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African feminism

Type of feminism

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Background

Development of African Feminism

Scholars like Gabeba Baderoon and Alicia C. Decker argue that African women were the first feminists. Figures such as Nana Asma'u, an 18th-century African princess, and her Yan Taru movement to empower and educate women in the Sokoto Caliphate are considered precursors to modern feminism in Africa.

African women were already deeply engaged at the World Conference on Women, 1985 and have long been recognizing each other's contributions. Others believe that African feminism is a more recent phenomenon; a response to shortcomings in mainstream, western feminist theory.

Regardless of its possible origins, African feminism is not merely a response to the exclusion of the African woman from the white feminist vision. African women have had the ingenuity and desire to create manifestations of feminism that embrace their own backgrounds and experiences. African feminism includes numerous theories and movements that voice the realities of women in varying African countries. Women's needs, reality, oppression, and empowerment are best addressed via an inclusive and accommodating understanding of the generic and more general issues as well as the peculiarities and group attitude to self-definition as women. Naomi Nkealah writes: African feminism "strives to create a new, liberal, productive, and self-reliant African woman within the heterogeneous cultures of Africa. Feminisms in Africa, ultimately, aim at modifying culture as it affects women in different societies."

At the same time, Africa is not a monolith. For this reason, some scholars have critiqued the idea of any "African feminism." There exist regional, ethnic, political, and religious differences that impact how women conceptualize what feminism and freedom look like for them. While African women from, for example, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa and Senegal will have some commonalities, there will be variations in the way they understand gender and gender struggles. Different African women experience the world in vastly different ways. One must recognize and respect these differences, rather than attempting to merge all women under an unrealistic expectation of universal sisterhood. However, there is also some commonality to the struggles women face across the world. This common factor is male privilege.

The modern African woman is strong, smart, and resilient. She seeks to create new possibilities for the generations of African women that will come after her. Ghanaian feminists, for example, contribute to such efforts by using social media to change the public discourse around feminism.

Some scholars have called for more attention in African feminist theory to sex work, the white savior complex, violence against African women, women in the military, fieldwork with African women, same-sex intimacies, contemporaneity, and activists' thought.

Problems with Western Feminism

As an ideology, Feminism was not created with African black women in mind. Western feminism, a predominantly white ideology, has historically excluded the experiences of black women and continental African women. This white feminism fails to account for the particular issues black women face at the intersection of both blackness and womanhood. Furthermore, white feminism often classifies African women simply as "women of color," which overlooks the African woman's historical trajectory and specific experience. In "White Women Listen! Black Feminism and the Boundaries of Sisterhood," Hazel Carby notes that white feminism attempts to deal with the normative experience of all women. She writes, "History has constructed our sexuality and our femininity as deviating from those qualities with which white women, as the prize of the Western world, have been endowed." However, white feminism cannot erase Africa or African women from feminist theory or feminist advocacy. Africa is the Mother Continent of humanity, and the narratives and experiences of African women will always be relevant.

The original version of feminism was white women's response to the patriarchal forces attempting to limit them to domestic spheres. But these white women, primarily housewives, already had immense privilege and freedom compared to black women on the continent. Their African counterparts, on the other hand, have been stripped of their femininity and systematically exploited by colonial and neo-colonial forces. Facing issues like Female genital mutilation, Child marriage, and widespread sexual violence, black African women have had to fight for much more than white women in places like the United States and Europe.

Modern mainstream feminism has moved away from strictly white feminism and towards Intersectionality. This is in improvement upon the complete whiteness of original feminist ideology, but this shift is still insufficient to overcome the gap in the experiences of white women and black African women. Due to this marginalization, African women are often reluctant to call themselves feminists, despite their commitment to fighting gender justice.

Elma Akob, a Cameroonian scholar, delivered a 2022 TEDx Talk suggesting that western feminism is incompatible with African history, norms, and cultures. She argues that current mainstream western feminism is based on the concept of individualism. For instance, a western feminist might ask the question: How can I free myself from oppression? In contrast, many African communities are ideologically founded on the concept of "we." In this communal context, a better question might be: How can we empower ourselves together? For Akob, the most significant problem with mainstream feminism is that it fails to recognize that women living in different parts of the world face very different kinds of oppression. The rigidity of western feminist ideals means that mainstream feminism does not accommodate tradition, and looks down upon women who choose traditional roles. So, feminism may not be suitable for Africa, but this does not mean that African women must just accept the patriarchy. Instead, Akob suggests Womanism as an alternative for black women, including African black women. While feminism focuses on the equality of the sexes, Womanism engages with racism, classism, and sexism.

The Label "Feminism"

Due to these problems with western feminism, many African men and women distrust it. Some of its African critics consider it just another exploitative colonial framework from the west. In fact, many women who have fought for gender equity in Africa have never called themselves "feminists."

For some African women, attitudes towards the label "feminism" have grown more accepting over time. For instance, Ghanaian writer Ama Ata Aidoo initially believed that any movement labelled feminism would only harm African home and family life, but she demonstrated a more positive stance on this label in her 1991 novel Changes. Others, like Buchi Emecheta, Molara Ogundipe, Micere Githae Mugo, Amina Mama, and Obioma Nnaemeka, have accepted some mainstream feminist values, while also making clear their reservations around using "feminism" in the African context.

In contrast with white, western feminism, any African movement for gender equity must address specific historical and cultural conditions in Africa in order to provide value. Specifically, any brand of African "feminism" must address what Awa Thiam calls multiple jeopardy: many African women deal with patriarchal oppression on account of their sex, capitalist exploitation on account of their socioeconomic class, and colonialism on account of their race and geographic location in the global south.

Certainly, these conversations proved the need for a set of African gender theories as diverse as the continent itself. But the argument that an African gender discourse labelled "feminism" is specifically needed may just be an issue of terminology biased by western perspectives. It is a misconception that African women do not have a long history of mobilization around gender issues. This history may not be referred to as "feminism," but it does include diverse gender struggles that are adjacent if not similar to the ones that western feminism hopes to organize. In many ways, the term "African feminism" is incongruous with the fight to attain gender equity amidst challenges specific to various parts of Africa. The case of Africa reminds us that feminism is not one-size-fits-all, and that western feminist ideologies do not always apply, whether in name or in concept.

Colonialism and the Patriarchy

The principle of Colonial roots of gender inequality in Africa suggests that slavery and colonialism were the origins of inequality amongst African men and women. In the pre-colonial area, African women held positions of prominence, contributing socially and economically in a patrilineal society by managing the younger family members and being involved with international trade. According to Ada Uzoamaka Azodo, gender roles in precolonial African societies were complementary. It was only in the colonial and post-colonial era that African women transitioned from a position of "power and self-sovereignty" to "man's helper". In Edo and Yoruba cultures, Queen-mother was an honorable title for a king's mother or a free woman with notable status. These women, assisted by subordinate title-holders, would officiate meetings. According to Yoruba and Hausa legends, some women even held the title of king. However, around the 20th century, patriarchy and colonialism undermined the position of African women in society. Female chiefs lost their power as male chiefs began to negotiate with colonial powers. Western ideas about patriarchy that promoted the idea of female dependency on men were superimposed on colonized communities' educational, political, and economic sectors in Africa.

African Feminism and Sexuality

Different branches of African feminism diverge around issues of sexuality. Stella Nyanzi writes: "African feminists are sharply divided, with the bulk of the majority resistant to challenging heterosexism and homophobia in their praxis against patriarchy. ... Only a few radical African feminists address heteronormativity, while a much smaller corpus of individual queer African feminists incorporates non-essentialist fluid and dynamic understandings of gender that digress the fixed binary opposition of men and women, male and female."

The Role of Men in African Feminism

African Feminism strives to achieve gender equality, not to subjugate men. For some people on the continent, the term feminism has incorrectly come to signify a movement that is anti-male, anti-culture, and anti-religion. On the contrary, many feminist women prefer to include men in gender theory and activism. Numerous branches of African feminism acknowledge that men face hardships of their own, and that collaboration with men is a critical part of achieving change. After all, the majority of current policy-makers across the continent are men, and African feminists need some support from these bodies in order to gain ground in policy change. Many African women place great value upon communalism and family, and these values also motivate collaboration with men in solving gender issues. The role of African men in feminism is nuanced and dependent on location, environment, and personal ideology.

Islam and African Feminism

Islamic feminism also bears relevance to the development of African feminist theories. Because Islam is a dominant religion in many African regions, African feminism must take into account the particular ideological complexities and patriarchal structures that may accompany its practice. For more context, please view the Islamic feminism Wikipedia page.

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