Based on my understanding of inequality I have written a fictional dialogue and in that dialogue I will show how inequality operates, the social context in which it occurs and the impact that it brings to the individuals involved.
(Family set up; the husband who is taken as the head of the family is discussing something with his wife and children.)
Husband: My wife! (Screaming in a loud voice.) What are you doing? Did you buy all that I told you to buy?
Wife: Yes my beloved husband. You told me to buy some fresh eggs and cassava flour. Not so?
Husband: You deserve to be called my wife indeed. Now go to the kitchen and prepare them for lunch. My boys and I will eat fish, but you and your daughters will have a cassava meal and beans. (As he spoke his daughter heard him and intervened.)
Mary: Father! (While crying.) That’s not fair. Everyday you and our brothers eat better relish, and we always eat one kind of food. You are treating us as if we are not your children. My sisters and I have equal rights with our brothers and are entitled to the same opportunities. What you are doing is not fair.
Husband: Keep quite! (As he slaps her.) How many times shall I tell you not to interrupt me when I am discussing matters with your mother? That shows how rude you are. (One of his sons hears this and he intervenes.)
John: Father! What Mary is saying is true. No need to slap her or be angry at her. We are equal we deserve to be treated equally.
Husband: My son!!! I love you all. But you are not equal. They are girls and you are boys. The reason for my slapping her is because a young girl cannot have a say in front of her father. It is okay for you to say something in front of me because in my absence you may take my position and you have to practice that even in your tender years.
Juliet: No! I disagree with you father. I am the eldest girl and what I think is that we have to be treated equally and we should not refrain from expressing ourselves to you if we have something to say.
Husband: Not in my house. From now on John is the head of you. He and his brothers will be telling you what to do. In addition to that, if you have something to tell me, send them to speak on your behalf.
Mary, Juliet and Wife: Why are you acting like that? Is it just because you are the head of the family, or is there something behind it?
Husband: I am doing this because these boys will have to protect their families in future. All of you will be married and you will be controlled by your husbands. My boys have to eat a lot for them to have strength which will enable them to do jobs and support you and their families. Imagine this, they carry bags and they go to school, but you are always sitting here with your mother. What do you what me to do?
Mary: Father! You have reminded me of something. We all have the right to education. Why do you think that only boys should be the ones to go to school? That has to be changed.
Father: I am the head of this family. All of you, including your mother, have to respect what I say. If not, all of you shall go out of my house. I shall stay with my boys. Understand? (He pushes them out of the house.)
John: I agree with you father! You have a point. If we eat well, we will be encouraged to do jobs well. In addition to that, in future when we get married we will also get good employment so as to support them and our families.
Wife: Can you see how you are teaching your children to disrespect me? What kind of inequality are you encouraging in this house? If there will be no change I will divorce you soon.
(The man gets angry and he chases her away out of the home and plans to marry another wife. Due to these inequalities all the girls move out of the house. The man then lives in the house with his sons and a new wife. The boys threaten to beat their step-mother to death. They ask their father to bring their mother back or they will do something.)
Husband: Had I known better, I would have treated you equally. These effects are rising because I did not want to treat you as one.
(After some years the boys agree to move out of the house and search for their mother while the husband stays in his house with his new wife. Later on he gets sick and has no one to help him since all his children have run away in search of peace and unity.)
From the dialogue I learnt that as a family we need to be treated equally. Sometimes thinking that we are better can cause problems if we exercise our power in a coercive way. Just imagine! Within a few days the family divorced due to simple issues. How do we live with others? What do we wish for them? If we only think we are better than them we will one day be proved wrong. Let’s stop all kinds of inequality and let’s live as a family. If not like that, there will be cases of divorce, misunderstandings and all of these are the negative impacts of inequalities.
(Family set up; the husband who is taken as the head of the family is discussing something with his wife and children.)
Husband: My wife! (Screaming in a loud voice.) What are you doing? Did you buy all that I told you to buy?
Wife: Yes my beloved husband. You told me to buy some fresh eggs and cassava flour. Not so?
Husband: You deserve to be called my wife indeed. Now go to the kitchen and prepare them for lunch. My boys and I will eat fish, but you and your daughters will have a cassava meal and beans. (As he spoke his daughter heard him and intervened.)
Mary: Father! (While crying.) That’s not fair. Everyday you and our brothers eat better relish, and we always eat one kind of food. You are treating us as if we are not your children. My sisters and I have equal rights with our brothers and are entitled to the same opportunities. What you are doing is not fair.
Husband: Keep quite! (As he slaps her.) How many times shall I tell you not to interrupt me when I am discussing matters with your mother? That shows how rude you are. (One of his sons hears this and he intervenes.)
John: Father! What Mary is saying is true. No need to slap her or be angry at her. We are equal we deserve to be treated equally.
Husband: My son!!! I love you all. But you are not equal. They are girls and you are boys. The reason for my slapping her is because a young girl cannot have a say in front of her father. It is okay for you to say something in front of me because in my absence you may take my position and you have to practice that even in your tender years.
Juliet: No! I disagree with you father. I am the eldest girl and what I think is that we have to be treated equally and we should not refrain from expressing ourselves to you if we have something to say.
Husband: Not in my house. From now on John is the head of you. He and his brothers will be telling you what to do. In addition to that, if you have something to tell me, send them to speak on your behalf.
Mary, Juliet and Wife: Why are you acting like that? Is it just because you are the head of the family, or is there something behind it?
Husband: I am doing this because these boys will have to protect their families in future. All of you will be married and you will be controlled by your husbands. My boys have to eat a lot for them to have strength which will enable them to do jobs and support you and their families. Imagine this, they carry bags and they go to school, but you are always sitting here with your mother. What do you what me to do?
Mary: Father! You have reminded me of something. We all have the right to education. Why do you think that only boys should be the ones to go to school? That has to be changed.
Father: I am the head of this family. All of you, including your mother, have to respect what I say. If not, all of you shall go out of my house. I shall stay with my boys. Understand? (He pushes them out of the house.)
John: I agree with you father! You have a point. If we eat well, we will be encouraged to do jobs well. In addition to that, in future when we get married we will also get good employment so as to support them and our families.
Wife: Can you see how you are teaching your children to disrespect me? What kind of inequality are you encouraging in this house? If there will be no change I will divorce you soon.
(The man gets angry and he chases her away out of the home and plans to marry another wife. Due to these inequalities all the girls move out of the house. The man then lives in the house with his sons and a new wife. The boys threaten to beat their step-mother to death. They ask their father to bring their mother back or they will do something.)
Husband: Had I known better, I would have treated you equally. These effects are rising because I did not want to treat you as one.
(After some years the boys agree to move out of the house and search for their mother while the husband stays in his house with his new wife. Later on he gets sick and has no one to help him since all his children have run away in search of peace and unity.)
From the dialogue I learnt that as a family we need to be treated equally. Sometimes thinking that we are better can cause problems if we exercise our power in a coercive way. Just imagine! Within a few days the family divorced due to simple issues. How do we live with others? What do we wish for them? If we only think we are better than them we will one day be proved wrong. Let’s stop all kinds of inequality and let’s live as a family. If not like that, there will be cases of divorce, misunderstandings and all of these are the negative impacts of inequalities.
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