2015 Wasn't Too Bad for Us Thespians in Kikuyu Subcounty

            The year 2015 ended in style for Kikuyu sub county male thespians as they engaged in theatre development skits on matters concerning positive masculinity and overcoming Gender Based Violence (GBV) in the area. The skits that were performed on the streets across the six wards of the county were organized by Community Education and Empowerment Centre (CEEC), an NGO that has been very proactive in fighting ignorance and social injustices across the country. Before going for the shows, the thespians were first trained on becoming better men amidst the noise and the hullaballoo doing rounds in the streets that real men ought to be tough and rough. You should have seen us pay total attention to Nelly and the other trainers at Kikuyu Agricultural offices where the training was conducted.

The actors across the sub county

            CEEC has been running the positive masculinity topic for two years so far; 2014 and 2015. The choice for theatrical productions in 2015 was reached at after analyzing the benefits that art offers. “Art is engaging, relaxing and is able to reflect the exact things happening in the society in a very creative way,” said Miss. Florence, one of the trainers.

          Once they were equipped with the right education on positive masculinity, the thespians went out to the streets and came up with the best productions ever. Audiences were thrilled across the six wards and gathered much from the small skits. CEEC also gave out free t-shirts to the audiences after they correctly answered questions drawn from the skits.

           As they concluded the shows, the thespians felt that more needs to be done in the sub county so as to have the message doing more rounds and engaging a larger audience. A concert was agreed upon later on in 2016.

            In the training, it was discovered that factors that lead to GBV especially in cases where men violate their womenfolk are centred on socialization. The Kikuyu sub county male has grown up in a patriarchal society where every authority and power traces down from the Y chromosome. Boys are taught to be leaders and decision makers while girls are taught to clean and pick after their brothers. The boy child is perceived to be a better child right from birth; he gets five ululations in the Kikuyu culture while the girl only gets four since she cannot participate in tribal wars. The boy child is taught how to take care of the family wealth since he will one day inherit it while the girl is busied with cleaning and taking care of children since she will one day get married and leave her fatherland. A woman is a ‘mundu muuka’ or ‘mundu wa nja’; she does not belong. This has been going on for quite sometime especially in the Kikuyu culture with nothing wrong happening.

          However, today due to things like affirmative action, women empowerment and girl child education, the woman is at par with her malefolk. She can earn as well. She can gain wealth. She can decide. She can inherit property as far as the law is concerned. This has left the patriarchal socialized man feeling threatened and therefore he strives to do anything to bring the woman down. He believes that the woman ought to be in the kitchen. She ought to be taking care of kids. If she is too development-minded or educated, she is a child on the loose who should be taken care of lest she hurts herself or others. In other words, the modern man is still living in an ancient socialization. So what does he do to bring the woman back to where she belongs? He rapes, he batters, he insults, he strips and does anything to bring her down.

           It is not men alone who are victims of this archaic socialization--women too are victims. It is therefore no wonder to see empowered, educated and employed women who still expect their men to clothe, feed and take care of them despite the men not being in any gainful employment. These are the women who still believe that men are the leads despite there being no difference from them, other than biological. This kind of socialization has left a couple of men confused as they try to understand what manhood means. They are men but they wonder how to behave like them. Some get so frustrated in the process and go into alcohol, deserting their homes and engaging in all kinds of irresponsible behavior in a bid to look for their true North.

               As we acted out the skits, one thing came out very clearly; a real man knows the pit that his womenfolk is coming from and is therefore ready to help her out. He supports women empowerment. He works hard to support his family. He is able to show his emotions without bottling them up only to have them flaring like a time-bomb. He will do anything to support his wife at home even if it means conducting some of the previously perceived womanish roles. And amidst all this, he still stands because he knows that roles do not define him. He refuses to be tied to and pulled down by an old socialization process. He is a man!

More photos here.