I Am Not Angry But I Am A Feminist

And here is why. Feminism to those who have not done their research is “the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes”, also known as the right to political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. It rose in response to the discriminations and restrictions women faced, modelling itself through different stages also referred to as waves.

The first wave consisted of women’s suffrage movements of the 19th and early-20th centuries, promoting women’s right to vote. The second wave, the women’s liberation movement, began in the 1960s and campaigned for legal and social equality for women. In or around 1992, a third wave was identified, characterized by a focus on individuality and diversity. The fourth wave, from around 2012, used social media to combat sexual harassment , violence against women and rape culture; best known as the Me Too movement (according to Wikipedia).

Now from the above history you can already guess this was based on the modern western feminist movements, key word here western. What this is means is the above were women based in America, Netherlands and France among others; so it wasn’t until much later that African Feminism came into the picture. That being said African Feminism was innovated by African women who felt the need to specifically address the conditions and needs of continental African women.

And because as with everything else about being African, blanket solutions don’t entirely apply to the whole continent. Therefore different types of African feminism emerged to accurately represent all women hence the Motherism, Femalism, Snail-sense Feminism, Womanism/women palavering, Nego-feminism, and African Womanism. These diversifications are very important for African women because it captures the differing and unique characterizations of women on the continent.

It does not seek to discriminate for example against one woman for her choice to be a mother or bash another who refuses to be measured by her child bearing capabilities. Instead it appreciates and embraces all with the sole purpose of fostering an environment where women can collaborate, have safe spaces and inspire each other.

As a result, I took the initiative to educate myself on what feminism is and what it isn’t. As with anything we passionately advocate for in this life, there are always extremes and those who tend to lean into them. Thus many associating feminism with angry women, who are man haters. It should be noted however that the anger and rage many women feel is valid because one cannot even begin to understand the damage centuries of putting down women and oppressive regimes thriving on exploitation of women could do to a person.

Anger probably becomes an understatement. But I choose to focus on the task and not the test, because their is a younger generation of women and men behind me that need to know about equality for all. I believe I risk delivering a somewhat contaminated idea of what feminism actually stands for, if I don’t take it upon myself to minimize it’s effect on my emotions and let the outcome of that result fuel my passion.

In the end, it is upon each and everyone of us to educate ourselves and to hold each other accountable. I summarize by quoting the famed Nigerian Writer who said “ My own definition of a feminist is a man or woman who says , yes there is a problem with gender as it is today and we must fix it, we must do better. All of us men and women, must do better.”- Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche and former pres. Burkina Faso Thomas Sankara who said, “ There is no true social revolution without the liberation of women.”