Readings in Gender in Africa
Edited by Andrea Cornwall
In Readings in Gender in Africa, one of the latest contributions to the field of gender in Africa, editor Andrea Cornwall brings together a cross-section of scholars and activists. Contributors include well-known scholars in African feminist literature as well as lesser-known scholars in the area of African gender studies. The five sections and 28 edited essays span the continent and cover a multitude of relevant topics, covering gender in Africa ideologically, as a movement, and as a subconscious part of African women's lives.
The first section of essays addresses the multiple images of African women, images that have shaped the way the world has historically seen African women. According to Andrea Cornwall, the image of the African woman has historically been painted to justify her enslavement, oppression, salvation, and her need to be rescued from both her own ignorance and the oppression of the African man. Andrea Cornwall is justifiably critical in her assessment of the ways in which African women have been portrayed. In support of those criticisms, Josephine Beoku-Betts' essay gives an honest and unforgiving examination of colonial images of African women, taking a historical look at the ways in which African women have been dehumanized. These images were so destructive because they shaped how the world viewed African women, a view that has yet to be fully overcome.
Niara Sudarkasa's chapter focuses on the status of women in pre-colonial West Africa. Sudarkasa examined the erosion of those roles by the colonial system, which undermined the political, social, and economic status of women in Africa. Much of the literature that has been written on gender in Africa points to more egalitarian gender relations in pre-colonial Africa, relations that were disrupted by colonial systems. She outlines how women in pre-colonial Africa had greater rights to land, to family inheritance, access to political power and greater freedom of movement, which were often weakened by colonial administrations. This is acknowledged and expanded upon throughout the book.
This first section also examines the complex differences between African and Western feminist thought. Obioma Nnaemeka breaks down the foundational issues that created the need for African women to break with Western feminist scholars to establish African feminist ideologies that dealt specifically with African issues and were created in African settings. Cornwall refers to it as complementarity and cooperation between women and men vs. individualism and emphasis on sexuality and conflict with men. With this, African feminist scholars have even come up with terms such as STIWANISM, motherism, womanism, and Africana womanism, to distinguish themselves from Western feminists. African feminist thought is an important segment of gender in Africa, and cannot be overstated. This is a hot area of debate between African and Western gender activists. While there is much uniformity among African feminists over many of the basic issues laid out by Nnaemeka, the author also expresses that even among African women, the name, shape, and scope of the feminist movement on the continent is far from settled and uniform. While some key African feminist scholars were not among the book's authors, both the introduction and Nnaemeka's chapter highlighted much of the ideological foundation of African feminist thought.
The second and third sections accurately address identity and the multitude of identities African women adopt, as well as the income generating activities of many African women. Among the authors in this sections Nancy Rose Hunt, Timothy Burke, and Caroline Bledsoe's essays on Belgian Africa, Zimbabwe, and Sierra Leone, respectively, explain how colonialism impacted African women economically and solidified the domestcisized, subservient view of women while promoting the status and importance of the male breadwinner. These case studies are a poignant examination of women in colonial Africa.
Nakanyike Musisi's essay on night market women in Kampala, Uganda highlights the few options that are often available to women in urban Africa, women who ultimately contribute to the continent's vast informal economy. This chapter is a snapshot into the lives of these women, who can be found in any major city in Africa, selling prepared food and other wares. With little education or family support, the women Musisi interviewed sell prepared foods on the streets of Kampala. The dangers they face and the choices they make are in large part a reflection of the ills facing Ugandan society, namely the continued urban migration along side high rates of poverty.
Section four addresses religion. Iris Berger looks at African women in East Africa and their role and status in indigenous religious groups and as spirit mediums. While the use of the word "cults," - and all its negative connotations - may or may not be deserved, Berger takes an interesting look at the way spirit mediums are perceived in East Africa, by both the community and members of the same religious "cults," where women have carved out a space for themselves. The chapter by Berger is the extent of the book's investigation into traditional African religious practices. Given the thin line between African culture and African religion, the fact that other chapters did offer a look at pre-colonial African traditions and institutions was helpful in gaining an understanding of African religious and social foundations.
Victoria Bernal's chapter looks at the role Muslim women have played as gatekeepers of tradition in a Sudanese village in the middle of a wave of Islamic fundamentalism. Bernal takes an innovative approach to Islamic fundamentalism in Africa, not seeing it as a return to tradition or a reaction to Western influence, but as a force for change and transformation. It was in this spirit that the author gives a fascinating look at how Islamic fundamentalism has slowly transformed a village in Sudan.
On Christianity, Andrea Cornwall asserts that African women are often forced to negotiate cultural and traditional roles with Christian ascribed roles. Deborah Gaithskell and Stephan Mieschaer finish up the section with the impacts of Christianity on gender roles in South Africa and Ghana, respectively. Gaisthskell takes an exciting look at women's associations in South Africa and their impacts on women's domestic roles. The chapter shows how the roles of South African women in the church directly impact their roles in the home. Mieschaer's chapter looks at the Presbyterian Church in colonial Ghana and how it impacted changes in ideas of male masculinity.
The fifth and final section looks at government and politics. Bolanle Awe and Jean Allman look at women among the Yoruba and Asante, respectively, and the eroding of women's power under colonialism. Awe short essay looks at female leaders in the Yoruba political system. Allman's essay looks at a specific period in Asante colonial history in which unmarried women were arrested and forced into marriage. The chapter outlines the impact this had on the reproductive rights of Asante women during that period.
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Laray Denzer's essay on West African women, Anne Marie Goetz's essay on Ugandan women, and Aili Mari Tripp's essay on politics in Africa all address the current struggles of women who enter the public sphere, where women's commitment to a feminist agenda is often the most tested. What is clear are the continuities between colonial and post-colonial policies with regard to women, regardless of the fact that African women participated in post-colonial movements and even though it is Africans that are now holding office.
Andrea Cornwall has put together an impressive collection of literature that addresses prevailing topics (women in pre-colonial Africa, women in the African economy) as well as new and developing topics (African women and Islamic fundamentalism). The essays addresses gender in Africa from a multidisciplinary perspective and provide case studies from all over sub-Saharan Africa.
For those well versed in gender studies in Africa, many of the authors will be familiar, for those new to the field, the book provides a good introduction.
Msia Kibona Clark is a Sasakawa Fellow and PhD Candidate at Howard University's African Studies Department. Her dissertation topic examines the impact of African immigration to the U.S. on African and African American relationships. Msia is also the Ugandan Country Specialist for Amnesty International and the Book Review Editor for AllAfrica.com
