Naming Hurricanes After Women

Hurricane Fiona left some parts of Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe and Atlantic Canada battered and bruised. Every time hurricanes attack, I wonder why they are named after women.

Tradition. That is one explanation I will not entertain because I’m scared of tradition. It means one thing, women’s oppression based on culture and religion. Most African countries used to have a tradition whereby if a man dies, one of his brothers marries the widow (uku-ngena in Zulu).

Tradition said it was for the kids, so that they continue living in the same compound, with the same relatives and surname. It might have worked in ancient times, but it has been abused. That is why most women refuse that tradition.

That is culture, but how about hurricanes? Who came up with the idea? Men of course, because they once ruled the world. But why? I’m thinking about how human beings are born. Nature placed them in  a special space, in a woman’s womb for nine months, protected by water.

When midwives say a woman’s water has broken, it means the baby or twins are demanding to be let into this world. It’s a thing of joy. Some men pass around cigars when they become fathers. In Africa, there are elaborate naming ceremonies to celebrate the new member of the family.

That is why I don’t understand why something as destructive as a hurricane is called a woman.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.