Feminism is not a word that trips easily off the tongues of Ghanaians. The hostility to the term and the insistence that it is foreign and the several misunderstandings about what feminism stands for, mean that people find it easier or more tactical to call themselves gender activists, gender expert's etc.
But perhaps, as Prof. Dzodzi Tsikata puts it, "If we better understood the traditions of feminism, its evolution over the years, its relevance for us and how we could harness it to transform the lives of women, we would not be so apologetic."
She defines feminism as one set of ideas and a political movement, that is, theory and practice; it analyses the position and situation of women in society; identifies causes and basis of women's subordination and gender inequalities and organises to struggle for gender equity and equality and a transformation of society to remove all forms of oppression.
Prof. Tsikata, who is a member of the Network for Women's Right in Ghana, (NETRIGHT) emphasises that feminist theory without practice is incomplete as is the practice without the theory.
"Even if we choose to locate ourselves more in research and theorising than in the movement or vice versa, it is important that we see the necessity and interconnections of both- the ideas drive action and action generates ideas."
Nana Darkoa Sakyiamah, Programme Officer in charge of Fundraising and Communications who admits to be a feminist to the core, bemoans the misconception of who a feminist is and chastises the media for successfully demonizing feminists.
She explains, "A feminist is simply a person, a feminist could be a man or a woman who recognizes that we live in a society that has placed men in a position of superiority over women (feminists call this system patriarchy), recognizes that this system is unfair and is working to change society so we have a better world for women, men and communities at large. It's that simple."
She debunks the assertion that Ghanaian women in the pre-colonial era did not aspire to leadership positions.
Rather, she says, colonization, the advent of Victorian mores, and religions (Christianity & Islam) also introduced a new norm of what a 'good' woman is...this 'good' woman was presented as a home maker, someone who supported her husband, and was obedient to him.
"If you read about pre-colonial Ghanaian women, or even speak to your grandmothers, or great grandmothers, you will realize that African women have always had agency, have always worked and have always been independent. I think Ghanaian women of today need to re-discover the agency that our great grandmothers had."
Sharing her personal experience, she narrates that she initially became aware of feminism at the age of 19 (now 33), and says it was like the scales had fallen off her eyes.
"Here was an ideology that explained the world in which I found myself, and made so much sense to me. My experience as a feminist has been great. I am part of a community of sisters not just in Ghana, but in Africa and across the Globe. Wherever I travel to, chances are I can connect with a women's group or feminist group there. Feminists are a very supportive bunch of people, and my feminist friends support me, guide me and provide me with solace when needed. I have absolutely no regrets whatsoever in my feminist journey."In her feminist journey so far, Nana says she has started a group for like-minded feminists in Ghana; the group's members are women between the ages of 25-40 in the main and it is called 'Fab Fem.'
She hopes it will be an avenue that Ghanaian feminist women can be part of the wider women's movement. "In my farming community of Kwadarko in Akuapem North district of the Eastern region, I encouraged the community women to form a women's group, so they started 'Boafo Ye Na' to engage in communal gari processing, that's a practical way of bettering the lot of Ghanaian women. I hope to be able to do a whole lot more for Ghanaian women.
In the long term I have political ambitions, but that's a long-term goal." She encourages her fellow Ghanaian sisters to aim for the stars, be bold in their visions, and to go for what they want out of life.
She also advises Ghanaian women to read widely, "read up about different philosophies in life, read about feminism, development, the environment, the Arts...just read...there is so much knowledge out there."
"My Ghanaian sisters should develop an extra curricular life - play sports, learn a new activity, join professional clubs like Rotary, travel within Ghana...take every opportunity to learn and develop yourself further.
"There is a global feminist movement, there are regional movements and national movements and these are all interconnected in a web of feminist knowledge building and practice. As regards the conceptual basis of feminism, she argues that different intellectual traditions have influenced feminist thinking to more or less degrees.
For example, the rights language and rights discourses have been key as have been theorisations citizenship.
She points out that there are fundamental principles in feminism that can be identified and that in relation to African feminism, "the differences and conflicts among African feminists notwithstanding, there exist common features and shared beliefs that undergird their work" and an intractable spirit of engagement that speaks literally thousands of languages across the African continent".
However, Prof Tsikata admits that the challenge though is to determine what is fundamental and what a matter of preference is. "For this, we need certain yardsticks which have to do with not infringing on other person's rights or not excluding certain groups of women."
"To have a movement, we need a bottom line of agreed principles which we believe are fundamental. However, this bottom line should not be so minimal that it does not require us to stand up and be counted in any way. Secondly, it should be significant enough so that our differences will not remove any basis of work and tear us apart."
Speaking at the recent second national feminist forum in Accra,organised by NETRIGHT with support from AWDF, Dr. Rose Mensah-Kutin defined a movement as an organized set of constituents pursuing a common political agenda through collective action.
She outlined some characteristics that should be present and these include a visible constituency base or membership; members collectively working through informal or formal organizations; the use of a variety of actions and strategies; and engaging in internal or external targets in the change process.
She construed that feminism for us today is both an ideological issue and an analytical framework.
"It includes gender equality, but more broadly and fundamentally the transformation of all social relations that oppress, exploit or marginalize any set of people, women and men, on the basis of gender, age, sexual orientation, ability, race, religion, nationality, location, class, caste, or ethnicity."
"A stand against all ideologies and all forms of fundamentalisms that advocate against women's equal rights or against the human rights of any people on any grounds (economic, social, racial ethnic, sexual identity, class, political or religious)."
Some feminist characteristics of a movement she cited were a gendered analysis of the issue/situation for change, a critical mass of women as subjects, feminist values and ideology, women's leadership at all levels and gendered political goals, among others.
She emphasized that collective power was critical; therefore movements were important because of their capacity to create sustained change at levels that policy change alone could reach.
According to her, there were some trends against feminist movement building.
These are co-optation and distortion of feminist ideology, discourse and agendas, example
empowerment; rise of fundamentalisms of all kinds; and the fact that donor money does not support movement-building approaches.
According to her, a feminist process of movement building involved consciousness raising, mass based numbers and a shared political agenda, new knowledge and a new politics of knowledge building and commitment to transforming the practice of power.
"Changes at both formal and informal levels, commitment to transforming our own practice of power and constant renewal and rebuilding is critical," she added.
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