Gender roles: Then I wish my family had allowed it, but now I am grateful they did not. 

Hello, everyone.

I welcome you to my blog. Growing up in the northern part of Nigeria, I saw in so many families how specific tasks are only carried out by a specific gender, and on no account should the other gender even try to carry out tasks that are not assigned to them or expected of them. I saw families where the boys can go months without knowing what their family kitchen looks like. It is expected that the girls treat them as kings, and in most cases, they are served food in the dining room and don't necessarily need to visit the kitchen before they get their food. It is believed that most of the house chores, like cooking, doing the dishes, and most often sweeping, should be assigned to the girls. The only time the boys participate in sweeping is when they live in a big compound.

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Sometimes If they live in a house where there is no water supply, then the boys will help with getting water from the tap or stream. Aside from that, the only jobs the boys have in the house is to eat when hungry and carry out farming activities for those whose parents own a farm. Sometimes I feel for the girls in families like this; no matter how difficult they find it to overcome the task, their brothers are not going to help out; they just need to find a way around to overcome the task, no matter how long it takes. Back then, I so much envied my friend because he had all the freedom in the world and had little or nothing to do at home.

During the holidays, once he eats breakfast, he goes out of the house, not for work, just to have fun, and visits friends and spends time with them. He only comes back at nightfall to eat dinner, take a bath, and rest. The next day, he follows the same routine. He does not lift a thing in the house as his parents won't even let him, his sisters do all the work, and all he did was eat whenever he wanted, sleep, and wake up whenever he wanted. That time, it was like he was living the life I dream of 😂. Gender roles is something practiced in many African home; sometimes both parents support it, and in some cases, just one parent supports the idea while the other tries to fight against it.

My friend's family gave him the type of treatment I wanted, and then there is my family, who don't even care if you are a boy or a girl. As long as it is housework, you are expected to know how to do it all. I was raised in a home where all kids are treated equally and no task was specifically assigned to any gender; we did all the chores. No task was considered to be for the girls, and no task was considered to be meant for the boys.

My mom will always say, "As long as you are a child living under my roof, you must do as I say, and that means you must know how to do it all." She had my dad's support; we were left with no choice. In my house, both boys and girls know how to cook, sweep, and do all the chores. In my family, there is nothing like a gender-specific task; anyone can get the task done. Now the friend I once envied for having all the freedom in the world, envies me for knowing how to cook while he does not know how to.

Thanks for reading my post.