Fighting For Femininity

“All my life I had to fight. I had to fight my daddy. I had to fight my brothers. I had to fight my cousins and my uncles. A girl child ain't safe in a family of men…” By far one of the most notable lines of Ms. Alice Walker’s critically acclaimed novel turned film The Color Purple. When I was a young girl I quoted these lines innumerable times at family functions, for the praise and applause at how well I could emulate Ms. Oprah Winfrey who portrayed the role of boisterous, strong-willed, untameable Sophia. I’ve grown from that young girl physically, but now trapped within the form of a woman is a young girl still fighting.

We live in a world that is turned so inside out and upside down that girls do not know how to be girls. Women do not know how to be women. Four hundred years in the hells and wilderness of  North America has made the black woman so independent and reliant on self, that even with the true knowledge of God and self the battle remains a daily fight. For the last two years or so I have been hearing the phrase “Divine Femininity” across social platforms and was genuinely baffled. What does that mean, Divine Femininity?  It wasn’t until I read the book The Black Woman The Second-Self of God by Student Minister Nuri Muhammad of the Nation of Islam that more of the keys that I was searching for to unlock exactly who I am as a woman was discovered.

We are taught by The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad that was taught by Allah in the Person of Master Fard Muhammad that the Originator created himself out of triple darkness ions of time ago. After His self-creation, He looked within Himself and pulled out of Himself the Black Woman. He wanted someone to bear witness to His creation, someone to comfort and console Him, as creating the Universe was an arduous task. He wanted a partner to help further His creation. The Black Man is God and the Black Woman is the Second-Self of God. Holy Qur’an Surah 4 ayat 1 “O people, keep your duty to your Lord, Who created you from a single being and created its mate of the same (kind), and spread from these two many men and women. And keep your duty to Allah, by Whom you demand one of another (your rights), and (to) the ties of relationship. Surely Allah is ever a Watcher over you.”

Allah further guides us in knowledge in Surah 3 ayat 36 “...and the male is not like the female…” There was a commercial when I was younger that had a little jingle, “anything you can do I can do better, I can do anything better than you.” It depicted a woman triumphing over a man in all the activities that were displayed. I internalized and lived by that motto believing it was the correct perspective to have towards men. That even though I am a woman, I was in constant competition with men and had to beat them. That is not our role as women, we aren’t and never should believe we are in competition with our men. We were created by Allah to console, comfort, and be the help-meet of the Black man. We indeed are a pair, two sides of the same coin. We can not and will not grow into gods without one another.

Boxing gloves down, we must look into ourselves for the blemishes and internal bruises from fights long gone to heal from and tap into our God-given birthright. The right and freedom to be soft, vulnerable, submissive, quiet, and desired. Divinely smiled upon by Allah because we are growing Divinely into the woman He created.