The Man Hunters

I had an interesting encounter on Sato night, and an even more interesting read the next day when I had a look at the Nation's Saturday magazine [Can't find a link to the story on their website. And they have this ludicrous thing of registering to read articles anyway. What crap!]

Anyway. For those of you who haven't read the article, I'll do my high school English teachers pround and give a summary. The bottom line is this: There is a new breed of woman in Nairobi. The phrase 'sexually liberated Alpha Female' was used. The phrase would be a sufficient summary in itself, of this growing phenomenon.

Apparently, women are now liberated and part of this new found freedom entails being able to seek out and have sex when they want, with whoever they want. [As opposed to sitting back and praying that some guy will do the aforementioned and seek them out] After all, they are just doing what men are and have always done. Somewhere, someone decided that if women displayed such tendencies, they were sluts - to be shunned, but their male counterparts were studs - to be admired.

The typical Alpha Female is in her 30s, well educated, has a good job or thriving business, a car, house, probably a healthy bank account. No man, or at least no single steady man of the boyfriend/husband type in this equation. I'm not sure whether this is due to persistent heart break, or the mythical dearth of 'good' men, but one thing's for sure. This lifestyle and attitude to boy-girl relationships is on the up. You'll notice that I am not taking sides here, but I do have opinions on the matter.

We all have needs, so the saying goes, so these women seek out and get sexual/physical satisfaction whenever and with whom they wish. Basically a series of one-night stands is the way I understand it. No illusions of the guy calling you the day after or anything of that sort.

Now, here's my take on all this. First, I'm frightened. I liked a phrase in the article to the effect that women's sexual liberation is causing male impotence. Hmmm. I've always figured that women were the sensible sex to control the situation as far as sexual matters are concerned. Men left to their own devices would have sex with anything that moves, wherever and whenever they encounter it. Far fetched? Absurd? I'm not so sure. When women aspire to 'become' like or outdo men in this arena, then there's only one outcome. Chernobyl. I'm not self-righteous enough to stand on this podium and pass any form of judgement on women folk. It would be terribly hypocritical not to state that I like seeing women in those clothes they pick up from baby shops. However, it's this exact thing that has frightened me recently. I've realised that I'm not the good guy I once fooled myself I was. Essentially, I'm afraid of myself and am unsure, still, how to survive this new dispensation.