THE AFROFEMINIST

J.G. Boccella 2013

 THE AFROFEMINIST

"What are you doing not in your country right now? Why did you run off to America, Darling Nonkululeko Nkala, huh? If it’s your country, you have to love it to live in it and not leave it. You have to fight for it no matter what, to make it right. Tell me, do you abandon your house because it’s burning or do you find water to put out the fire? And if you leave it burning, do you expect the flames to turn into water and put themselves out? You left it, Darling, my dear, you left the house burning and you have the guts to tell me, in that accent that you were not even born with, that this is your country?"

I read this in a book a couple of months ago. Its an AMAZING book called We Need New Names by Noviolet Bulawayo (you can review it here on Goodreads). It tells the story of Darling, the female protagonist who has always dreamed of moving to America for a better life and when she finally does move she gets absorbed into the American lifestyle and trying to blend in. In the midst of this she ends up losing touch with her friends, family and pretty much the Zimbabwean situation back home. At the very end of the book in a weak attempt to maintain ties she calls her old friend Chipo still living in Zimbabwe and in a pursuit to sympathize she tries to identify herself with the struggles back home and the conversation above is what ensues.

Being Zimbabwean myself I can sympathize with Darling. The feeling of being Zimbabwean is similar to the feeling of falling out of grace. To be Zimbabwean is to be identified with a useless currency, poverty, complicated politics and so many other things I cannot begin to list. Sometimes you want to get away from it all and be like "Yes I am Zimbabwean, BUT... I grew up in Kenya or South Africa, the UK, America etc...." some kind of excuse, something to distance yourself from all the negativity. Luckily for our country there are those people like Chipo who are fiercely proud and patriotic who decide that they would rather stay in Zimbabwe and ACTIVELY try and make things better regardless  of the unfavorable conditions and traits attached to the identity to me she is the True Zimbabwean.

What does this have to do with Feminism? Starting this blog I knew I wanted to write about Feminist issues but I did not want to be identified as a Feminist because Feminism to me has always been identified with hostility, forcefulness and aggressiveness. Being a African Conservative Christian I could not see how Feminism as I see it currently being portrayed could harmonize with my beliefs and culture. I guess I was kind of being a Darling, sharing with her the desire to sympathize with a cause but not wanting to share the full weight that comes along with being fully devoted to it or not wanting to face the hostility I might receive as a result of being distinctly identified with it. Unlike the patriotic Chipo, I did not want to be a patriotic feminist because I did not want to be labeled threatening or as one of my friends put it "a feminist man-hater"

My mother said something very poignant about this she said "Feminism has been around for a very long time and what began as a noble movement has been messed up by other people hijacking it and turning it into something negative and because of this good people with amazing causes are not listened to because of the label "Feminist". My mother is not the only one who cringes at word "feminist" just last week actress Shailene Woodley was stoned by feminists in the media for refusing to call herself a feminist.and in an article on Defining African Feminism African Feminist Fungai Machirori comments on Feminism in Zimbabwe (and I guess we can broadly say Africa), that "A Feminist identity connotes rebellion and radicalism. Feminism is still largely something that other people do."

This being said, with soo much pessimistic energy floating around it, what average African female or male putting into consideration our cultures and beliefs, would want to be called a feminist? I decided to read up on some feminist history and came up with this summary: The original feminist sought to prove that women were capable in their own right and not just an extension of men. They fought, so that women could be given equal opportunities as men to express their potential and therefore make their own meaningful contribution to the creation of a better society. Because of this, women today globally are allowed access to better education, good jobs, participation in government, and legislative policies that protect us against evils we previously were vulnerable to. We now have all these rights that we take for granted not realizing that these were once privileges we did not have access to and that others especially on our continent still do not have access to.

The world has come a long way since then but we have not arrived at our destination. To be specific in Africa, women make up a little over half of the population but across the continent we are only represented by just two female Heads of State.  And It is not just Heads of State where we have low ratios of women, this trend is also  widespread in African Parliaments and Government seats where politics is considered a Boys Game. Because of culture and society female leaders in politics, business, education even religion are often intimidated, harassed and discriminated against based on their womanhood and not on their policies or their capabilities. There is so much stigma attached to being a successful women, an expressive woman, a passionate woman, a strong willed woman and these are just a fraction of the problems faced by but not exclusive to the Urban African woman! those faced by the rural woman are so much more severe, they are more prone to numerous issues such as Gender Based Violence, access to education and sexual assault because they are not in an environment that encourages them to practice their rights as women freely.

So knowing that there is so much that needs to be done in regards to AfroFeminism do we abandon the cause due to stigma? campaign for it halfheartedly  due to a label? In my opinion, to use Chipo's words "What are you doing not being a AfroFeminist!? If the Cause is yours you have to love it, not leave it, you need to fight for it and make those misconceptions that people have about it right! You cant leave it to burn in the fire of negativity because negativity wont put itself out. You cant claim the cause if you don't want to be a part of the cause." You need to be the True Feminist!

Because of this I personally feel that it is important for me and other Africans to identify ourselves as Feminists regardless of the negative connotations attached to the label. We need to educate people and make them understand the core beliefs of feminism ACTIVELY doing what we can to change perceptions so that Feminism can be restored to its original NOBLE reputation and women across the continent can be enabled to make their own meaning contributions towards a better society.

Therefore I AM A AFROFEMINIST! What are you?




Want to be a part of the AfroFeminist Movement? You can start by checking out these links:

50 African Women You Should Follow on Twitter
Defining African Feminism (I loved this one!)
How African Feminism Changed The World

Please feel free to share your views openly!