Never be deterred!

I am reading up on literature on feminism and gender. There are great stories to learn from strong and brave women who in their time made a change and also, made history. I read about the suffragette movement, the struggles and the sacrifice these women made.  I am immensely proud of all the women who sacrificed and are sacrificing one way or the other to leave a legacy for the future generation. I read about the Aba women's riot in eastern Nigerian and I am blown away by bravery and defiance, just to get their points across. In reading all these struggles and movement, I learnt that these women were never deterred. They pushed on, with their eyes on the prize.

The struggles continue and the advocacy continues in a heterogeneous way. Women all over the world have different battles that they fight and advocate for. In countries like Nigeria, the gender equality bill was voted down in the senate on the grounds of religion (Read on this link). The structures holding down women are not operating in a vacuum but intricately linked to religion, culture and social norms. Women's role is dictated by patriarchal powers which tend to subjugate women in reaching their potentials. You see this manifesting in violence against women, early marriage,  denial of social goods etc.

In learning from the movement of women from all over the world, I learn that there is also an epistemology in understanding the role of women in terms of thinking of policies and programmes for inclusivity. I glean from the great work of Sandra Harding and Donna Haraway.  Chimamanda Adichie's work on 'we should all be feminists' is just a joy to read.

I have never seen myself as a feminist. I detest labels. As a young girl from an African background, all my life, I have been labelled and dealing with labels and the definition it gives to me which is not who I as a human being is. I am given a tribe, a race, a religion, a socially constructed gender, an attitude or behaviour to live by etc. Hence, I am wary to assign a label to myself. However, I learnt from the readings I have done that several women from developing countries also share my view on labelling. Feminism is not a homogenised term. The definition covers different movements, theories, debates and philosophies. I am with Chimamanda, that we should all be feminists. Not in labels but in who we are.

How do we arrive at a just and sustainable future? We all have a role to play and must never be deterred by the battles, barriers and structures stopping us from achieving the world we seek for ourselves and the future generation.