Conceptualising Feminism in Africa

Abstract

This chapter argues that feminism in Africa is anchored on a different worldview from mainstream feminism in the West. Where Western feminism sees men as the enemy and oppressors of women, feminism in Africa regards men as partners in dismantling the harmful aspects of patriarch. African feminism is distinctive from Western feminism in that it uses the intersectionality of African women oppressive forces as a category of analysis and re-construction. Western feminism has remained questionable and incompatible with African values and realities, especially when it identifies men as the enemy and stands against values of marriage, childbearing, and preservation of the family. Western feminism has also failed to address significant issues of race, ethnicity, identity, class, and gender, which affect African women. Hence the need for experiential based and culturally congruent regional feminism like African feminism advocating for emancipation of not only African women but all groups suffering from the ills of patriarchy and accompanying forces and modes of oppression.