Comments on: One step forward…two steps back

By: JP

JP — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 20:31:58 +0000

at what point did i say that it was ok for men to [s]bash[/s] sorry assault/murder women. I do not condone violence.

As for my point on the father, you draw up an assumption that he did nothing, or lead readers to draw up an assumption that he did nothing, here i was thinking that journalists had some code of conduct. i feel it was just slightly misleading/mischievous.

Your topic was on GBV, so i do not know how the women’s league came into your article. Considering that Mai Mujuru is the VP, and that the womens league and Government have come along in leaps and bounds to try ensure equal representation by women (for example, correct me if i am wrong but one position in the presidium is reserved for a woman, the acting president at the moment is mai mujuru), also parliament has quotas for women or is working on that, my memory is a bit fuzzy, so the point is, that the womens league is a bad example.

[insert sarcasm here]Anyway forgive me, i’m a man so i dont understand these issues.[/insert sarcasm here]

By: Upenyu

Upenyu — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 12:41:20 +0000

For some men, the knee jerk reaction to any discussion of gender issues or more specifically gender based violence is the emotive label ‘man-bashing session’. Are you reading the blog carefully or was your mind made up the moment you read ‘GENDER BASED VIOLENCE? How is asking about why the father was not mentioned in the article putting men down?

What interests me about your response is your use of the term ‘bashing’, relative to the reality of women being physically assaulted and sometimes even murdered. I find your tit for tat implication that women also physically abusing men somehow makes it ok for men to abuse women insulting. I do not condone abuse of any kind (as you will no doubt argue after reading this) but I do think we should look at the facts as they are. Violence against women and children, whether you acknowledge it or not is a real problem in Zimbabwe. Women commiting acts of violence against men does not negate this.

As for the Women’s league, this is an examination of the gender imbalances that are prevalent in our society. (Again read the post, don’t just skim it!)

By: JP

JP — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 12:05:04 +0000

you were doing so well up until this point
“Discussing the article with some friends, we concluded that it had to have been some sort of ritual, burial sites being sacred in our culture. But what disturbed me the most was that the four year olds father was not to be found anywhere in the story. He was not reported to be outraged, or disowning his friend. It was the mother who reported the rape to the police, the mother who stood outraged at the gravesite with a crowd, the mother who was going to court to seek justice for her child. But where was her husband?”

Did you care to find if the father was still alive, still involved with the mother, in the country etc. what you have just done there is one of the problems with these gender issues. more than likely it is turned into a man bashing session. In your blog you fail to address the cases of women bashing men which are becoming more apparent. and what does zanu pf womens league have to do with GBV? i failed to understand that point, please clarify