down every molecular fibre to ensure male dominance reigned supreme. Religion further perpetuates this notion of subservient behaviour and the objectifying of women. Remember Jezzabel? The female who, according to interpretations of the bible, was deemed a whore for seducing a male. The female who’s narrative is unknown but because of this male need to dominate, she had her narration told to ensure that females were kept in line. The same female that is used to essentially tell women how to behave and to fear ever being likened to her.

I’m sure certain males, if not all, will call me another bitter, angry black female who is reiterating a tired narrative. It doesn’t bother me what you say but you will read this. You will read this and remember the same girl you called a slut, whore and all sorts of other derogatory terms, is not yours to own. You do not own her essence and her entire being. You do not have the right to view any female like a sexual object. You do not have the right to chastise any female irrespective of what they have done. Remember how you callously said you loved her under false pretense for a fuck? You took her value from her because you have ridden on the gravy train of male privilege! There I said it! We are too preoccupied with black and white privilege and whether the two exist yet we are oblivious to issues pertaining to females and the dynamics of womanhood. Crime statistics alone scream we have a problem but no one seems to resonate with that reality. Females are not exempt either.

There are females who sit and sell their own to appease the same man who will slut shame her tomorrow. Females will blindly fuel the male agenda to fit into patriarchal society yet they will be disposed of the next day… But I’ll save those thoughts for a follow up!

Article By Sanelisiwe Owethu Ntabeni (Check out her Blog ‘Tales Of Another Black Woman‘)

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