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Back to Subjects - Social Issues

Women in Africa

Women in Africa My great hope for African women, South African author Adeola James writes, "is that one day they will come into their own. That is why I chose to write." As African women struggle to claim their rightful place in African society and in the world, women writers, visual artists, and musicians chart the course of this struggle in a rich variety of artistic works. Through prose, poetry, drama, sculpture, painting, music, and many other forms, African women speak their thoughts and share their perceptions about their lives and their societies. "Our problem," Adeola James writes, in her introduction to In Their Own Voices (James 1990), "is that we have listened so rarely to women's voices, the noises of men having drowned us out in every sphere of life, including the arts. Yet women to o are artists, and are endowed with a special sensitivity and compassion, necessary to creativity" (p. 2). In many revolutionary struggles throughout the world, women were important characters in the fight for political freedom. In Zimbabwe, as well as in Nicaragua, women played major parts in helping these countries fight the dictatorship that controlled their countries. In the readings, lectures and film regarding this topic, many themes are raised. These include the reasons for women supporting the revolutionary struggle, the specific roles of women who did participate in the effort, and finally, the result for women when revolution succeeded; were women better off due to the revolution? These questions and issues will be addressed by looking at women in Zimbabwe during the fight for political freedom. Women in Zimbabwe were strong supporters of the revolutionary movement and fighters. In Zimbabwe, colonial rule had been imposed on the natives, and Europeans were benefiting by exploiting those who lived in Africa. Many African men had to move to cities to work for wages, which left many women with the burden of the agricultural work. As the white settlers superior position in society became even more dominant, women began to realize that both the people and the colonial system were significantly oppressing them. They could see that the European settlers to benefit not themselves, but the white man were using their positions as main agricultural workers. Sita Ranchod-Nilsson describes the reason why women supported the guerillas; Because African women were primarily responsible for agriculture and household subsistence in the countryside, they could identify with guerrilla claims that they were fighting for lost lands and an end to economic hardship(p.63). Women in Zimbabwe also realized that the men of their country were dominating them. Their husbands often forbade them to take outside employment, which furthered their subordination. Ranchod-Nilsson said, women supported the guerillas to advance their own agendas. They did this by bringing their grievances against their husbands to the fighters, in order to speak up about their oppression and to ensure more equality within their own homes. Women in Zimbabwe had various roles within the revolutionary parties as well as in the general armed rebellion. In both countries, women supplied food for the fighters and information for the revolutionaries, which included relaying messages. Women were also armed fighters in the revolution. In Nicaragua, women made up thirty per cent of the armed fighters and as we saw in the film and in the articles, many women were in charge of military operations. In Zimbabwe, women formed support committees, which were designed to furnish food and supplies for the guerillas. Although women were doing a lot of the agricultural work, the "real" work was seen as the waged work that men were doing outside of the home. Also, the party focused on a sense of virility, a need to be "tough" which also excluded women. There was also no concern for women's issues within the parties, as small things like late meeting times seemed to suit the men rather than the women. Politics was seen as the realm of men, and women were therefore not welcome into this domain. Finally, the most important issue concerns whether or not women were able to acquire new or improved rights after the revolutionaries came into power. The result is not positive. In Zimbabwe, women's participation in the struggle was recognized, and promises were made to examine women's issues. Committees and ministries were set up to do this job, and improved education and health care was legislated by the new government. Yet aside from these changes, women were still being discriminated against, with sweeps for supposed "prostitutes" as well as allotment of land to many men over women. Yet the party became hostile to women's demands, as women were again relegated to an inferior position. Women were banned from the military draft and only a small number were elected to the government with none at all present in the national directorate. All in all, equality for women might have been promised in both these countries, yet the reality still saw women as second-class citizens. Women in Zimbabwe were essential in the revolutionary movements that took place in their countries. Their reasons for supporting the fight and the combatants were many, as they mostly wanted to see an improvement in their social position as well as the economic position of their country. Women were key in helping out the fighters, providing food and shelter, as well as participating in the armed rebellion. Yet when it came to equality, both within the parties and in society after the revolution was won, women were again relegated to second-class status. The promise of equal rights went unfulfilled and many women in these countries must still fight sexism and stereotypes that abound in their societies. Even with these grim realities, women's participation in these struggles was able to mobilize them take action in their society, and gave them political experience, which in the end could prove to be invaluable. If revolution were again to occur, these women and the generations of women to follow would surely be ready for the fight. The Realities of a Zimbabwe woman’s life 4:30 am: Rise before dawn, without waking the husband. Breastfeed the baby. Walk miles to gather firewood and water. Kindle the fire, cook breakfast, wake the husband, feed the family (eating what's left over, if any), wash and dress the children. 5:45 am: Walk a mile to fetch more water. Feed and water the goats, wash cooking utensils. 7am: Walk a mile to fetch more water. Wash clothes, breastfeed the baby. 8am: Walk to the fields with the baby on her back ñ plow, hoe, weed and plant. By custom, women must use short-handled hoes ñ forcing them stoop over ñ to prove that they aren't lazy. She considers weeding her "most taxing job ñ the back has to ache to conquer the weeds!" One man attests, "It is weeding that almost kills women!" 11am: Return home to fetch water, breastfeed the baby, prepares the afternoon meal and carries it to her husband, working in another field where he grows cash crops. 12:30pm: Return to the field’s ñ more weeding and hoeing. 3pm: Gather firewood, breastfeed the baby, begin pounding maize into flour ñ, which takes hours. 5:30pm: Fetch more water, prepare dinner. 8:30 pm: Wash children, breastfeed the baby. 9:30 pm: Wash dishes, wash herself, clean house. 10:30 pm: Go to bed last in the family. • WHO cited in The World's Women 1995. Trends and Statistics. United Nations. 1995. p.73 Bibliography: BIBLIOGRAPHY Gann, Lewis. The Struggle for Zimbabwe. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1981. WHO cited in The World's Women 1995. Trends and Statistics. United Nations. 1995. p.73 Sita Ranchod-Nilsson. Women and Revolution in Africa, Asia, and the New World, editor and author of four chapters, (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1994).

Word Count: 1245