Female consciousness and feminism in Africa

Drew, Allison

doi:10.1007/bf00993321

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…This scholarship has focused on women's exit or withdrawal from politics due to their marginalisation by male-dominated states that ignore women's social needs. Drew (1995:2) further argues that African women's seeming withdrawal from politics has been explained by reference to the introduction often under colonial rule, of a public/private dichotomy in social relations which legitimises the construction of politics as a male domain and relegates women to the domestic sphere. As alluded to earlier, in reaction to their marginalisation in the political sphere, women moved to occupy spaces in civil society.…”

Section: Women Empowerment In Post-colonial Zimbabwementioning

confidence: 99%

Daring Patriarchy? A Biblical Engagement with Gender Discourses on Political Participation in Post-colonial Zimbabwe

Manyonganise¹

2023

Bible in Africa Studies

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This volume (coming out from a Humboldt Research-Fellowship) critically engages with gender discourses on political participation in Zimbabwe, focusing on how the Bible has been used to deny women political offices in the land. The study’s reference to political office needs to be understood broadly, that is, to include women participating in decision-making in their homes, religious institutions, local government, political parties to mention but a few. Dominant religio-cultural discourses on political participation have deployed biblical texts in ways that have shaped Zimbabwe’s political terrain to be gendered space. The study uses gender as a category of analyzing political participation in Zimbabwe. The study argues that the challenges women face in their endeavor to participate fully in politics in Zimbabwe are not only embedded in culture, but have also been reinforced by the way biblical interpretation pertaining to women’s public roles has been done. It is against this background that this volume seeks to examine the utilisation of the Bible by church leaders who find support from male politicians in a bid to safeguard the space from women perceived as ‘dangerous’. In other words, the study endeavours to examine how the Bible has been deployed to control gender discourses on political participation in Zimbabwe. To a large extent, this study shows the centrality as well as the influence of the Bible in shaping gender relations, even in those areas that have to a large extent been perceived as non-religious. This volume, therefore, seeks to open up more political space for women by examining how the everyday is suffused with politics, that is, politics as affecting interactions between individuals and groups thereby facilitating women’s participation in politics at all levels. It is envisioned that such a study would contribute greatly to social transformation. Molly Manyonganise holds a PhD in Biblical and Religious Studies from the University of Pretoria. She is a senior lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies and Philosophy at the Zimbabwe Open University. She is a research associate of the Department of Religion Studies, Faculty of Theology and Religion of the University of Pretoria. 2020-2023 she was a Georg Forster Postdoctoral research fellow, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany. Her research interests comprise religion and politics, gender and religion, religion and sexuality, African Indigenous Religion(s) as well as African Christianity.

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Section: Women Empowerment In Post-colonial Zimbabwementioning

confidence: 99%

Daring Patriarchy? A Biblical Engagement with Gender Discourses on Political Participation in Post-colonial Zimbabwe

Manyonganise¹

2023

Bible in Africa Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…We believe that understanding African feminism or “womanism” requires a contextual study beyond postcolonialism because it does not just focus on equality but on the social realities of black women and acknowledges and appreciates differences between men and women. This significantly emphasizes the focus on socio‐economic and political empowerment, especially since women in Nigeria were involved in leadership and political positions in the precolonial era (Drew, 1995). We would argue that colonial rule weakened the social, economic, and political rights of women as its definition relied on the othering of the South against the differences of the West, thereby forging a hierarchical relationship that was central to postcolonial critiques.…”

Section: Motherhoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hence, in considering these differences from a theoretical perspective, the argument remains, how can these views be generalized, as there are apparent broad differences even across the African continent? A meaningful way to illustrate how womanist and feminist positions have been adopted and questioned is to explore the socio‐material and socio‐historical dynamics of multiple voices (Dogo, 2014; Drew, 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Black lives and bodywork matters: A postcolonial critique of gender and embodiment in Nigeria

Akobo

Otaye‐Ebede

Metcalfe

2021

Gender Work & Organization

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Drawing on the theories of “Womanism” and “African feminism,” this paper explores the concept of embodiment within an African context. More specifically, we focus on exploring the lived experiences of Nigerian women in male‐dominated organizations (sector) to provide an in‐depth understanding of the dynamics of how the Nigerian society marginalizes qualities and aspects of embodiment and disembodiment of women. Based on 39 interviews, our findings reveal that cultural and social practices significantly influence the concept of gendered embodiment in the Nigerian context. We further highlight the spatialized dynamic of the religious, ethical, and classed identity formations, and the multiplicities of violence experienced on African women's bodies every day. Using a feminist standpoint as a lens, we highlight the practice and relevance of social constructivism in understanding the concept of spatialized embodiment in a Nigerian context. We emphasize the complexity and diversity in African feminisms as we highlight the multiplicities of difference in understanding African experiences. Additionally, we emphasize that men are part of the social construct, and hence cannot be left out of the story, given that their influence and perceptions provide further insight into the concept of gendered embodiment and existing marginalization of and discrimination against women.

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The Female Exception (in Research) and Gendered Experiences

Caldararo

2022

A Mental Ethnography: Conclusions From Research in LSD

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Female consciousness and feminism in Africa

Cited by 8 publications

References 11 publications

Daring Patriarchy? A Biblical Engagement with Gender Discourses on Political Participation in Post-colonial Zimbabwe

Daring Patriarchy? A Biblical Engagement with Gender Discourses on Political Participation in Post-colonial Zimbabwe

Black lives and bodywork matters: A postcolonial critique of gender and embodiment in Nigeria

The Female Exception (in Research) and Gendered Experiences

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