African feminism
Figures such as Nana Asma'u, an 18th-century African princess, and her Yan Taru movement to empower and educate women in the Sokoto Caliphate are considered precursors to modern feminism in Africa.
There exist regional, ethnic, political, and religious differences that impact how women conceptualize what feminism and freedom look like for them.
She writes, "History has constructed our sexuality and our femininity as deviating from those qualities with which white women, as the prize of the Western world, have been endowed.
[20] Elma Akob, a Cameroonian scholar, delivered a 2022 TEDx Talk suggesting that western feminism is incompatible with African history, norms, and cultures.
[4] Others, like Buchi Emecheta, Molara Ogundipe, Micere Githae Mugo, Amina Mama, and Obioma Nnaemeka, have accepted some mainstream feminist values, while also making clear their reservations around using "feminism" in the African context.
[4] In contrast with white, western feminism, any African movement for gender equity must address specific historical and cultural conditions in Africa in order to provide value.
But the argument that an African gender discourse labelled "feminism" is specifically needed may just be an issue of terminology biased by western perspectives.
[4] In many ways, the term "African feminism" is incongruous with the fight to attain gender equity amidst challenges specific to various parts of Africa.
In the pre-colonial area, African women held positions of prominence, contributing socially and economically in a patrilineal society by managing the younger family members and being involved with international trade.
Stella Nyanzi writes: "African feminists are sharply divided, with the bulk of the majority resistant to challenging heterosexism and homophobia in their praxis against patriarchy.
[4] After all, the majority of current policy-makers across the continent are men, and African feminists need some support from these bodies in order to gain ground in policy change.
[17] Finally, she looks at nego-feminism and snail-sense feminism, which urge the inclusion of men in feminist discourse in order to achieve the freedom of women.
[17] Second, because they are dependent on indigenous blueprints, they take from the histories and cultures of African peoples in order to create the necessary tools needed to embolden women and educate men.
[28] Womanism "aims at identifying the problems relating to male dominance in society while seeking solutions to women’s marginalization by looking inward and outward.
"[citation needed] Ezeigbo proposes that women "must learn survival strategies to be able to overcome the impediments placed before her and live a good life.
Siyakaka feminism literally means “we’re shitting all over you” and emerges from the intersectional experiences of being black, queer, femme, gender nonconforming, and working class.
[36] In spite of rough beginnings, many scholars pay tribute to WIN for acting as training grounds for the emergence of organized feminist struggles in Nigeria.
[36] WIN's open membership policy allowed the entry of many persons who had no clue about the core values of feminism and principles of gender justice.
In the early 2000s, the NFF was created after an incubation period that started with the launching of the African Feminist Forum (AFF) in Accra, Ghana.
After much success at the grassroots level, the NFF effectively expanded and replaced Women in Nigeria (WIN) as the official Nigerian Feminist Movement.
[37] Since the global rise of social media, Kenyan feminists have adapted their tactics in order to take advantage of powerful new platforms.
For instance, the #JusticeForLiz movement emerged in 2013 after a sixteen-year-old girl named Liz was gang-raped while walking home from her grandfather's funeral in Butula County, Kenya.
[39] Instead of facing real legal consequences, the suspected perpetrators were sentenced to mild manual labor at the local police station.
Similar online feminist justice communities emerged in the wake of two other acts of violence against Kenyan girls: #JusticeForKhadija and #JusticeForFatuma.
[39] This time, they rallied around the campaign #WeAre52, which advocated for a rule mandating that no governing body be composed of more than two-thirds members of a single gender.
This trend has been analyzed and called to attention in the "difference debate," which refers to interactions between black and white gender activists.
In recent years, post-structuralist theoretical frameworks tend to dominate the South African feminist discourse, leaving room for multiple identity standpoints and subjectivity.
"[41] Mogwe argues that the donor-aid economic development model which dominates Botswana and much of the Global South pushes women towards increasing marginalization.
[42] In accordance with the paradigm of difference feminist theory, many Rwandan women have organized their activism to prioritized perceived female strengths like caretaking, connection, and anti-violence.
Well-known African feminists include Frances Abigail Olufunmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Lady Kofoworola Aina Ademola, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Mona Eltahawy, Nawal El Saadawi, Maria Sarungi, Fatma Karume, Meaza Ashenafi, Zara Kay, Stella Nyanzi, Pumla Dineo Gqola, Esther Kimani, Modupe Mary Kolawole, Oyeronke Oyewumi, Nkiru Uwachia Nzegwu, Ifi Amadiume, Chinyere Ukpokolo, Molara Ogundipe-Leslie, and Bolanle Awe.
