As African women, most of us grew up to become a respectable lady. As a lady, being respectable in Africa means:
- Being in a household, with “Mrs” as a title
- Blind submission to her husband
- Being the perfect wife
- Anything else that would allow you to be portrayed as a woman
If you notice, the points I raised above are all related to being a wife. In other words, a respectable lady in Africa equates to marriage.
As shocking as it might be – or not (depending on if you agree to the African definition of a respectable lady) – marriage opens doors to opportunities in Africa. Opportunities as career promotions, ownership of a piece of land, real estate, etc.
Basically: in Africa, a woman can be a multimillionaire business owner. But if she is NOT married, she is disregarded by the society. In fact, I slightly exposed that in a previous post. She is even more disregarded if she is separated – let alone divorced – from her husband.
In my opinion, this is a disgrace. As a matter of fact, allow me to introduce you to another definition of “a respectable woman“. A respectable woman is a grown up female human being who is characterized with conventionally and Godly acceptable morals, regardless of her marital status.
Here is an example of a respectable lady
Having said that, allow me to introduce you to a respectable woman. Not only is she respectable, but her line of work is more than respectable.
This is a woman who was encouraged not to act according to the African definition of a respectable lady. Please play the below video to know more about her, and her work. Video is also accessible here.
Obviously, I am not expecting you to follow my definition of a respectable lady. However, I believe fellow African women should not entrap themselves on what the society expects them to be. Not at any cost.
On the other hand, as a lady, I do encourage you to find your definition of respectable, and act upon it.
As this post is coming to an end, might I ask your definition of what a respectable woman is? Do you think my definition is accurate? Why do you hold such opinion? What do you think of Regine’s work? I’d love to read your views in the comment section 🙂
This post aimed to expose you to a respectable woman. Feel free to comment and share.