Research Article
BibTex RIS Cite

Gender Inequality: An Alien Practice to African Cultural Settlement

Year 2022, Volume: 4 Issue: 1, 1 - 15, 30.04.2022
https://doi.org/10.52613/ujhc.1006159

Abstract

This study investigates the roots of gender inequalities in contemporary African lives. The study has surveyed the pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial gender relations in the continent. The study points that during the pre-colonial era there was equilibrium in accessing privileges and chances between men and women, such equal balance was defined by division of labor and specialization. In the colonial phase, however, colonialists favored men and infused the concept of Victorian women in all colonial projects; subsequently, the patriarchal system started to have its hold on African lives. Consequently, the modern African communities have entered into an independence era while incorporating the colonial patriarchal structures into their modern communities. Surprisingly, researchers on the topic under discussion continuously find African cultures' guilt as they still offer patronage to such inequalities as it was in the pre-colonial epoch. Henceforth, its obliteration is essential in a long walk to gender equalities on the continent. On the contrary, this study points that labeling African culture as the enemy of gender equalities is a miss location of the problem source as the problem started from the colonial epoch and therefore these inequalities are the continuation of the legacies of patriarchy structures imposed in Africa by colonizers.

Thanks

Thanks to Prof Abdurahman Juma for his comends on the early version of my Article

References

  • Adeniyi, R. (2017). African roots of gender equality on TEDx Talks. (Dec 18, 2017).
  • Agwanda, B. (2019). Is history losing its popularity as an academic discipline? A case study of USA and Nigeria. Journal of Universal History Studies, 2(2), 183–197.
  • Akyeampong, E. Pashington O. (1995). Spirituality, gender, and power in Asante history, International Journal of African Historical Studies, 28 (3):481-508.
  • Akyeampong, E., Hippolyte F. (2012). The Contribution of African Women to Economic Growth and Development: Historical Perspectives and Policy Implications Part I: The Pre-Colonial and Colonial Periods. Policy Research Working Papers. (April). Doi: 10.1596/1813-9450-6051.
  • Anunobi, F. (2002). Women and development in Africa: From marginalization to gender inequality. African Social Science Review, 2 (2), Article 3.
  • Atanga, L. L. (2013). African Feminism?. USA: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
  • Butler, J. (2012). Gender and Sexuality in Walton, D. Doing Cultural Theory. London: Sage.
  • Davison, J. (1988). Agriculture, Women, and Land: The African Experience. Boulder: Westview.
  • Feirman, S. (1974). The Shambaa Kingdom. London: University of Wisconsin Press.
  • Ginio, R. (2006). Negotiating legal authority in French West Africa: The colonial administration and African assessors, 1903-1918. B. Lawrance, E. Osborn and R. Roberts (Ed.), Intermediaries, Interpreters, and Clerks: African Employees in the Making of Colonial Africa. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
  • Glück, A. (2015). De-Westernisation, Key concept paper. Working Paper. MeCoDEM. ISSN: 2057-4002 (Unpublished).
  • Gluckman, M. (1963). Custom and Conflict in Africa. Oxford: Blackwell.
  • Henry, A. A. (2018). Gender Inequality in Income Distribution: A Study in Tanga Tanzania. Unpublished MA Thesis, Norwegian University of Life Sciences.
  • Herbert, E.W. (1993). Iron, Gender, and Power: Rituals of Transformation in African Societies. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
  • I’ajemmy, A. H. (1962). Habari za wakilindi. Dar Es Salaam: East African Literature Bureu.
  • Idang, G (2015). African culture and values. Phronimon, 16 (2), 97-111.
  • Ilife, J. (1979). Tanganyika Under Germany Administration, 1906-1912. In Patricia, J.M. Women and Access to Higher Education in Tanzania: A Qualitative Study. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis. The University of Iowa.
  • Karagöz, C. (2020). Colonial attempts to control and overcome nature in Prospero’s daughter. Universal Journal of History and Culture, 2 (1),17-31.
  • Kay, G. B. (1972). The Political Economy of Colonialism in Ghana: A Collection of Documents and Statistics 1900-1960. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Kiss Tv. JSO interview with Mama Amina on June 28, 2013.
  • Linda, Z. (2014). Factors causing gender inequalities in Tanzania: A Case of Korogwe District. Unpublished MA Thesis. The Open University of Tanzania.
  • Meena, R., Rusimbi, M., Isrel, C. (2017). Women and Political leadership: Facilitating Factors in Tanzania. Dar es salaam. Uongozi institute.
  • Mihanjo, E. P., Mpuya, J. L. (1998). Exchange Transformation of the Kisi Household Pottery Enterprise, and the Reproduction of Gender Relations. Research Report funded by OSSREA, May 1998.
  • Mikail, K. W., Abdullah, A. (2017). The impact of globalization on African culture and politics. Journal of International Studies, 13, 13-14.
  • Nchimbi, R. (2009). From Unyago to Kitchen Party: Changing forms and patterns of women social adjustment education cosmopolitan. Tanzania.Tanzania Zamani journal of historical association. 6 (1), 1-26.
  • Noyoo, N. (2000). The quest for family policy in Zambia. Z. Mokomane (Ed.), Work-Family Interface in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and Responses. New York, NY: Springer Publishing, 161-175.
  • Patricia, J. M. (2011). Women and Access to Higher Education in Tanzania: A Qualitative Study. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis. The University of Iowa.
  • Quarcoo, A. K., Johnson, M. (1968). Shai Pots: The Pottery Tradition of the Shai People of Southern Ghana.BaesslerArchiv. 16, 47-88.
  • Robertson, C. (1986). Women and Class in Africa. New York: Africana Publishing.
  • Rodet, M. (2010). Continuum of gendered violence: the colonial invention of female desertion as a customary criminal offense, French Soudan, 1900-1945. E. S. Burrill., R. L. Roberts and E. Thornberry (Ed.), Domestic Violence and the Law in Colonial and Post-Colonial Africa. Athens: Ohio University Press.
  • Stephen, O. (2010). Colonial Economic Structures in Africa: Their Purpose And Legacy. Unpublished Paper, Swarthmore College, PA.
  • Tamale, S. (2006). African feminism: How should we change. Development. 49(1), 38-41. 10.1057/Palgrave Development.1100205.
  • Therbon, G. (2006). Introduction: Globalization, Africa, and African family patterns. G. Therbon (Ed.), African Families in Global context. Uppsala: Uppsala Nordiska Afrikaninstitutet.
  • United Nations. (1949). United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948.
  • United Nations humanrights Publisher. Retrieved September 27, 2021, from http://www.jus.uio.no/lm/en/manifest/un.universal.declaration.of.human.rights.1948.html.

Gender Inequality: An Alien Practice to African Cultural Settlement

Year 2022, Volume: 4 Issue: 1, 1 - 15, 30.04.2022
https://doi.org/10.52613/ujhc.1006159

Abstract

This study investigates the roots of gender inequalities in contemporary African lives. The study has surveyed the pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial gender relations in the continent. The study points that during the pre-colonial era there was equilibrium in accessing privileges and chances between men and women, such equal balance was defined by division of labor and specialization. In the colonial phase, however, colonialists favored men and infused the concept of Victorian women in all colonial projects; subsequently, the patriarchal system started to have its hold on African lives. Consequently, the modern African communities have entered into an independence era while incorporating the colonial patriarchal structures into their modern communities. Surprisingly, researchers on the topic under discussion continuously find African cultures' guilt as they still offer patronage to such inequalities as it was in the pre-colonial epoch. Henceforth, its obliteration is essential in a long walk to gender equalities on the continent. On the contrary, this study points that labeling African culture as the enemy of gender equalities is a miss location of the problem source as the problem started from the colonial epoch and therefore these inequalities are the continuation of the legacies of patriarchy structures imposed in Africa by colonizers.

References

  • Adeniyi, R. (2017). African roots of gender equality on TEDx Talks. (Dec 18, 2017).
  • Agwanda, B. (2019). Is history losing its popularity as an academic discipline? A case study of USA and Nigeria. Journal of Universal History Studies, 2(2), 183–197.
  • Akyeampong, E. Pashington O. (1995). Spirituality, gender, and power in Asante history, International Journal of African Historical Studies, 28 (3):481-508.
  • Akyeampong, E., Hippolyte F. (2012). The Contribution of African Women to Economic Growth and Development: Historical Perspectives and Policy Implications Part I: The Pre-Colonial and Colonial Periods. Policy Research Working Papers. (April). Doi: 10.1596/1813-9450-6051.
  • Anunobi, F. (2002). Women and development in Africa: From marginalization to gender inequality. African Social Science Review, 2 (2), Article 3.
  • Atanga, L. L. (2013). African Feminism?. USA: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
  • Butler, J. (2012). Gender and Sexuality in Walton, D. Doing Cultural Theory. London: Sage.
  • Davison, J. (1988). Agriculture, Women, and Land: The African Experience. Boulder: Westview.
  • Feirman, S. (1974). The Shambaa Kingdom. London: University of Wisconsin Press.
  • Ginio, R. (2006). Negotiating legal authority in French West Africa: The colonial administration and African assessors, 1903-1918. B. Lawrance, E. Osborn and R. Roberts (Ed.), Intermediaries, Interpreters, and Clerks: African Employees in the Making of Colonial Africa. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
  • Glück, A. (2015). De-Westernisation, Key concept paper. Working Paper. MeCoDEM. ISSN: 2057-4002 (Unpublished).
  • Gluckman, M. (1963). Custom and Conflict in Africa. Oxford: Blackwell.
  • Henry, A. A. (2018). Gender Inequality in Income Distribution: A Study in Tanga Tanzania. Unpublished MA Thesis, Norwegian University of Life Sciences.
  • Herbert, E.W. (1993). Iron, Gender, and Power: Rituals of Transformation in African Societies. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
  • I’ajemmy, A. H. (1962). Habari za wakilindi. Dar Es Salaam: East African Literature Bureu.
  • Idang, G (2015). African culture and values. Phronimon, 16 (2), 97-111.
  • Ilife, J. (1979). Tanganyika Under Germany Administration, 1906-1912. In Patricia, J.M. Women and Access to Higher Education in Tanzania: A Qualitative Study. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis. The University of Iowa.
  • Karagöz, C. (2020). Colonial attempts to control and overcome nature in Prospero’s daughter. Universal Journal of History and Culture, 2 (1),17-31.
  • Kay, G. B. (1972). The Political Economy of Colonialism in Ghana: A Collection of Documents and Statistics 1900-1960. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Kiss Tv. JSO interview with Mama Amina on June 28, 2013.
  • Linda, Z. (2014). Factors causing gender inequalities in Tanzania: A Case of Korogwe District. Unpublished MA Thesis. The Open University of Tanzania.
  • Meena, R., Rusimbi, M., Isrel, C. (2017). Women and Political leadership: Facilitating Factors in Tanzania. Dar es salaam. Uongozi institute.
  • Mihanjo, E. P., Mpuya, J. L. (1998). Exchange Transformation of the Kisi Household Pottery Enterprise, and the Reproduction of Gender Relations. Research Report funded by OSSREA, May 1998.
  • Mikail, K. W., Abdullah, A. (2017). The impact of globalization on African culture and politics. Journal of International Studies, 13, 13-14.
  • Nchimbi, R. (2009). From Unyago to Kitchen Party: Changing forms and patterns of women social adjustment education cosmopolitan. Tanzania.Tanzania Zamani journal of historical association. 6 (1), 1-26.
  • Noyoo, N. (2000). The quest for family policy in Zambia. Z. Mokomane (Ed.), Work-Family Interface in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and Responses. New York, NY: Springer Publishing, 161-175.
  • Patricia, J. M. (2011). Women and Access to Higher Education in Tanzania: A Qualitative Study. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis. The University of Iowa.
  • Quarcoo, A. K., Johnson, M. (1968). Shai Pots: The Pottery Tradition of the Shai People of Southern Ghana.BaesslerArchiv. 16, 47-88.
  • Robertson, C. (1986). Women and Class in Africa. New York: Africana Publishing.
  • Rodet, M. (2010). Continuum of gendered violence: the colonial invention of female desertion as a customary criminal offense, French Soudan, 1900-1945. E. S. Burrill., R. L. Roberts and E. Thornberry (Ed.), Domestic Violence and the Law in Colonial and Post-Colonial Africa. Athens: Ohio University Press.
  • Stephen, O. (2010). Colonial Economic Structures in Africa: Their Purpose And Legacy. Unpublished Paper, Swarthmore College, PA.
  • Tamale, S. (2006). African feminism: How should we change. Development. 49(1), 38-41. 10.1057/Palgrave Development.1100205.
  • Therbon, G. (2006). Introduction: Globalization, Africa, and African family patterns. G. Therbon (Ed.), African Families in Global context. Uppsala: Uppsala Nordiska Afrikaninstitutet.
  • United Nations. (1949). United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948.
  • United Nations humanrights Publisher. Retrieved September 27, 2021, from http://www.jus.uio.no/lm/en/manifest/un.universal.declaration.of.human.rights.1948.html.
There are 35 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Mhando Mikidady 0000-0002-2580-0552

Publication Date April 30, 2022
Acceptance Date April 7, 2022
Published in Issue Year 2022 Volume: 4 Issue: 1

Cite

APA Mikidady, M. (2022). Gender Inequality: An Alien Practice to African Cultural Settlement. Universal Journal of History and Culture, 4(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.52613/ujhc.1006159
Creative Commons License
The published articles in UJHC are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.