Painting, stripping of palisade fences, washing cars, gardening, fixing the toilet, knowing how to fit a simple light bulb in a socket, playing soccer, quad biking you name it, that’s what I grew up doing.
Today I barely have time for those things because I’m a reporter, an occupation which requires a lot of my time.
I’ve been a reporter for almost six months now and when I started a colleague said to me that he was afraid that this industry might change the sweet person that I am and he was right, the industry did change me.
It wasn’t the stories I covered or the pressure of deadline but it was rather the treatment that I received because I was a female.
Just because I’m a woman people tend to misuse my emotional ability to get involved and solve certain issues, people are demanding, most of the time they only care about the publicity.
One day I was sick, very dizzy but I received a call and the family didn’t care about my well-being they just wanted their story out.
It’s funny how my job allows people to think that I have authority over police officers, ward councillors, and other officials. People would expect me to go to the police station at 10 pm to tell the police to release their sons.
They expect of me to be more sensitive and their expectations can make one become a hard person.
I’m a cyclist so many people know me as the reporter with the bike (BMX) this too has changed the way I see things now. I cycle through my area’s which is Riverlea, Bosmont, Coronationville, Westbury, Claremont, and Newclare to go to my appointments.
Once again, just because I’m a female on a bike it immediately draws attention. This is my mode of transportation but the opposite sex feels the need to make rude comments as I pass them.
This changed the way I dressed because now I had men looking at me and commenting on how ‘they’d love to be that bike or how sexy I looked on it.’
In the beginning, I’d just smile and ride away but now I’ve become cheeky. I don’t understand why the opposite sex think they have the right to make us feel so uncomfortable and don’t get me wrong because it’s not all of them.
There were two occasions when I was cycling and men thought that it’s okay to follow me, get me at the robots and then ask me out because; I’m so different and they’d really like to get to know me more.
No! I don’t want your numbers, I appreciate the compliment of being different but I don’t want to get to know you more!
Sometimes when I get to my appointments, I’d be interviewing a man and he would think that after our interview I’d be interested in going on a date with him.
The worst part is that being a reporter is that our phone numbers become public, so you sometimes get guys just calling or messaging because they need company.
I’m sorry but when did that become my duty? It takes a lot to be a female reporter because no matter how much we want to say that we are all equal, there’s many especially of the opposite sex who think they have authority over us.
I wore a short with stockings to work one day and male colleagues kept on staring as I walked around the office.
There was a small protest happening in my area and due to the comments which I received in the office, I now felt uncomfortable with going to cover the story, so I didn’t.
I don’t know why I allowed them to get to me when I knew I made a conscious decision about my outfit.
Women also don’t stand together. I’ve seen this so many times when a man would say something rude or inappropriate and there are other females around, the woman would just laugh and entertain it or they would just walk away.
I feel like this is the problem, if we as women stood together, more things would change but instead, we want to break each other and allow the opposite sex to feel that they can do as they please.
Ladies, it’s not okay to accept this treatment, let’s stand together, support each other and let us no longer be victims.
Social Media Platforms for News:
Twitter: @SowetoUrban, Facebook: Soweto Urban News, Instagram: @SowetoUrban
News site 1: Westside-Eldos Urban News, News site 2: Soweto Urban News
