African feminism is a type of feminism innovated by African women that specifically addresses the conditions and needs of continental African women (African women who reside on the African continent). African feminism includes many strains of its own, including Motherism, Femalism, Snail-sense Feminism, Womanism/women palavering, Nego-feminism, Satanism, and African Womanism.[1] Because Africa is not a monolith, these feminisms are not all reflective of the experiences African women have. Some of the feminisms are more specific to certain groups of African women. African feminism is sometimes aligned with, in dialogue, or in conflict with Black Feminism or African womanism (which is perceived as by and for African women in the diaspora, rather than African women on or recently from the continent) as well as other feminisms and feminist movements, including nationally based ones, such as feminism in Sweden, feminism in India, feminism in Mexico, feminism in Japan, feminism in Germany, feminism in South Africa, and so on.
Need for an African feminism[edit]
Some argue that African women are the first feminists,[2] were already deeply engaged at the 1985 Womens' Conference,[3] and have long been recognizing each other's contributions.[4] Others feel African feminism became necessary in part due to white Western feminism's exclusion of the experiences of the black woman and the continental African woman. White Western feminisms does not take into account the particular issues black women face at the intersection of both their blackness and their womanhood. Currently, white feminism often classifies African women as 'women of color,' which groups and thereby represses the African woman's historical trajectory and specific experience.[1]Hazel Carby in 'White Women Listen! Black Feminism and the Boundaries of Sisterhood' notes why white feminism is considered 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.'[5] However, white feminism cannot continue to erase Africa or African women from feminist theory or feminist advocacy, because as the Mother Continent of humanity, the narratives and experiences of Africa's women will always be relevant.[6]
African feminism is a type of feminism innovated by African women that specifically addresses the conditions and needs of continental African women. African feminism includes many strains of its own, including Motherism, Femalism, Snail-sense Feminism, Womanism/women palavering, Nego-feminism, Satanism, and African Womanism. Because Africa is not a monolith, these feminisms are not all reflective of the experiences African women have. Some of the feminisms are more specific to certain groups of. African feminism: the African womanâs struggle for identity. Ruvimbo Goredema. There is an interesting point, where at the crossroads of being a researcher of rhetoric and an observer of gender relations in Africa, I find that my biology of being a woman filters the experiences of how I understand literature, arguments and social interactions. . The Black Womanistfeminism (or Black Feminist Thought) movement comes out of the feminist movement of the 1970âs and is a direct interface with the civil rights movement, as it recognizes that women of African descent in the U.S. Faced a unique set of issues that were not being addressed by the predominantly white feminist movement. This feminist quest is not imported, it cannot be. Nobody knows the latent volcano of the soul of woman nor indeed of man which can erupt suddenly and determinably. Feminism is a reaction of women with guts and steam and nobody tells the other to remove her head from the. AFRICAN FEMINISM: SOME CRITICAL CONSIDERATIONS 1 ΦιλοÏοÏια Volume 15, 1:2014 AFRICAN FEMINISM: SOME CRITICAL CONSIDERATIONS Adeolu Oluwseyi Oyekan Lagos State University, Nigeria Feminism has continued to advance and open new frontiers, maintaining a dominant status in the genre of issues in the political and academic arena over the last few decades.
African feminism was not wholly a reaction to being excluded from white feminists' vision of feminism, but also from their own ingenuity and desire to create a feminism that embraced their backgrounds and experiences. African feminism voices the realities of women in varying African countries.[7] Women's needs, reality, oppression and empowerment are best addressed by having 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.[8]Naomi Nkealah writes that 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.'[9]
At the same time, Africa is not a monolith and so some have critiqued any idea of 'African feminism.' There exist differences regionally, ethnically, politically, and in religion, which all work to impact how women conceptualize what feminism and freedom looks like for them.[8][10][11] 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.[8] Therefore, these varying cultures alter the way these African women experience the world. Thus, one cannot simply merge all woman under an unrealistic expectation of sisterhood, but instead to recognize and respect the differences that exist as a result of these diversities.[8] There is a commonality to the struggles women face across the world since the common factor is male privilege.[8] The modern African woman is strong, smart, and resilient and has woken up to the options she has. She is no longer satisfied with the options created for her, but seeks to create new options and choices for the generation of other African women that will come after her.[12]
Some scholars have called for more attention in African feminist theory to sex work,[13] the white savior complex and violence against African women,[14] women in the military,[15] fieldwork with African women,[16] same-sex intimacies,[17] contemporaneity, [18]and activists' thought.[19]
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Principles of African feminism[edit]
African feminisms address cultural issues that they feel pertain to the complex experiences faced by all women of all cultures on the African continent. In regards to feminist theorizing, many of the authors of such theories originate from West Africa and Nigeria in particular.[1]
In her article, 'West African Feminisms and Their Challenges', Naomi Nkealah discusses the various forms of African feminisms.[20] First, she points to womanism, which she argues is not part of African feminism, as it pertains to African women of the diaspora and not continental African women.[1] Second, she looks at stiwanism, which, on the contrary, places African women at the center of the discourse because stiwanism is deeply rooted in the experiences and realities African women face.[1] Third, she looks at Motherism, a maternal form of feminism that sees rural women as performing the necessary task of nurturing society.[1] Fourth, she looks at femalism, which puts the woman's body at the center of feminist conversations.[1] Finally, she looks at nego-feminism and snail-sense feminism, which urge the inclusion of men in discussions and advocacy for feminism and both argue that the inclusion of men is necessary to the freedom of women.
These modes of feminisms share several commonalities. First, they all challenge the term 'feminism,' both its Western term and roots, because they bring to the forefront the experiences of the African woman.[1] Second, because they are dependent on indigenous blueprints, they take from the histories and cultures of African peoples in order to create the necessary tools needed to embolden women and educate men.[1] Third, they incorporate 'gender inclusion, collaboration and accommodation to ensure that both women and men contribute (even if not equally) to improving the material conditions of women.'[1]
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The variety in feminisms displays the African woman's active engagement with gender relations.[1]
Examples of African feminism[edit]Feminism in Nigeria[edit]
Although noteworthy feminist movements have sprouted across the African continent, the feminist movement in Nigeria serves as a prime example of African feminism. Following the 1982 national conference, the inauguration of the organization Women in Nigeria (WIN) presented feminism in its present form - consistent, organized, with clear objectives and ideology.[21] In spite of rough beginnings, many scholars pay tribute to WIN for acting as training grounds for the emergence of organized feminist struggles in Nigeria.
During its first ten years, WIN facilitated the development of many of the self-identified feminists in Nigeria today.[21] WIN adopted an open membership policy of âcome one - come allâ, where anyone, male or female, was accepted as long as such a person accepted the provisions of WINâs Constitution.[21] WINâs open membership policy allowed the entry of many persons who had no clue about the core values of feminism and principles of gender justice.[21]
From its inception, Women in Nigeria sponsored research projects while engaging in policy advocacy and activism that holistically aimed towards enhancing the socioeconomic conditions under which many women in Nigeria experienced.[21] Furthermore, the uniqueness of WIN derives from its consciousness of both class and gender in relation to the struggle for the emancipation of Nigerian women.[21] Therefore, WIN recognized the Nigerian female experience as essentially as âdouble jeopardy,â where exploitation and oppression of women marked as dual forms of injustices, both as members of the subordinate class and as women.[21]
WIN to NFF[edit]
In January 2008, the Nigerian feminist movement inaugurated the Nigerian Feminist Forum (NFF) - which established a larger and more coherent coalition than WIN. In the early 2000s, the NFF was created after an incubation period that started with the launching of the African Feminist Forum (AFF) in Accra, Ghana. The AFF published the Charter of the Feminist Principles which serves as an informative guide for African Feminists that clearly states how African feminists define themselves, it delivers the understanding of Feminism and Patriarchy, and amplifies the identity, ethics and proper knowledge of feminist leadership across the continent of Africa.
After much success at the grassroots level, the NFF effectively expanded and replaced Women in Nigeria (WIN) as the official Nigerian Feminist Movement. Furthermore, these newly evolved Nigerian feminist movements took part of the continental (Pan African) feminist movement, where thousands of feminist activists from all over the region were brought together to fight against the Patriarchy.[21]
Challenges
The socio-economic impacts of inequity and injustice towards African feminist movements serve as detrimental stressors that inhibit womenâs rights, which tampers with their overall political movement. Overall, most women are unemployed, where in most cases even if they are employed, women are often employed as casuals, or temps.[22] This ultimately hampers womenâs ability to organize, mobilize and collectively advocate.[22] Another difficulty is how strong the patriarchy is in both urban and rural African communities.[22] This influences domestic politics within the household and ultimately in every community, which sways women to act against their own beliefs and against other women as well.[22]
Prominent Nigerian feminists[edit]Olufunmilayo Ransome-Kuti (1900 - 1978)[edit]
Serving as a teacher, an educationist, and a womenâs rights activist, Frances Abigail Olufunmilayo Ransome-Kuti is widely well-known as one of Nigeriaâs earliest and foremost champions of womenâs rights during the colonial period. At a time where most girls were not granted access to Western education, Olufunmilayo had the distinction of being the first female student of St. John Primary School, Abeokuta, from 1906 to 1913.[23] Being one of the first set of girls to attend school in Nigeria, Olufunmilayo was then sent to study abroad in England to finish her higher education at Wincham Hall College in Yorkshire. She studied Music, Education, Domestic Science and French, where in 1923, she returned to Nigeria fully equipped for a teaching career.
Although she participated in numerous domestic improvements in Nigeria, Olufunmilayo manifested remarkable contributions to the African womenâs movement that credited her the most fame. In 1944, Olufunmilayo, along with a few peers, founded the Abeokuta Ladies Club (ALC), essentially âdesigned as a social club made up of educated women like her who felt compelled to help other less privileged women.â[23] In this club, these women would learn some vocational skills, where the ALC would encourage them to read and write. With other feminist organizations gradually merging with the Abeokuta Womenâs Union (AWU) in 1946, Mrs. Olufunmilayo was chosen as president of a coalition that became a formidable instrument for combating against all forms of discrimination towards African women.
During the colonial era, the Sole Native Authority (SNA), the system of government introduced by the colonial administration in Abeokuta, were the main proponents behind all oppression towards African women. All power resided at the hands of the traditional ruler and local elites. Where women were entirely excluded from Nigerian governance, which meant no female participation in communal affairs or Nigerian politics. Under colonialism, the women of Abeokuta naturally believed that their economic and communal roles were declining, while their taxes were steadily increasing.[24] In 1949, Olufunmilayo Ransome-Kuti led a protest against the Sole Native Authority in Abeokuta, where the AWU argued for representation in local government and advocated for the abolition of the separate tax rate for women. As a result, the Egba Interim Council was formed, which included four (4) women representing the four sections of Abeokuta town.[citation needed]
Lady Kofoworola Aina Ademola (1913 - 2002)[edit]
An active volunteer and energetic social worker, Lady Kofoworola Aina Ademola has notebly been recognized as a distinguished womenâs rights activist and remarkable educationist. Coming from a rather privileged background, Lady Kofoworola traveled to England and completed her secondary school education at Portway College. Soon after, she was granted admission to University of Oxford, where she graduated with a bachelorâs degree in English. Lady Kofoworola has the honor of being the first African woman to be admitted to the University of Oxford, in 1933.[25]
The most educated, elite women coming from Lagos were members of prominent Christian families of nineteenth and twentieth-century Nigeria.[26] Nigerian pioneers like Charlotte Olajumoke Obasa, Oyinkan Abayomi, and Kofoworola Ademola, among others, completed a Western education in an array of subjects ranging from music, law, social science, to education, nursing and journalism in both Nigeria and abroad.[26] Collectively, these women broke notable barriers and certain taboos that were social norms within the Victorian and post-Victorian era.[26]
With a Western education from Oxford, Lady Kofoworola returned to Nigeria and briefly taught at Queenâs College, Lagos.[25] As a teacher, Kofoworola encouraged many of the girls to work hard in order to become achievers; her famous slogan was âbrains have no genderâ.[25] With her passion towards girlsâ education, Lady Kofoworola encouraged her communities to establish non-governmental organizations that stimulate the education of women.[25] With gradual pace, she became one of the founding members of the Nigerian Association of University Women, whose sole aim was the ultimate encouragement of girlsâ education in Nigeria.[25]
In order to increase the rather limited opportunities for Nigerian girls in secondary education, Lady Kofoworola was heavily involved in founding new secondary schools for girls. An example could be the New Era Girlsâ College, a secondary school where she served as the Headmistress.[25] Lady Kofoworola was a prominent volunteer for the Red Cross Society where she served as the first Nigerian Director of the Western Region branch.[25] In recognition of her contribution in several respected fields, Lady Kofoworola was bestowed with many honors. In 1959, she became a Member of the British Empire (MBE), where she was later granted, Officer of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (OFR).[25]
Role of men in African feminism[edit]
The goal of feminism is to empower women so as to ensure equality to men. For some people, the term feminism incorrectly came to mean a movement that was anti-male, anti-culture and anti-religion.[9] For purposes of inclusion, some women prefer to engage themselves in gender theory and activism by including men into the discussion because it promotes the idea that feminism is about equality among all genders and it is important to note that they also face hardships as males.[8] Because the majority of policy-makers in many African countries are men, some believe that inclusivity is important if women are to gain ground in policy changes that impact them.[8] The importance that many women place on communalism and family results in their desire to work with men to develop an inclusive approach to solving gender issues. In order to eradicate the oppression women face because of their gender, working with men has become a necessity.[8] The role of African men in feminism is nuanced and depends on location, environment, and personal ideology.
Variants of African feminism[edit]Womanism[edit]
Catherine Acholonu notes that feminism is useful. 'Feminism, has as its ultimate goal the triumphal emancipation of the woman as a unique, distinct individual with a mind uncluttered by patriarchal beliefs and abusive submission to tradition.'[9] However, though the general notion of feminism aims to provide women with political, social, and economical freedoms, it has been criticized as excluding the narratives and experiences of women of color, especially black women. Because of this exclusion in feminism, womanism has emerged as the African-American and African variant.[27] African Womanism addresses feminism from (1) an African perspective; (2) an African geopolitical location; (3) and an African ideological viewpoint.[1] Womanism is important because it places the feminist vision within black womenâs experiences with culture, colonialism and many other forms of domination and subjugation that impact African womenâs lives.[28] Womanism 'aims at identifying the problems relating to male dominance in society while seeking solutions to womenâs marginalization by looking inward and outward.'[8]
A variant of Womanism put forth by Clenora Hudson-Weems is Africana Womanism, terminology which she coined in the mid-1980s. Her use of the term 'Africana' indicates that women-focused activism should be inclusive of women on the African continent and women in the African Diaspora. She argues a complete break from white feminism, a movement which was created by and for white women without any incorporation of the African experience. She also argues that Africana men and women have more in common than Africana women do with white women, further reason to develop a new kind of activism.[29]
Stiwanism[edit]
Founded by Omolara Ogundipe-Leslie, Stiwanism focuses more on the structures that oppress women and the way women react to these institutionalized structures.[30] Ogundipe-Leslie argues that the struggle for African women is a result of colonial and neo-colonial structure that often place African males at the apex of social stratification.[30] Furthermore, the struggle African women face are also impart to the way they have internalized the patriarchy and have come to endorse the system themselves.[30]
Nego-feminism[edit]
African feminist, writer, and scholar Obioma Nnaemeka discusses and defines the term 'Nego-feminism' in her article Nego-Feminism: Theorizing, Practicing, and Pruning Africa's Way.' She writes, 'Nego-feminism is the feminism of negotiation; second, nego-feminism stands for 'no ego' feminism and is structured by cultural imperatives and modulated by evershifting local and global exigencies.'[31] Most African cultures have a culture of negotiation and compromise when it comes to reaching agreements.[31] In Nego-feminism, negotiations play the role of giving and taking.[31] For African feminism, in order to win challenges, feminists must negotiate and sometimes compromise enough in order to gain freedoms. Nnaemeka writes that African feminism works by knowing 'when, where, and how to detonate and go around patriarchal land mines.'[31] This means that nego-feminism knows how to utilize the culture of negotiation in order to deconstruct the patriarchy for the woman's benefit.
Motherism[edit]
In her book, Motherism: The Afrocentric Alternative to Feminism, Catherine Obianuju Acholonu writes that Africa's alternative to Western feminism is Motherism and Motherism is composed of motherhood, nature, and nurture.[6] When defined, Motherism is a multidimensional theory that involves the 'dynamics of ordering, reordering, creating structures, building and rebuilding in cooperation with mother nature at all levels of human endeavor.'[6] A motherist is someone who is committed to the survival and maintenance of Mother Earth and someone who embraces the human struggle.[6] Acholonu makes it clear, though, that a motherist can be a woman or a man. Motherism has no sex barriers because at the core of motherism is partnership, cooperation, tolerance, love, understanding, and patience.[6] In order for motherism to work, there must be a male-female complementarity that ensures the wholeness of human existence in a balanced ecosystem.[6]
Femalism[edit]Black Feminist Theory Pdf
The femalist model was developed by Chioma Opara.[30] Opara describes femalism as 'A hue of African feminism, is a softer tone than liberal feminism and highly polarized from radical feminism.'[30] At its core, femalism is African and it accentuates the African woman's body.[30]
Snail-sense feminism[edit]
Snail-sense feminism is a theory proposed by Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo.[30] This feminism encourages Nigerian woman to work slowly like a snail's movement in her dealings with men in the 'tough and very difficult patriarchal [Nigerian] society they live in.'[30] Ezeigbo proposes that women 'must learn survival strategies to be able to overcome the impediments placed before her and live a good life.'[30]
Tenets Of African Feminism PdfNotable African feminist critics[edit]References[edit]
Radical Feminism In Africa Pdf
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