The Future is Female; The Outgrowth of Feminism and How it Affects The African Culture

 According to a Ghanaian writer, Ama Aidoo says “When people ask me rather bluntly every now and then whether I am a feminist, I not only answer yes, but I go on to insist that every woman and every man should be a feminist – especially if they believe that Africans should take charge of our lands, its wealth, our lives and the burden of our own development. Because it is not possible to advocate independence for our continent without also believing that African women must have the best that the environment can offer. For some of us this is the crucial element of our feminism.”

Feminism since inception is the belief in full social, economic and political equality for women.It is represented by various institutions committed to activities on behalf of women's right and interest.To some, it is the advocacy of women's rights on the ground of equality of the sexes. This was how feminism was designed but narrowing it down to Nigeria context, feminism has come to mean giving the male and female gender the same opportunities without looking down on any gender,equal representation for both genders in all sectors.

  Feminism has come to unravel a lot of opportunities and present a better outlook for the female folks not to forget that a lot of people have taken feminism way above what it naturally meant and have given a total different meaning to it but feminism has opened more doors for the female folks than any other movement. 

Using the concept of marriage and patriarchy in African setting, the African society has been described as patriarchal in nature. It is a society where the men folk wield power over the women folk. It is made up of a male - dominated power structure. Men are accorded more power than women by tradition and culture. To that end, women are looked upon as inferior to men in everything. Women are, therefore, seen as objects of men in everything. 

Gender, therefore becomes a sell out for the female folk in Africa. An African woman suffers domestic violence -she faces various degrees of sexual harassment ranging from female genital mutilation to rape; she is forced into marriages and often times at a younger age; she suffers abandonment, neglect and other forms of denials; she bears the blame of infertility in marriage.

Marriage to some African women is a means of removing themselves from an environment which they consider unpleasant for then. Some young women go into marriage due to poverty or the desire to live a flamboyant lifestyle, while some see it as a road to freedom from parental guidance. 

Lola Shoneyin’s The Secret Live of Baba Segi’s Wives presents characters who have their marriages built on finding relief either physically or psychologically. They see it as a way of gaining freedom; a kind of healing. Lola Shoneyin portrayed a whole lot of situations going on in our present day society, but all thanks to "Feminism or African Womanism" who has given women the privilege to fight for their rights and make patriarchy feel less of itself.

Feminism believes that both male and female deserve equal opportunities and the female folks have also come to the realization that they deserve equal of whatever their male folks have. It has lead to a strategic rise of female folks in industries that they do not earlier dominate. Industries like the technology industry,the engineering industry too has witnessed a high rise of female involvement.

It is thanks to feminism that we live in a world today where women can vote, drive, work, or get a university education. In a pan-African context, we have feminism to thank for legislating against harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation and breast ironing. Feminists saw to it that the new South African constitution inserted anti-rape laws.

The future is female and females have taken over because they have believed that it is equal involvement or nothing. The involvement of the male gender in the rise of feminism can't be underrated too as the male gender has also come to the realisation that feminism does not challenge their authority as men but making equal opportunities for their female counterpart. 

The male gender has also supported the rise of feminism as they are also making opportunities available for the female folks.

Feminism is not what a lot of people have termed it to be, feminism is giving equal opportunities to the female gender and the future looks brighter.

Aladetan Success Okikiola

OS/21A/2044

Philosophy

University of Ibadan

Ondo State.