AS A YOUNG woman growing up in the 21st century and embracing the various ideologies and trends that define this age, I have enjoyed a degree of mental stimulation that my predecessors could not even have dreamt of.

Their age never fully embraced female intellect and as a result they were never given room to flourish.

But despite many ideologies for a progressive woman seeking to maintain a strong sense of identity, the vast array of these teachings specifically catering for women have left me wanting.

I want to relate to female-empowerment ideologies that say we are equal to men and there is nothing men can do that we cannot.

Then I analyse Steve Biko's teachings, the basis of which was dismantling black people's inferiority complex, by encouraging them to love themselves, not in a superficial way that cannot withstand the strong winds of generational self-hatred, but in a deep, determined way that appreciates the very fibre that makes up a black person.

To love myself authentically, I must appreciate the founding principles of the culture that characterises black people as a whole. This culture teaches that women and men are equal, but thatequality is not expressed indiscriminately, characterised by blanket statements that hail equal competency without a recognition of the intrinsic natural abilities possessed by both sexes individually, separate from one another.

African culture teaches that the relationship between the sexes must be complementary, where one 's strengths complement the other's weaknesses. It does not teach that men and women must first perform the same tasks and be embroiled in a bitter battle to see who can outperform . But that sadly is the status quo.

I would be doing my sisters, who have yet to adopt black consciousness as their tool in manoeuvring the corporate arena, an injustice if I don' t shed light on the reasons why they have opted for Eurocentric ideologies.

Female professionals face a challenge that is unique to them. They constantly have to battle patriarchy in the workplace. This thinking challenges their competency to adequately fulfil any task outside that of being a homemaker. So when faced with this challenge, many African women have identified with Eurocentric thinking that don't embrace African principles, but nonetheless give them the empowerment they need to grapple with the monster that is patriarchy.

Biko said that blackness and Africanness can be used as a strength rather than a liability in the workplace. He embraced white people and what they offered. His friendship with Donald Woods was testament to that. The fundamental difference with Biko and many black people then was that, that relationship was not characterised by an inferiority complex . Biko knew that just as other races have their offerings, he had something equally valuable to add.

We women can learn from this. Our interactions with men in the workplace is not a competition to see who can outperform the other, but a complementary relationship where the one's weakness is made up for by the other's strength. Women no longer need the armour of ideologies that are foreign to our culture and blackness and are counter-productive in producing win-win situations.

• Mbeki is a freelance writer