African Women: Between Tradition and Modernity
20 October, 2015KHARTOUM (SUDANOW) - The book, came out in 2002 in Arabic, is a Cambridge publication, U.K. It contains 487 pages, 67 pages of which are dedicated to footnotes and attachments.
The author, Dr Fatima Babikir Mahmoud, is an outstanding feminist and academic who , after working for a long time in the University of Khartoum, has settled down in England as a university professor.
She says her book has made a summary of Western feminist thought with a view to striking comparisons between that thought and its counterparts in the World in general and Africa in particular.
In the first chapter, entitled ‘’Aspects of Western Feminist Thought,’’ the author maintains that attempts to formulate a feminist theory for the liberation of women had started in Europe and North America.
A comprehensive definition of feminism includes awareness about the inferiority of women and how this inferiority can be interpreted in terms of the relationship between men and women and the society in general in a way that could free women from the inferiority and suppression under which they suffered.
The author says that Third World feminist movements were inflicted with many divisions and that a Third World feminist theory is now in the making in a bid to assess, amend or adapt feminist theories to the existing conditions in the Third World.. All in all, this new tendency has categorically rejected the radical theory that advocates homosexuality (lesbianism)
The author has also elaborated on the liberal feminist thought and its Marxist counterpart, detailing their philosophical content and shortcomings and the resistance they face in religious societies, especially among Moslem communities.
She says the socialist feminist theory had widened the scope of women work to include domestic work and child care and, by so doing, had established a wider perspective about the nature of gender relationships in its social concept and in the light of the economic system of the concerned country.
The conflict between the three theories over the rights of women had taken a good space in Dr Fatima’s study. She says that history and the behaviour of socialist males reveal that what the socialism women are fighting for is not the same socialism advocated by men. For a humane socialism to be achieved, there should be unity between women and men, where men should disown the privileges they obtained under the capitalist and feudal regimes.
Under the title ‘’The Black Feminism ‘’, the author says that in the same way that the western feminist movement had given itself the right to speak for the World’s women, the black feminist movement in the west had given itself the right to speak for all black women, regardless of the fact that these black women, themselves, live in societies dominated by the whites. She further discusses the issue of slavery and colonialism, charging that racialism was the brain child of Western thought during colonial expansion when the white race became dominant and when the blacks became inferior.
The experiment of black European and American women is one of women who live in societies dominated by white men and women where legal and political liberalism gives way to racialism and where black citizens (males and females) are treated like second class citizens and exploited along racial lines in what is called ‘’the white ideology that deems anybody who is not white as less intelligent and incapable and, thus, deserves to be treated as a second degree creature.
Under the title “ The Environmental Feminism”, the author accounts for the history of this movement which engendered several movements that struggle for the preservation of the environment. The environmental feminism fights against malpractices and violations committed against nature and the society; equalizing the violation of nature to the violation of women's bodies. These groups had kept crying out: We have to learn how to control our bodies for it is not only the men and doctors who exercise violence on our bodies. Multinational companies do the same thing for our bodies and for us!
In the second chapter, entitled “ Terminology of Feminist Thought, a Redefinition " the author calls for the need to reformulate basic concepts for development, gender equality and feminism. She also dwells on some controversial issues in the European and African context like whether women are a class as well as the role of African organizations on women causes. To explain the suffering of African women, the author says that these women constitute 60% of the farming force. Some 52% of African families are supported by women . The African woman spends 4 hours a day in food preparation, whereas she is the last to take it. Women also fetch water and firewood. An African woman works for between 200-500 hours annually. Illiteracy is 80 % among African women. Death during birth is 1 in 14 births compared to 1 in 400 -700 in the industrialized world.
African women had to unite. By the result, independent feminist groups emerged as part of the national liberation movement. It could be noted that though these groups had worked within those liberation movements, they did not lose their independence, says the author.
She states that ‘’it is equality in terms of economic and political opportunities that counts.’’
In Chapter Three , entitled : The Third World Feminist Movement, the author says Third World women have a common history of enslavement , economic colonization , marginalization , the destruction of the existing cultural norms and change of traditions in coping with the domination of colonial capitalism. This had led to more impoverishment by the multinational companies, the weakening of the government system through economic subordination to the neo-colonial banking facilities such as the World Bank and the IMF.
The colonial authority in the Third World had found leverage in men who represent the ‘’masculine ideology in their respective countries. In response , the Third World feminist movement emerged as part of the anti-colonial nationalist movement and could not but adopt the socialist theory as a reaction away from all Western colonial ideologies while they should have taken a special path that suits the Third World and which is independent from all forms of polarization.
The feminist movements, the World over, had harboured severe dislike for the Western feminist movement which they considered a fruit of bourgeoisie thought and ways of living. This was reflected in these Third World movements’ dislike for the sympathy shown by Western movements towards the victims of female genital mutilation (FGM) and the issue of the Moslem women hijab (head cover}.
In this respect, some pioneers of the Third World feminist movement had glorified the hijab and the Sudanese women toab (sari). For one, Egyptian researcher Layla Ahmad considered the hijab a good thing ‘’because it gives women a special space and allows them to enter into solely masculine territories ‘’
About the Harim establishment Layla said ‘’it helps with solidarity among women ,’’.
Layla said Islam is unique with respect to the issue of ownership and had allowed women ‘’to run their own businesses and control their properties.’’
Moroccan writer Fatima al-Marnisi had denied that The Prophet Mohammad had advised against giving women political authority.
The author has further made an account of gains women had scored under the Soviet Revolution of 1917 which, she considered ‘’ a historical turn as regards women rights ‘’. Women, she said, had obtained equal pay, the right for maternal leave and the right to abortion. But she cited the criticism levelled at the Soviet experiment in that it made the feminist movement a subordinate of the Communist Party and its government machine.
In Chapter Four, entitled “The African Women Legacy “ , the author highlighted the differences between the traditional African feminist groupings and their modern counterparts in the Continent. She dubbed the first ones as ‘’racial groupings’’, whereas the latter were well organized and enlightened and had specific programmes and objectives without any consideration for race, colour, religion, or culture.
She, in particular, dwells on three African traditional women organizations in Nigeria, Cameroon and the secret Sandi organizations in some West African countries. She also accounts for groupings that work for integration and solidarity among African women in keeping with the African heritage. But she laments the fact that some African governments had exploited these groupings and made them part of the government activity, like what happened in Sudan during the Nimeri regime.
She also dwells on the issue of the "zar" ceremonies in Africa and Sudan and how the Sudanese women Union had resisted them ever since its inception in 1952.
In Chapter Five the author writes about the Kenyan “Green” movement as a popular organization that sought the reforestation of barren districts in the country. The movement was concerned with the dissemination of worldwide awareness about the need to preserve the environment through the cultivation of more firewood to replenish lost forests , preserve the soil, create lucrative income for poor families, produce more food , protect resources and fight unemployment. The movement, that attracted 50,000 members, had planted 7 million trees in Kenya.. It also oversees 3000 green belts. The movement had created hundreds of jobs for the poor , the disabled and the youth.” The experiment of this movement proves that Africa has a future and a hope, now that the movement had become an example to be followed in the rest of Africa’’ argues Dr Fatima.
In Chapter Six the Author accounts for the history of the Egyptian women movement that culminated in the activity of Rufa’a Rafi’ al Tahtawi and Mohammad Abdu and the establishment of the first female school in 1873 that opened doors for more schools to be built by the public. In particular, Mohammad Abdu had called for equalizing women with men. He used to say that Islam had liberated women from many social ills. He said the controversial issue of polygamy was not original in Islam but can be dictated by the conditions of the concerned family. Mohammad Abdu was against the imitation of the West
.By the end of the 19th Century there were more than 31,000 educated women in Egypt. The year 1944 saw the formation of the Arab Women Union under the leadership of Ms. Huda Saharawi. This was followed in 1984 by the formation of the association for Arab women solidarity in Cairo under the chairwomanship of Ms. Nawal al-Sa’adawi and Dr. Fatima Babikir Mahmoud (the author) as her deputy. The association later on moved its premises to Algiers and now keeps an intermittent activity.
In Chapter Seven the author elaborates on the Sudanese Women Union that sprang up in the midst of the struggle for independence from Britain.
Missionary schools were opened around the country and in 1908 the British authorities allowed Babikir Badri to start a girls school in his home town of Rufa’a. Two currents then emerged: One pro- women education and the other against
it.The newspaper Hadarat al-Sudan (Sudan Civilization) became a forum of these debates. After World War Two five girls schools were opened around the country.
The first woman to join the Gordon Memorial College was Ms. Angel Ishag in 1945. The year 1952 saw the graduation of two female medical doctors. In 1965 the first women magazine was published. Sout al-Mara’a (Women Voice) was also the first such a publication in the Horn of Africa. In 1978 the first female deputies were elected to the parliament through geographical constituencies. Hitherto, women were allowed to run in special constituencies reserved for graduates.
In Chapter Eight the author publishes the results of a questionnaire she conducted with 18 women leaders on their views as regards women and their future, their views about Western feminist thought and its relation with women liberation in Sudan and Africa, possible existence of an international women union, their views as regards women thought in Sudan today, the most important theories for women liberation in Sudan, how they view the future of the Sudanese women movement , in addition to a question on how the respondent sees herself as a woman.
Respondents agreed that, despite the difficulties, they see a better future for the women movement ‘’ because there are issues that bring them together as women.’’
Under the title “Forecast.. Where To?” the author says the African women movement and the African women awareness were not a reaction to the Western women movement as Westerners want us to believe. The African women movement was home-made and is a continuation of the historical women awareness. The African women do not need outsiders to help them in their struggle against inferiority.
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