Trudging under the Yoke of the African Patriachy

A Woman Occupies in Her Man's Heart, the Space She Occupies in His Bed! so goes a Mauritanian proverb.

Just yesterday I read a spine-chilling experience of a young girl (aged 20) who went as far as having a sexual relationship with her father for the sake of being 'Daddy's little girl'! While she stayed in denial yarning for fatherly love, the beastly father continually abused her without remorse. (http://www.genderlinks.org.za/article/i-had-sex-with-my-father-2010-11-25)

In Kenya and some parts of Africa, a lot of girls and women go through the female genital cut (FGC) - another life-threatening cultural practice that can lead to disability or even death. A recent report by UNICEF/UNFPA observed that the practice is slowing: "....in Ethiopia, the prevalence rate has fallen from 80 percent to 74 percent, in Kenya from 32 percent to 27 percent, and in Egypt from 97 percent to 91 percent". Among the circumcising communities in Kenya, the excuse given for the practice is "so that our girls can find suitors or fetch a better brideprice in marriage!" Others insist that FGC reduces promiscuity among women - in a culture where men are polygamous or keep mistresses?!

A different script emerges from Mauritania. While beauty queens and catwalk models of the world have to maintain a certain body weight and figure, Mauritanian women and girls need to fatten to find suitors! “The woman occupies in her man’s heart the space she occupies in his bed.” so goes a  Mauritania Moor ethnic group proverb. The practice of 'force-feeding' and weight gaining among women and girls is still prevalent in rural Mauritania (according to an IRIN report) where use is made of some animal fattening feeds which can be harmful to humans. According to the report, some women and girls have lost their lives due to the force-feeding practice.

The above is just a synopsis of the suffering of the African woman in order to fit into the man's ego. As we go into centenary celebrations of the women of the world, which way for the African Woman? In my opinion, there will be no women/girls empowerment without the involvement of men and boys.
Wake up Africa, let the African Woman Smile and Radiate the world!