The world has been an unkind place for centuries. This is especially true in respect of how we treat each as human beings.

It is not limited to simply human to human treatment. How we treat animals and other living creatures has also been unkind.

The world in the last half century has become less tolerant of prejudice and cruelty by humans against humans. Although there are organisations that openly spew hatred against various minorities, they are treated as outcasts.

There are even laws with criminal sanctions regarding hate speech and rhetoric. Nowadays you dare not attack persons on the subject of race or religion. Even fat-shaming has become a no-no.

Despite these positive developments, people still feel comfortable to actively spew rhetoric on gender issues.

The history of women on our planet borders on ridiculous in respect of gender classification and the cruelty used to enforce it. Women in Afghanistan are not allowed to drive a car, female genital mutilation or clitoridectomy is still practised in Africa, and countries that we currently have diplomatic relations with, enforce the mandatory wearing of hijab with criminal sanctions.

As mammals, we are not consistent with the practice of other mammals. It is lionesses that hunt in a pride of lions. The reason for the division and enforcement of same is historical, not genetic in nature. It is simply a man-made control mechanism.

I work everyday beside women in high-risk situations and they are competent and reliable. In my company I use almost all women in the senior positions. The most reliable of my guards are the female ones and if I put out an ad the applicants are primarily women.

I wrote an article recently that I ended by recommending Minister Marlene Mahaloo Forte as a possible candidate for minister of national security after the retirement of current minister Dr Horace Chang.

The responses have been mixed, but to my surprise, I found that the persons who disagreed with my choice were either because of gender, or because of her conduct being viewed as harsh in respect to comments on certain issues.

What puzzled me is that Minister Chang, whom I hold in very high regard, is also known for his direct and harsh rhetoric, but no one considered this to be a negative characteristic. In fact, many have praised him for it.

So let me get this, it’s OK when Dr Chang does it, but when a woman doesn’t fit into the stereotype that we expect we call them rude or harsh?

This very thought process is discriminatory.

The Industrial Revolution changed the reliability on physical strength. This is because it was the beginning of machinery doing the work and the human simply pressing the buttons or pulling the levers on the machine. This ended the requirement for gender classification in employment.

The job of the minister of national security is not operational. You are not expected to be wielding batons or ‘bussing’ head. It requires a firm understanding of the law and the ability to make hard decisions that may not always make everyone happy.

Jamaica should by now realise that gender stereotyping is simply ridiculous. Women make up 80 per cent of the universities, most of our judges are women and although there could be a debate about who is the most competent Director of Public Prosecution in our history, there is no challenge that current director Paula Llewellyn is the strongest.

There have been many other women in Jamaica’s history that have been outstanding, and say what you want about the era of Portia Simpson Miller’s governance, but one thing for certain, no man in the People’s National Party (PNP) could have won that election. Her popularity bordered on cultism.

No form of bigotry can be accepted anymore. The planet has moved beyond that. Women like Margaret Thatcher, former prime minister of England, have already settled the strength debate. I may not have agreed with much of what she did, but it really took character to ‘snatch’ those puddings.

Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks and Aung San Suu Kyi, the female Burmese political prisoner, can settle the debate.

The job of minister of national security going forward will need a person who is willing to put 10,000 killers behind bars and not worry if some activist in Norbrook or Norway doesn’t like it.

It needs someone who will remove bail as a right and introduce our version of the Homeland Security Act.

I maintain that this is a job a woman can do. I maintain that this is a job Minister Malahoo Forte can do.