Ini, the African Feminist?

Two days ago, I learnt I was listed on the 2013 AWP Network Power List (http://awpnetwork.com/2013/12/02/the-2013-awp-network-power-list).  Shocked and flattered as I was, I found it was linked to my Twitter account and someone now sent me an email asking me to explain why I call myself an African feminist.

So I began thinking of it – How am I an African feminist? Then I recalled Rebecca Mae West’s take on the subject: whenever I do anything that differentiates me from a doormat, people call me a feminist.

I am a feminist because I stand tall and high on women issues.  I like the word because it identifies me with a community of confident and radical women, many of whom I respect, both as individuals and for what they have contributed to the development of the world as we know it. These ancestors include many African, Asian, Latin American, Middle Eastern, European and American women of all colours and creeds, past and present. 

 

I am an African feminist because, in the words of Minna Salami - ‘The truth is that feminism is an absolute necessity for African societies. We rank lowest in the global gender equality index; have some of the highest numbers of domestic violence, the highest number of female circumcision and other harmful traditions.’

I am a feminist because I believe that is nothing wrong in being ambitious and successful as a woman and also be a good wife and mother.  Women are good balancers and we have much more capacity than we can ever imagine.

I am an African feminist because I am committed to fighting the very many injustices that face African women.  Patriarchy and culture relegates women’s work and abilities to common vestiges and this I disagree with.

I am an African feminist because women are still seen as having half brain and not created as equal beings.  The churches preach it, our fathers carry it out and our mothers train their girls to only attain to marriage    after everything else.  Marriage has become what defines a successful woman. I disagree because God made marriage so the man should not be alone as God knew the man cannot be alone. He needs a woman!!!!

Being a feminist doesn’t mean I hate men. Nah, I love men, I do men, and I’m married to a man. It just means I do not want to be treated as a second class citizen or a half human.

I am an African feminist because I believe that it is a man’s job to respect a woman but it is a woman’s job to give him something to respect.

I am a feminist because I know the higher my standards, the higher the quality of life I live.