MDC-T Senator Morgan Femai is receiving worldwide ridicule for his comments suggesting women should shave their heads, stop taking baths and dress badly to stop the spread of HIV because men are finding it difficult to resist women who are becoming more attractive.
“What I propose it that the Government should come up with a law that compels women to have their heads clean-shaven like what the Apostolic sects do,” Mr Femai told a parliamentary HIV awareness workshop. “They should also not bath because that is what has caused all these problems (spread of HIV).”
In this piece gender activist Rutendo Tapiwa Chigudu gives us her response.
Hi there,
Normally, I would not have communicated with you in such a manner but I think that it is best we put my husband’s interests at the fore and forego petty jealousies. You already know my name and I will say that I got your ‘name’ from my husband’s phone. It was saved as ‘Mechanic’ and I want to think that this is just a decoy.
Anyway, I am proposing a win-win situation:
May you please accept an invitation to dinner or coffee or some such meal or tea where we can get to know one another. I have it on good authority that when you and I get to know one another, we can then understand each other and together, we can safeguard our health and that of our mutual man.
Please note that I say ‘mutual’, it is not meant as a slur but I am being open… just in case, you know these things.
For starters, we have to reduce our attractiveness to him and also to other men. There have been proposed measures we should take and I will elaborate on them as I go.
I am not sure that I can carry a bald look.
I have had four children and unfortunately, I come from the gene pool where our stomachs tend to publicly declare and show off our baby-pooches therefore loosing weight is out of the question for me. I am almost a granma, my eldest daughter is turning twenty-eight and she could get married and have a baby any day now.
As for the cutting my bath times, I must admit that I have become too accustomed to the luxuries of bathing twice a day and I am not willing to give up my daily regime. Maybe you can reduce your bath times to say- twice a week and when you are menstruating, you will be allowed to add one more bath.
You will have to discuss this with my husband just so you can agree on what will make him not be attracted to you that much. I heard from my own tete that he now values me for the children I bore him. Well, I will not get into the details of my bedroom life with you.
I am not too sure what your wardrobe looks like and consists of but it has been proposed that we dress shabbily. I am not too sure I will be able to successfully pull it off seeing that I was socialised into being a smart woman, who always dresses well to please her man (mukadzi anopfeka zvinopachiremerera kuzita remurume wake.) I am sure that this is one topic we can discuss over tea or lunch or something…we are both women and we were used to dressing to the nines.
Seeing that I am hitting menopause soon, I will not be needing any such creams that will drain the moisture from my nether regions and I am almost sure that having a Female Genital Mutilation at my age would be too traumatic for my body.
I know that I am sounding too selfish but I want to believe that for all that I have given and sacrificed for my family, I am entitled to some selfishness. You want to be a part of my family and besides, ndimi muchirikutemwa dzinobva ropa so I am sure that you will quickly bounce back from the circumcision.
In the meantime, I will try my best to keep him satisfied so he wont go to someone else whilst you are recuperating. I would really hate to do this invitation thing to someone else.
I will try to talk my husband to agree with us having sex once a month. I am not too sure when the pill to curb his sexual libido will be on the market. You would have to tell me when you would want to be having sex with him so that I do not administer the pill to him that morning. (I am assuming that the pill will work like an anti-viagra.) Details pertaining to the pill will only be finalised once it has been availed for purchase.
As you can see, there is a lot at stake and I would be more than willing to pick out a ‘small house’ for my husband should you decline my invite. I can easily check if ‘Office’ is really the office number or not. Or I can just as easily make her my new ‘friend’. I am merely being courteous seeing that you and him had already begun some sort of a relationship underneath my nose.
I noticed that you seem to call him more frequently than ‘Office ‘ does. I am not threatening you but I am sincerely welcoming you in the hope that you will think like me that us (you and I) becoming friends is the sure most way of keeping tabs on my husband and ensuring that we all stay safe in this day and age when HIV n AIDS are playing havoc in our part of the world.
Fear not, I have received this advice from our national leaders, MPs at that, so trust you me, it is very sound and we would be foolish not to follow it. Help me play a part in the global campaign to fight HIV n AIDS by accepting my invitation.
Yours sincerely wishing to get involved in the fight to end HIV n AIDS as well as willing to save my marriage at all costs,
Mrs Man.
ps: Do let me know when we can meet and catch up soonest. I would have to re-arrange my diary but for my marriage and our health, I will gladly do it.
