FEMI

It was on a cool breezy night
With no star found in the sky but a glorious moon
When the women gathered beneath it's grace
To wallow in their grief of suppression
Until a whirlwind rose and possessed them
That they started chanting feminine songs,
Thus summoning the feminine demons and gods -
It was on that night that Femi was birthed.

Femi told me she was born in an era
Where women had their tongues tied;
An era where they weren't allowed a voice;
An era where they'd been caged;
An era where a feminine squirm could end your life...
Femi told me it was for their freedom she was born;
That her destiny was tied to their release.

So Femi had come to change the times
When women were treated as nothing
But possessions to be owned;
Dough to be kneaded;
Puppets to be controlled.

Femi came strong and hard.
She established her kingdom and reigned.
Nothing the men did stopped her.
Femi was the Yaa Asantewaa of the then gold coast,
The Winnie Mandela of South Africa...
She was strong, brave & courageous,
With a courage that waged war on traditions and culture against women  -
Her strength fought and still fights this war.

But the sun is almost setting on that era
And bringing us to a new dawn.
A dawn where men silently cry for her
By constantly complaining about
How some women suck money out of their pockets,
With Femi harkening unto them
By constantly whispering in their ears
That traditional gender roles must change for their own good.

Femi knew touching tradition and culture was a taboo
But her dynamite was ready to break ancient rocks,
For gone are the days when man must be the sole provider
And going are the days when woman must be the sole nurturer.
Because if truly marriage is a partnership,
Then both genders must partner in every aspect -
Both genders belong to the kitchen
Bevause they both love to eat.

Man must cook as much as woman must provide,
Man must nurture and manage a home like a woman should...
But unfortunately their thinking has been clouded with culture and tradition
So much that men don't realize they're being cheated and left handicapped,
In an era where women are being taught to be both a man and woman; human,
While men still wallow in deceit of being more human than women because they're simply men
When in actual fact they are simply half human.
It baffles me to note that in recent times when it comes to virginity
We scream "To hell with culture"
But when it comes to being more than just a man culture must prevail
Such double standards

FEMI came to change norms;
To push humans to transform
Through a force called love.
That strange feeling that makes a woman wet at the sight of her man.
And by wet I mean willingly express trust,
And the keyword here is willingly.
You see, where there is love
There is no need to force submission
Because there will be natural transmissions
On both sides.
A transmission that should cause a man to equally submit
Because submission is not just an act of duty but an act of love,
And where there's love there's equal treatment.

Let us all surrender ourselves into Femi's hands.
The Akans will say Femi nsɛm
But the English say Feminism 
For she reigns well,
She reigns true,
She reigns justly.

©Akuvi Aguedze