What is feminism? Quite simply, feminism is about all genders having equal rights and opportunities. Feminism primarily arose in response to Western traditions that restricted women’s rights, but feminist thought has global manifestations and variations.
Feminism is about respecting diverse individual experiences, identities, knowledge, and strengths and striving to empower all women and minority groups to realize their full rights.
Most would ask why mention “all genders” but still highlight women and minorities within society as the prominent surfers. The prevalence of injustice towards women and minority groups is due to nurtured patriarchy, cultural gender norms, sexism, sexist exploitation or oppression, and gender microaggressions most men have been socialized to perpetuate.
All these factors range from gender inequalities between all the gender binaries, social constructions of hegemonic masculinities, normalization of violence, and cultural practices.
“Embracing the feminist movement is the only route to achieving gender equality, and it empowers men and women to live freer and more complete lives,” Alannah Marsden.
The conditions giving rise to feminism in Africa include the history of ancient civilizations, colonial rule and imperialism, women’s involvement in nationalist struggles, and contemporary social movements.
African feminism is a type of feminism innovated by African women that specifically addresses the conditions and needs of continental African women.
African feminism often conflicts with Western feminism and its hegemonic tendencies, holding that it fails to address concerns about corporate globalization, race, class, and other social divisions.
African feminism sees that African men and women could have mutually beneficial, transformative, and progressive relationships in the private and public spheres if our relationships were non-patriarchal and meritocratic.
African feminists assume responsibility for striving for such equal societies rather than hoping that men will someday redistribute privilege and power to create a better, more harmonious prospect for future generations.
Women earn less and are more likely to live in poverty, male violence against women and sexual harassment are ‘norms’ in all societies, and men are more likely to commit suicide – patriarchy is to blame for all these occurrences.
African feminists agree that men are similarly oppressed, and that gender equality means oppression of neither gender. Feminism is the antidote to/and the effects of patriarchy.
African feminist thought is embodied through collectivism and collaboration. African feminism is about decolonization.
