u/ilovefeetsm1998

What is it actually going to take for Botswana to fully accept the LGBTQ community? We’ve seen the landmark court rulings overtime,, the legal barriers slowly getting chipped away, and more visibility than ever. But when it comes to the actual day to day social mindset of everyday Batswana, there is still a massive wall of resistance, quiet judgment, and outright hostility. I’ll put my hand up and be completely honest aboutit, i was homophobic for most of my life, if you asked me why I held homophobic views, I wouldn't even have a real answer. I couldn't give you a logical, thought out reason. It was just because.It was just a default setting passed down by society, religion, and the general "that's just how things are" type shii, where hating or avoiding something you don't understand is treated as normal. But the more I grew up, the more ridiculous it got. Looking back, it’s wild how many of us carried strong opinions on things we had zero actual knowledge about. I mean seriously, bring up this topic at a bar and o ya go kgwelwa manga a le mantsi. What is it going to take for the broader societal mindset in Botswana to genuinely shift from mere tolerance (or quiet intolerance) to actual acceptance? Is it an education problem, a generational shift, or are traditional and religious dogmas just too deeply rooted to change anytime soon?

We are casually letting our language slip away, and honestly, it's wild Have you met those parents who literally brag about their kids not knowing Setswana? You'll hear them proudly say things like "nna gake rute ngwanake setswana o bua sekgoa hela" like it's some kind of ahievement lmao. It’s bizarre. Raising kids who can't speak their mother tongue isn't sophisticated, it's just cultural disconnection. Then look at the school system. It is genuinely worrying how many private schools in Gaborone and across the country treat Setswana like an afterthought, or completely drop it from the curriculum. When our kids spend their entire formative years being conditioned to only master English, we are essentially raising a generation of foreigners in their own home country. Even socially, the dynamics are frustrating. Somewhere along the way, speaking Setswana got labeled as "uncool" or rural, while switching to English is treated as the default if you want to be taken seriously. If we keep going down this road where parents refuse to teach it and schools phase it out, what even happens to the language in the next twenty years? Are we heading toward a point where Setswana becomes a relic, or is there still a way to fix this? Make setswana cool🗣️🗣️

We all know the script. An older person can come completely sideways at you unsolicited critiques about your life, flat out insults, ba go tlhapatsa and you're supposed to just stand there and take it with a smile. I've seen it plenty times. The absolute second you try to defend yourself, explain your side, or even just let out an exhausted sigh, the whole room flips gotwe o makgakga kana ba re o godisitswe/o goditse mang kana ba re haii bana ba gompieno. It's wild 😂. It's part of the reason why my mom and I are not close anymore. She exercised this to the fullest but I hard a breaking point and crashed out and told her ga itse go mpuisa and this caused her to deny me life changing surgery. But ever since this happened I realized I'm more confrontational and even had a bit of confidence, which I had to learn to be btw

It’s like some older folks genuinely believe age is a free pass to dish out whatever they want while demanding total, unquestioning submission in return. Since when did respect become a one way street Let’s actually break this down:

To the older folks in here: Do you or did you hold this mentality, and if so, what made you realize it needs to change (or do you still think it's valid)?

To the younger crowd: What’s the wildest unsolicited disrespect you’ve had to swallow just to keep the peace, and how do you actually survive this dynamic without losing your mind?

Thank you.

Has anyone else noticed how our attitude towards cats is finally shifting? Growing up around here, cats, especially black ones always seemed to carry this weird stigma. People would associate them with witchcraft or bad luck, and they were often treated with total suspicion instead of just being normal pets. It feels like that mindset is finally fading out. Lately, I've seen way more people keeping cats, treating them like great, and realizing they're just cool, low maintenance pets rather than anything supernatural. Are you guys seeing this change too? Are the old superstitions finally dying out? Also, if you have a cat, please let me see it Here's my baby Pebbles