Kristin Figg

WS 202
Reflection 8-14-15
The reading on motherism by Acholonu discussed, like many of
the other readings regarding African feminism and black feminism, why
western feminism does not fit into the context of African society. The
author began by discussing how at the 1985 UN Conference in Africa,
there had been a heavy emphasis on western feminism philosophies
and says that it was at this conference, many assumed western
feminism was desired for everyone and the repercussions of this have
been seen since. There was an emphasis on equality and hardly any
on the importance of education. Westerners began to pain African
woman as an oppressed class and tried to get them to reject traditional
roles. She regards this western idea of feminism as anti-culture, antinature, and anti-child. Many Africans view feminists as selfish and not
community minded and they ignore the positive expressions of
motherhood. The author is extremely critical of radical feminism and
even says an emphasis on individualism leads to lesbian feminists and
even machoism. She criticizes Walkers definition of womanism and
says it can be exclusive and can be a weapon for racism which greatly
misses the aspects of family, child, nature, and mothering. According
to Acholonu, black feminism has also become synonymous with
lesbianism. Africans have very difficult issues regarding class and

someone can be just as limited based on the family they were born
into as they were their gender; African women are more oppressed
than western women. The author also agrees with the word equality in
African context because not everyone can measure up. African men
and women live a complimentary life and equality implies aggression,
is mechanical, and a subversion of natural order. She concludes that
the word motherism includes motherhood, nature, and nurture, which
other movements do not.
I found many things problematic while reading these chapters. I
understand how western feminism would not necessarily fit into daily
life in Africa very well and why many women would resist being called
feminists. However, I almost found the authors interpretation of
western feminism ignorant. Her criticisms of radical feminism did not
take into account the radical contexts where these movements came
from or the many accomplishments of radical feminism in the west like
suffrage, right to divorce, marriage rights, treating rape crimes more
seriously (all accomplished by mostly radical feminists). Her equating
radical feminism with lesbianism is a harmful stereotype not only
because of its inaccuracies but because it implies that there is
something wrong with being a lesbian in the first place. I thought her
understanding of the western idea of equality was also wrong.
Feminists in the west do not necessarily want to do everything that
men do but want womens work and mens work to be valued equally.

For example, a woman can choose to be a stay at home mother while

her husband works and this is fine, as long her work is valued the same
and society still values her as much as they do her husband. Equality
under western feminism is about the opportunity to do the same thing
as men (at the same wages), rather than forcing women to do work
they do not want to do. While I do not necessarily think this is the
right model for Africa, I do not think western feminism should be
presented as the enemy. There needs to be collaboration and unity on
how the world thinks about women and their rights.