Indigenous Afro-Feminist Theories in Africa

Introduction

Indigenous Afro-feminist theories rooted in African histories and cultures, have been devised to connote Afro-feminism largely based on the unhu/ubuntu philosophy including womanism, motherism, stiwanism, nego-feminism, femalism, religious feminism like Islamic feminism, bread and butter feminism, the contemporary wave of young feminists, among others. At the root of these indigenous Afro-feminist theories is the recognition of the fact that men and women share the world and should therefore share in the joys and suffering of their fellow human beings. These indigenous Afro-feminist theories came as a form of resistance to “cultural imperialism by which the West undermines the philosophical ideologies and belief systems of African peoples” (Nkeala, 2016, p. 61). Although, these Indigenous Afro-feminist theorists problematise aspects of culture that denigrate women, they argue for the retention of African values favourable to upholding social cohesion, human dignity, collective effort and respect for humanity as evidenced in the ubuntu philosophy and traditions. As such, indigenous Afro-feminist theoretical frameworks seek to “revise and retain African traditions” (Chigwedere, 2010, p. 24).

Western feminism is the term given to the feminism theorised and practised by the Western women who claim to be feminists, but do not regard other races in their ideology (Musingafi, 2023; Musingafi, Mafumbate & Khumalo, 2021). Western women seemed not to consider the African experience, knowing full well that African women go through series of oppression both in their homeland and in the Western world. Rather, they spoke only about their own experiences and the various ways in which they could eradicate the patriarchal system. They, therefore, kept the ideology of racism by oppressing the African women in ways which they themselves would not have wanted to be oppressed. Thus, the absence of a globe-centric realization has led to various versions of feminism, especially in Africa, where these versions are constantly preached about and also practised. These African feminists (not necessarily women) express the experiences and struggles of the African woman.

The crux of the matter is that the African woman is subjected to double oppression in the aspect of Western feminism, misogyny or patriarchy (as the case may be) and racism. This is because the Western woman oppresses the African woman, her fellow woman, based on her skin colour. Therefore, what Western women consider to be feminism is different from what African women aspire to (Musingafi, 2023; Thebe, 2023; Musili, 2023).

In many African cultures, the relation of the individual to the collective differs from Western cultures where the individual is more prominent. It should therefore come as no surprise that women in pre-colonial Africa expressed their discontent with existing social norms collectively. In precolonial Africa, women’s powers were manifested in different ways. There were collective avenues through which women interacted with their societies. One example is the anlu practices of the Kom women in Cameroon. The Kom women would wear men’s clothes and at times strip naked to voice their unhappiness about social, political or economic issues. This shows that individuals in these communities sought to act as part of a unit prior to colonialism. The same applies to men in these communities as the village meetings held by men in Igbo cultures tell of a disposition towards the collective. Therefore, ideologies that privilege the individual story over the collective are less likely to be widely accepted by African women (Musingafi, 2023).