African feminism

African feminism includes theories and movements which specifically address the experiences and needs of continental African women (African women who reside on the African continent). From a western perspective, these theories and movements fall under the umbrella label of Feminism, but this categorization is misleading for many branches of African "feminism". African women have been engaged in gender struggle since long before the existence of the western-inspired label "African feminism," and this history is often neglected. Despite this caveat, this page will use the term feminism with regard to African theories and movements in order to fit into a relevant network of Wikipedia pages on global feminism (such as feminism in Sweden, feminism in India, feminism in Mexico, feminism in Japan, feminism in Germany, and feminism in South Africa). Because Africa is not a monolith, no single feminist theory or movement reflects the entire range of experiences African women have. African feminist theories are sometimes aligned, in dialogue, or in conflict with Black Feminism or African womanism (which is perceived as by and for African women in the diaspora, rather than African women on or recently from the continent). This page covers general principles of African feminism, several distinct theories, and a few examples of feminist movements and theories in various African countries.

Scholars like Gabeba Baderoon and Alicia C. Decker argue that African women were the first feminists. 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.

African women were already deeply engaged at the World Conference on Women, 1985 and have long been recognizing each other's contributions. Others believe that African feminism is a more recent phenomenon; a response to shortcomings in mainstream, western feminist theory.

Regardless of its possible origins, African feminism is not merely a response to the exclusion of the African woman from the white feminist vision. African women have had the ingenuity and desire to create manifestations of feminism that embrace their own backgrounds and experiences. African feminism includes numerous theories and movements that voice the realities of women in varying African countries. Women's needs, reality, oppression, and empowerment are best addressed via an inclusive and accommodating understanding of the generic and more general issues as well as the peculiarities and group attitude to self-definition as women. Naomi Nkealah writes: African feminism "strives to create a new, liberal, productive, and self-reliant African woman within the heterogeneous cultures of Africa. Feminisms in Africa, ultimately, aim at modifying culture as it affects women in different societies."

At the same time, Africa is not a monolith. For this reason, some scholars have critiqued the idea of any "African feminism." There exist regional, ethnic, political, and religious differences that impact how women conceptualize what feminism and freedom look like for them. While African women from, for example, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa and Senegal will have some commonalities, there will be variations in the way they understand gender and gender struggles. Different African women experience the world in vastly different ways. One must recognize and respect these differences, rather than attempting to merge all women under an unrealistic expectation of universal sisterhood. However, there is also some commonality to the struggles women face across the world. This common factor is male privilege.

The modern African woman is strong, smart, and resilient. She seeks to create new possibilities for the generations of African women that will come after her. Ghanaian feminists, for example, contribute to such efforts by using social media to change the public discourse around feminism.

Some scholars have called for more attention in African feminist theory to sex work, the white savior complex, violence against African women, women in the military, fieldwork with African women, same-sex intimacies, contemporaneity, and activists' thought.

As an ideology, Feminism was not created with African black women in mind. Western feminism, a predominantly white ideology, has historically excluded the experiences of black women and continental African women. This white feminism fails to account for the particular issues black women face at the intersection of both blackness and womanhood. Furthermore, white feminism often classifies African women simply as "women of color," which overlooks the African woman's historical trajectory and specific experience. In "White Women Listen! Black Feminism and the Boundaries of Sisterhood," Hazel Carby notes that white feminism attempts to deal with the normative experience of all women. 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." However, white feminism cannot erase Africa or African women from feminist theory or feminist advocacy. Africa is the Mother Continent of humanity, and the narratives and experiences of African women will always be relevant.