Nyakallo
postamble 3 (1) 2007
Defending Feminism in Africa
Simidele Dosekun
Introduction
In this essay, I argue against the popular notion that feminism or feminists are ‘unAfrican’, and instead argue for why feminism has a necessary role to play on the African continent today. The claim or argument that ‘feminism is not African’ is certainly not new. It is a claim to which I have been explicitly or implicitly subjected by other Africans as I have come to consciousness as a feminist, while still assuming, naturally, that I can still identify as an African. One of the speakers at a recent talk I attended recounted how a student at the University of Cape Town (UCT) described her understanding of feminism as a weed that has infiltrated Africa; the implication being that it is nonindigenous and that it threatens to choke or overrun ‘true’ African values. Clearly, the argument that feminism is not African is used to dismiss it and to equate its theoretical and political development in Africa with colonialism or imperialism. It says that those who declare themselves to be feminist in Africa are not really African or are suffering from mental colonisation, upholding views which do not belong on African soil and which have no worth for African cultures or peoples, women or men.
As I understand it, the argument that something or someone is or is not African, what I call the ‘discourse of African authenticity’ following Maria Baaz,1 is based either on an essentialist or a socio-historical claim about Africa. It refers, in other words, either to an
African essence or to African traditions and cultures, and thus to the various cultural practices that have historically prevailed on the continent. In this short piece, I want to problematise such claims as they relate to feminism in Africa, asking: What does it mean to say that something is or is not African? What counts as evidence of this African identity or authenticity? And finally, even if we accept the
Defending Feminism in Africa
Simidele Dosekun
Introduction
In this essay, I argue against the popular notion that feminism or feminists are ‘unAfrican’, and instead argue for why feminism has a necessary role to play on the African continent today. The claim or argument that ‘feminism is not African’ is certainly not new. It is a claim to which I have been explicitly or implicitly subjected by other Africans as I have come to consciousness as a feminist, while still assuming, naturally, that I can still identify as an African. One of the speakers at a recent talk I attended recounted how a student at the University of Cape Town (UCT) described her understanding of feminism as a weed that has infiltrated Africa; the implication being that it is nonindigenous and that it threatens to choke or overrun ‘true’ African values. Clearly, the argument that feminism is not African is used to dismiss it and to equate its theoretical and political development in Africa with colonialism or imperialism. It says that those who declare themselves to be feminist in Africa are not really African or are suffering from mental colonisation, upholding views which do not belong on African soil and which have no worth for African cultures or peoples, women or men.
As I understand it, the argument that something or someone is or is not African, what I call the ‘discourse of African authenticity’ following Maria Baaz,1 is based either on an essentialist or a socio-historical claim about Africa. It refers, in other words, either to an
African essence or to African traditions and cultures, and thus to the various cultural practices that have historically prevailed on the continent. In this short piece, I want to problematise such claims as they relate to feminism in Africa, asking: What does it mean to say that something is or is not African? What counts as evidence of this African identity or authenticity? And finally, even if we accept the
Cited: Discourses. (Minneapolis, USA: University of Minnesota Press), 1997. University of California Berkeley), 1982. Princeton University Press, 1998). Social Sciences. Eds. A. Imam, A.Mama and F. Sow. (Dakar: CODESRIA, 1997), p. 17. Blindspot in an African Masculinity.’ Journal of Southern African Studies 24.4 1998; Jessica Horn. ‘ReRighting the Sexual Body. Feminist Africa 6. 2006. (London/New York: Zed Books, 2005 16 Amina, Mama. ‘Editorial.’ Feminist Africa 1. 2002, p. 1. Feminist Voices for a New Generation. Eds. Wilson, S., Sengupta, A. and Evans, K. (London/New York: Zed Books), 2005.