A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF FEMINISM IN AFRICA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
MEANING AND NATURE OF FEMINISM
The struggle for women’ right began in the 18th century during the period of intense intellectual activity known as the Age of Enlightenment.
Feminism is said to be the organized movement which promotes equality for men and women in all spheres of life ranging from political,
economic to social spheres. Feminists believe that women are oppressed simple due to their sex based on the dominant ideology of patriarchy. Ridding society of patriarchy will result in liberation for women, men and minority religions and ethnic configurations.
Feminism can also be said to be a system which directly or indirectly oppresses women through it’s social, economic and political institutions. Throughout history men have had greater power in both the public and private spheres especially in the African settings. To
maintain this power, men have created boundaries and obstacles for women, thus making it difficult for women to attain or hold power.
There is an unequal access to power. Patriarchy also includes the oppression of ethnic minorities. Feminism ideology can take many different
forms. In early 1970’s, women started developing a theory which helped to explain their
oppression. Pockets of resistance began to organize and challenge patriarchy. By the 1980’s, however, feminists started disagreeing on
particular issues linked to feminism. What was once one theory, began to branch out into many theories that focused on different feminist issues. Today, there are as many definitions of feminism as there are feminists. Each definition of feminism depends on a
number of factors including ones own beliefs, history and culture.
In traditional Africa the woman is an object of constant scorn, degradation and physical torture. In the past, women did not exist as individuals with personalities to defend. They rather existed as mere docile and exotic accompaniments to the males. Throughout that
period, women lacked a voice to articulate their dilemma and their points of view. They, thus, accepted their fate without resistance.
Such passive stance results from societal conditioning through questionable cultural practices. From birth, through childhood and adolescence, to adulthood, Africans receive from society and others around the messages and feedbacks which launch them into roles
and behaviors considered appropriate for males and females respectively. Most oen,
female are accorded inferior roles and such long years of cultural suppression and intimidation, unfortunately, misled the women into an underestimation of their capabilities and self.
