This narrative that the girl child is usually turned into a domestic servant while the boy child is treated like the prince of Saudi Arabia in African households is becoming irritating. You all make It sound like the boy child just sleeps and watch movies while sipping margarita when the girl child does all the work at home.
If I start recounting the things my brothers and I did to make life easier for my sisters and my mum growing up, I might not finish today. And despite all those responsibilities, we still had to clean our spaces, wash dishes and do our fair share of household chores sometimes.
Please, don't come with the usual argument that my experience doesn't invalidate the struggles of girls who were treated like domestic servants. I understand that reality exists but the same thing goes for the boy child abi cause we no dey talk?, i don't know a single family in my hometown where the male children were exempted from hard work.
Every one of my male friends had responsibilities growing up. We carried heavy loads, did physically demanding jobs, ran errands and took on responsibilities beyond our years. You didn't even have to be the firstborn, if you were the firstborn son, you probably had it worse.
You people reduce household labour to cooking, sweeping and washing dishes, ignoring the physical labour and other responsibilities boys were expected to shoulder. Some of us were practically unpaid labourers because we were considered capable.
Upbringing can contribute to irresponsibility, a narrative that goes for both gender. We need more balanced conversations, and I think it's high time we started speaking up for the male child too.
While i acknowledge the struggles of some girls, I can not pretend that boys grew up having a comfortable ride.
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