When Feminism Goes Wrong: The Creation of Africana Womanism Clenora Hudson-Weems, founder of Africana womanist theory, defines Africana womanism as “an ideology created and designed for all women of African descent. It is grounded in African culture, and therefore, it necessarily focuses on the unique experiences, struggles, needs and desires of Africana women” (Hudson-Weems, 2007). Finding the existing philosophies dealing with women’s issues lacking, Hudson-Weems sought out a new perspective that would reflect the unique experience of Africana women. This paper explores the formation of Africana womanism and how it departs from traditional feminist theory. While Africana womanism claims to better meet the needs of Africana women than traditional feminism, there are a number of fundamental deficiencies in that theory as well. This paper will focus specifically on Black feminism in examining this failings. Hudson-Weems emphasizes the importance of a theory that examines the plight of Africana women that is created for and by Africana women. This is the only way to ensure that their particular needs would be addressed. This Afrocentric ideology is better equipped to empower the Africana woman and place her fight in her own hands. Even the approach’s name is rooted in African culture. It adheres to the concept of nommo, the proper naming of a thing which calls it into existence. “The terminology Africana womanism…more appropriately fits the Africana woman, who is both self-namer and self-definer. It is true that if you do not define yourself, someone else surely will” (Hudson-Weems, 2007). Naming has played a large role in empowering and uniting Africana people, particularly in the United States, as shown by the evolution of naming ... ... middle of paper ... ...g their academic theories accessible to common people through grassroots campaigns and political action. Practically, Africana womanism is still vastly underdeveloped and leaves much to be desires outside of academia. In summation, Africana Womanism seeks to address a number of issues that feminism seems ill-equipped to deal with. By creating a theory that is derived from African culture, Hudson-Weems hoped to create a movement that is more considerate to the specific concerns of the Africana woman. However, her stringent requirements of what constitutes a legitimately Africana woman excludes a large group from adopting the Africana womanism as their own. While each have very different histories and ideological standpoints, both Africana womanism and Black feminism offer authentic ways of approaching the question of race, class, and gender for Black women worldwide.
*Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham. "African American Women's History and the Metalanguage of Race" in Feminism and History, ed. Joan Wallach Scott (NY: Oxford University Press, 1996), 201.
As both Tracey Reynolds and Audre Lorde have emphasized, Black women are not perpetually passive victims, but active agents. It is totally possible for Black women to seize a form of empowerment, whether that be alternative education, or the creation of organizations that weren’t situated in either the Civil Rights movement or Women’s
The writings of women in West Africa are similar to the writings of men in reaction to the distorting images and representation projected by the imperial colonial masters. Authors like Chinua Achebe and others wrote to tell the African man’s story by an African in order to set ‘the record straight.’ In doing this, they bring to the fore their own bias and stereotypes about women in the society. Their writings were replete with the ‘African way’ of treating women – objects, properties, and expendable (Boyce Davies 1994). While women like Flora Nwapa and other earlier writers told the African woman story without an appearance of opposition to the male hegemony, “male literary critics have tended to marginalize women’s writing and to dismiss foundational
One main factor related to the development of the Black feminist ideology are the formation of organizations. The definition of an organization is: an organized body of people with a particular purpose, especially a business, society, association, etc. As a society we know very little about the formality of organizations that helped shaped feminist consciousness. Women’s movements organizations are not always built on structure; as we discussed in class many women’s organizations do not have delegated
Rooks, Noliwe. The Women Who Said, I AM. Vol. Sage: A Scholarly Journal On Black Women 1988.
It must be noted that for the purpose of avoiding redundancy, the author has chosen to use the terms African-American and black synonymously to reference the culture, which...
Karenga, Malauna. Introduction to Black Studies. Los Angeles: University of Sankore Press Third Edition, 2002.
It is believed by the author that the feminist movement in many ways parallels the struggles faced by African Americans in the US during the same time period. The authors will offer ideas on where the pro...
Social constructions including race, political class, degree of wealth, moral codes, and of course gender are really hot topics today. We shall focus on women in this paper and their role in wars; African women in particular have a different way of life than European women. Obioma Nnaemeka, in her article “Bringing African Women into the Classroom: Rethinking Pedagogy
The New Feminist Movement of 1968 became also accessible [at least partly] to women in developing countries, where they suffered an exploitation of societies usually characterized by high levels of male power . In this regard, here I would like to recall the words on a protest banner written by some black women,
In the book Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center written by bell hooks, an African-American author, social activist and feminist first published in 1984 the author explains what she believes are the core principles of feminism. Throughout the book the author examines the early feminist theory and goes on to criticize it saying that it did not aim for a systematic change also that the movement has the potential to improve the lives of both men and women immensely. In the book the author investigates the performance of African-American women in the movement and what is needed to drive the movement towards ending oppression of all kinds.
In her blog posting “ ‘Noting to Say’: ‘Black Skin, White Masks’ and Gender,” Emma Jeremie Mould discusses the double bind women of color find themselves in. First, they are overdetermined by the racist discourse of the Whites. Second, black women find themselves codified within the discourse of native men. In addition, she contends that some Western feminists analyze the plight of black women from the top down, through an approach that reinforces a racialized hierarchy among women.
Nnoromele, Salome C. "Representing the African Woman: Subjectivity and Self in The Joys of Motherhood." Critique 43.2 (2002): 178-190.
Feminism is defined as the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. It began as an organized activity on behalf of women?s rights and interests. This concept was developed to help women earn a place in a predominantly male society. Unfortunately over the years, the intentions of feminism have become distorted, not only by anti-feminists, but also by the feminists themselves. The principle of equality for women and men has turned into a fight in which feminists wish to be better than men. Feminism has been twisted and misunderstood so much that it has become a harmful idea.
Barrington M. Salmon. “ African Women in a Changing World.” Washington Informer 13 March 2014: Page 16-17