WHY WOMEN ARE LIKE CRABS IN THE BUCKET

Pulling Each Other Down

How many times have you heard how safe it was to approach the males in an establishment before the females? You are warned how Mrs. Y is such a wicked woman whose highest point in a day is snarling and talking down at people. When you think that the people who have issued this warning are just meddling busybodies who hate Ms. Y and then go ahead to try to discover for yourself the angel that these “busybodies” might have missed in their “unfair” assessment  you discover to your shock and horror that the “busybodies” were right and Mrs. Y is the most horrible human walking the side of your planet. You are even more surprised to find out that Mr. Z who is Mrs. Y’s superior is far more approachable and willing to help with your problems. I have been in this situation several times and every time I come out of it, I am plagued by the singular question – why? 

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MALALA AND THE BURDEN OF THE FEMALE CHILD

It was a hot Wednesday afternoon and I had to make a short visit to my bank on Herbert Macaulay Way Yaba. It was about a new account and my first stop was at the enquiry desk just three steps away from the security doors. The smiling customer service officer, a young soft spoken woman in navy blue skirt suit was already busy with a young couple and their two children, so I stood a few inches away from the desk and waited.

Within minutes of standing there, I saw that the couple were there to open an account for one of their children. Judging from their physical appearance, this was clearly not a rich couple and I being impressed by the fact that the man sitting in his faded white shirt and holding on to the arm of the little girl standing beside him while his wife held their little baby in her arms, was thinking of securing the future of his children.

“So what is her name?” The customer service lady asked, pen poised over paper and looking expectantly at the man before her.

“Ah, no ma,” the man says with a sheepish grin. “No be for her, na for him.”

I was just as confused as the customer service lady. Him? I thought to myself, wondering if I heard the man right.

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Defining Feminism As An Expression Of Femininity

I never thought I would be revisiting this topic anytime soon. This is one topic I am guilty of over flogging, and for my friends, I have gone a step further to kill the subject. I plead guilty, but I am tempted to revive the subject again to clear the air on what I believe are desperate attempts to talk women out of their beliefs or what they recognize as an ideology that gives them freedom. I am one of those feminists who have had to explain times without number what feminism is all about to my male friends, and while understanding their narrow perception of what feminism is all about, I find the constant need by African men to brow beat feminists over their beliefs as unnecessary bullying. To say most African men still hold on to the picture of the 60s style feminism that swept the West is to speak the absolute truth. They see the era of hard faced women brandishing placards and burning brassieres as the whole essence of true feminism, and that is far from the truth. The era of militant feminism is as old as the first computer designed by man.

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Breast Cancer And The Young Nigerian

To say cancer is a killer disease will be stating the obvious. Until recently, most Nigerians have viewed this disease as exclusive to the West or in another case to the wealthy of the society. It is this misconception that has made people to adopt a carefree attitude in relation to the dangers of this disease. The fact that Nigeria is still a developing country with inadequate healthcare facilities and doctors that misdiagnose more than they cure contributes to this problem. Cancer is not a new disease and neither is it a rich man's disease. There have been sufferers who come from poor backgrounds but due to ignorance, missed an early diagnosis of the disease and in some cases attributed it to the handiwork of vengeful supernatural entities. While there are many forms of cancer, I shall be focusing on breast cancer for the purpose of this article.

Now a little about breast cancer. There are two types of breast cancer. The non invasive and the invasive cancer.

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