'Asante women, I pity you'. I made this statement in 1900 when the British captured me after a long hard struggle to defeat the British who had insolently demanded the Golden Stool to sit on. To sit on indeed! What insolence, but I digress, we are in a new world now and we are no longer fighting the British, at least not in the warfare of old. The warfare today is about trade, globalisation, a new world order...all these new terms that I had hardly understand. What does this all mean? It appears to me that it means the British, the Americans and all our former (and probably current) colonial masters are still in control. The new currency is no longer slaves but trade agreements. But I digress still, you have to forgive me, I am an old spirit. My body died in 1921 but my spirit has lived on. Its a good thing to be a spirt, some people are scared of spirits, they call them 'ghosts' and think they will come and 'catch' you in the night. What ever for? No, spirits like myself travel the world. All the things we could not do when encumbered with a physical body we are free to do now...I went to the white man's lands...England, America, Canada and observed the struggles of the women there. I went to the East, to India, Malaysia and Bangladesh and observed the struggles of the women there. And of course I have always watched over the women of Ghana. Please note that I said the women of Ghana and not the women of Asante. Of course I have a special place in my heart for the Asante women, I am a proud Asante woman but I watched the land that used to be the 'Gold Coast' evolve into 'Ghana' and so allow me to address the Ghanaian woman of today. Traditionally our people have always had a lot of respect for 'the old woman' of the house so I hope you will have the same respect for 'the old spirit' and listen to my words.
Women of Ghana:
* Do not allow people to decieve you about your culture and tell you that your culture is one that subjugates women. That is a plain lie. Ghanaian women of old were strong women who were well known for their abilities in farming and trading. Ghanaian women of today can also take inspirtaion from our ancestors and not only be farmers and traders but economists and heads of corporations.
* Polygamy is passe. Seriously, it may have had some value in the past. I have to admit for a lot of my women friends it was rather convenient to see your husband once every three months. You did not have to worry about cooking for him but in this day and age with HIV/AIDS I will not advice anyone to enter a polygamous marriage
* Get involved in Poliics. I know many of you think it is a dirty game but really it is only as dirty as the people involved...do not sit back and let 'a few men' decide your fate.
I have so much I want to say but perhaps you will stop listening so let me stop here. Oh one final thing, there are many more Ghanaian women heroines than myself, everytime someone wants an example of a Ghanaian heroine you trot out myself. To be honest, I am getting a bit bored of 'Yaa Asantewaa this, Yaa Asantewaa that'...you need to start researching the lives of African women and documenting their stories.
Stay well my children
Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah (inspired by the spirit of Yaa Asantewaa)
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
P.S: I attended a meeting of Ghanaian bloggers last month and the group decided to blog from the perspective of a historical figure on the 15th of January, 'If she could blog...'. This is my contribution
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8 comments:
Sisi - I'm glad you bring up the fact that women have always been treasured in Ghanaian culture. Personally, I feel that the new discourse of gender equality and of empowerment actually depletes our power - and fails to replace it in a way that suits our context. Empowerment presupposes that we have no power - that power is something external that needs to be given to us. As women, do we really need a job, an education and financial means to be treasured or respected by society?
I'm by no mean saying that we should not have those things - they are invaluable. But our worth and power is intrinsic - not conferred by an education, a skill or money!
Maame that's an interesting point you make, and I have to confess that I have not thought about it from that angle. True I can see how the constant discussion about empowerment suggests that women have no intrinsic power and that is challenging because I do not think that is the intent of people like myself who talk, write and act on 'gender equality and empowerment'. Empowerment as a concept really began to make sense to me when one of my former classmates said it referred to power with, power within, power to, and power over. Your comment clearly explains that we need to recognise the power within that women have. What I think we need more of is power to...and power with. Power over tends to be more negative and linked to dominating others....what do you think?
Nana (aka Sisi)
I agree that power over should not be what we're seeking - it will just perpetuate the cycle of inequality. And ditto that we need power to and power with. But if that is the case, then we really need to change the way the discourse has been going.
In a few communities that I have studied, when women were given access to micro-credit, etc, and they started to do well, domestic violence went up and there were many broken families.
If any of the power with and power to initiatives are to work, I think men need to be involved from the start. First they need to understand, recognize and accept the power within. Once they do this, then power-sharing, becomes a much easier idea to sell.
Given the nature of the power structures in our society, we cannot build one segment up, while ignoring the fact that power-with and power-to only work if they other is willing to oblige. See what's happening in Zimbabwe and Kenya with the government? In theory Raila and Morgan have been given a seat at the table, but do they really have any power with and power to?
Power is much harder to give up than to obtain, so maybe the equity work should not only give women the tools and capabilities to share and exercise power, but also alleviate men's fears about giving up total control.
Maame, I am glad you agree that 'power over' is not what we are seeking and that women need power with and power within. Many of the 'self esteem' workshops run by many women's groups seek to address the latter forms of power.
The example you have of communities where incidences of domestic violence have gone up with women's increased access to credit is very pertinent. What does this say about the men who feel the need to assault their wives and family members because the latter now have greater financial options? In my opinion its still about power and control. These men are using violence as a means of maintaining control and power within the family.
You raise an interesting point about including men in discourses about women's empowerment. That is true but the key issue for me is the way in which men are engaged. Personally my priority would be to work more with these women who are being battered by their husbands because they have access to micro credit and build their power to, power with and power within. I think that is the fundamental role of women's organisations. Progressive men's organisations should also start working with men to understand the importance of sharing power with women. Unfortuanately although there appears to be many individual men who are committed to women's empowerments, they do not appear to be progressive male organisations working to educate men and boys on 'power sharing'.
Have you or anyone else come across any? I will be interested to know
I also wrote from Yaa Asantewaa's perspective, haha, interesting! Also I am reading the Audacity of Hope, maybe less of a coincidence...
I guess a lot of us have been inspired by President Obama
"Do not allow people to decieve you about your culture and tell you that your culture is one that subjugates women. That is a plain lie."
This is so true. We need to continue to amplify this point about not only Asante culture but other African cultures.
Sorry, this comment comes very late but I've just come across your blog.
Hi Kathambi,
Better late than never:)
In my opinion, you are so right!
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