Feminism is not African, a question of cultural doublethink

One of the most crippling things for African men and women who are feminist is continually needing to respond to claims that feminism is not African. Whether they advocate equal education opportunities for girls and boys or women’s reproductive rights etc., African feminists hear the same mantra again and again, “Feminism is not African.”

Well, here’s a few examples of things which are not, per se, African – democracy, automobiles, scotch eggs and the English language. Heck, the word Africa is not African. But you never hear anyone object to those things for having originated elsewhere.

Furthermore, did you ever hear Germans advise other Germans to stop using mathematics because its roots are in Africa? Or, Italians refraining from coffee because coffee originates from Ethiopia? Neither have I.

To be sure, feminism as an ideology traces to early twentieth century America, where white women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B Anthony led the Seneca Encampment and suffrage movements. However, already then the movement was influenced by previously enslaved African women such as Anna J Cooper and Ida B Wells as well as men like Frederick Douglass.

In addition, the world’s first feminist union was African. Not to mention that African history contains some of the earliest accounts of women claiming power.

Considering all this, why do so many people make the claim that feminism is not African? After all, most Africans are unquestionably in favour of women’s rights. They agree that women should be able to participate in shaping society, they agree that African women should be leaders in their own right, they agree that African history always cherished women of prominence.

In other words, they agree with the feminist cause. Yet, because of a psychological state known as “doublethink” they claim to not believe in a cause in which they actually believe.

Doublethink was described by George Orwell in his legendary book, 1984, as the ability to simultaneously hold two contradictory beliefs. Unlike cognitive dissonance, a related term where contradictory beliefs cause conflict in a person’s mind, doublethink is marked by complete unawareness of holding contradicting views.

It is doublethink, for example, to support women’s equality in Africa but to simultaneously claim that the most successful tool for achieving women’s equality—namely, feminism—can not be African.

By the way, in case there’s any doubt that feminism is the most successful tool for securing women’s rights consider the following.

It is thanks to feminism that we live in a world today where women can vote, drive, work, or get a university education. In a pan-African context, we have feminism to thank for legislating against harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation and breast ironing. Feminists saw to it that the new South African constitution inserted anti-rape laws.

In April 2014, when hundreds of girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram militants, it was feminists who brought awareness about the incident to an international audience. Culturally too, African feminists have put in place literary festivals and publishing houses and three of Africa’s Nobel Peace Prize recipients are feminists.

It would be a tragedy if the legacy and emerging feminist movement in the continent were stifled by a doublethink message. Just because the term feminism was coined in the west does not mean it only is relevant in the west. As the renowned African writer Ama Ata Aidoo says, “how feminism is formulated depends on the details of the particular environment.”

Well, the details of our particular environment are this. We rank too low on the Global Gender Gap report. Which is not all too surprising when you consider that despite prevailing unjust conditions for women, the Nigerian senate recently voted against a Gender Equality bill.

Let me be clear, men also have their gripes with society that should be taken equally seriously. They face pressure to be providers, they have to put up with a destructive definition of masculinity and so on. As Uchegbu Ndubuisi Chiagozie writes, “society prevents men from showing emotions and vulnerabilities”. The truth is, both genders benefit from a feminist society where men and women live fully human lives, mutually and equally.

So next time someone sneers at feminism while claiming to support women’s rights, don’t forget that there’s a great chance that they’re a victim of doublethink.