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Perspectives on African Feminism: Defining and Classifying African-

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Perspectives on African Feminism: Defining and Classifying African-Feminist Literatures

Author(s): Susan Arndt
Source: Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity, No. 54 (2002), pp. 31-44
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of Agenda Feminist Media
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4548071
Accessed: 16-09-2015 12:59 UTC

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Perspectives on African feminism:

defining and classifying African-

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feminist literatures

The concrete orientation and execution ojcriticism in Africanfeminist texts varies widely, writes SUSAN
 ARNDT She distinguishes three main currents of
African-feminist literature - reformist, transformative

radica

? shall not protest if you call me a feminist', stresses the Ghanaian woman writer Ama Ata Aidoo,
and continues:

But I am not a feminist because I write about women. Are men writers male chauvinist

pigs just because they write about men? Or is a writer an African nationalist just by
writing about Africans? Or a revolutionary for writing about poor oppressed humanity?
Obviously not.. .no writer, female or male, is a feminist just by writing about women (Aidoo,
1982:41).

Aidoo's statement touches on a sore point. The label 'feminist' is often used, but the notions
associated with it tend to differ tremendously. Not infrequently this leads to difficulties in placing
oneself or a literary text in context. Flora Nwapa is a good example of this. In 1984 the Nigerian
woman writer expressed indignation at the fact that, just because she wrote about women,
was constantly 'accused' of being a feminist. But the truth was she wanted nothing to do with
feminism because of its anti-men stance. At most, she said, she could identify with Alice Walker's
womanism (Flora Nwapa in Perry, 1984). Ten years later she took part in a conference in Nsukka,
at which the topic of feminism was debated. After hearing a speech by Aidoo, she explained:

Years back, when I go on my tours to America and Europe, I'm usually asked, Are you
feminist?' I deny that I am a feminist.... But
they say, all your works, everything is about
'
feminism. And I say, No, I am not a feminist. Buchi Emecheta is another one that said:
? am a feminist with a small f (whatever Buchi means). Having heard Obioma on Monday,

having heard Ama [Ata Aidoo] today, I think that I will go out and say that I am a feminist
with a f because Obioma said on Monday that feminism is about possibilities; there
are possibilities, there are choices. Let us not be afraid to say that we are feminists....

Globally, we need one another (Nwapa cited in Nnaemeka, 1995:82-83).

Nwapa's statements provide an example of how important it is to clearly establish the criteria
on the basis of which an author or a text can be classified as 'feminist'.

Gender debates influenced by post-structuralism have given rise to an understanding of the

dynamics, complexity and diversity of feminism, which make it necessary to speak of feminisms
rather than feminism. This plurality emerges from a wide range of coordinates, with regional
differences playing an important role.

Agenda 54 2002

Artide

Partly in protest against the White history of and the White domination within feminism,
also due to the This content downloaded
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of African societies, African feminism has formed. The African discourse on feminism is manifested
in part in the theorisation of alternative concepts to feminism. The best-known is Chikwenye

Ogunyemi's concept of African womanism, which she developed at the beginning of the
almost at the same time as and without knowledge of Alice Walker's womanism. Other concepts
are Mary Kolawole's womanism, Molara Ogundipe-Leslie's stiwanism (acronym of: Social
Transformations Women in Africa) and Nnaemeka's - feminism of
Including negofeminism
negotiation. The Nigerian feminist scholar, activist and writer Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, and
others speak of African feminism in order to express the ambivalence being located
network of a global feminism, and focuses and concepts emerging from the concrete social and
cultural constellations of African societies (Adimora-Ezeigbo, 1996).

Just as there are diverse terminological approaches to African challenges of gender issues,
impossible to assume homogeneity of feminism in Africa. The diversity of social realities
African continent has had a lasting effect on conceptions of feminism, making it necessary
to use the plural with respect to feminsim in Africa as well. Nonetheless, there is something
like a common denominator of African feminism.
It is

impossible | Generally speaking, African feminism gets to the bottom of African gender relations and
to assume the problems of African women - their causes and consequences
illuminating
homo- criticises them. In so doing, African feminism aims at upsetting the existing matrix of

of domination and overcoming it, thus transfonriing gender relationships and conceptions
geneity
in African societies and improving the situation of African women.
feminism
in Africa
This criticism of existing concepts of gender is realised on the basis of certain paradigms,
which, however, only describe tendencies and do not necessarily represent obligatory
criteria for African feminism. These criteria include, first of all, the idea of a cooperation
or complementarity with men, the affirmation of motherhood and the family, and, secondly,
the concern to criticise patriarchal manifestations in African societies in a differentiated
This means above all that African feminism weighs which traditional institutions are
 agreeable and positive for women, or at least can or could be, and which disadvantage women
so severely that their abolition seems imperative. This careful consideration has much to do with
the position of many African feminists that the criticism of African societies inherent
criticism of African gender relationships weakens Africa's position with respect to the West,
well as African resistance to western cultural imperialism. Thirdly, African feminism aims
discussing gender roles in the context of other oppressive mechanisms such as racism,
neocolonialism, (cultural) imperialism, socio-economic exclusion and exploitation, gerontocracy,
religious fundamentalism as well as dictatorial and/or corrupt systems. With this approach, African
theories of feminism by far exceed even the race-class-gender approach of African American
feminism. Fourth, many African feminists do not leave it at a criticism of patriarchal structures,
but also attempt to identify both traditionally-established and entirely new scopes and alternatives
for women which would be tantamount to overcoming their oppression.

32 Agenda 54 2002

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