BEYOND THIS MOMENT IN AFRICA Womanism as an Afrocentric Alternative to Feminism: the conditions of its possibility

Abstract

Since after the Second World War, perceptions about a good number of things began to change, this includes and not limited to the rise, wake and consciousness of the concept of feminism. Today, the crusade on feminism has permeated Africa, such that African Feminist scholars are now at the front burners of this argument using activism, knowledge and creativity to challenge situations that affect women negatively in a bid to protect the African women against African socio-cultural and religious events that marginalize women on the basis of gender and to liberate women from the limited notion of womanhood in reshaping the narrative of African womanhood. Employing the method of analysis in philosophy, this work provided a virtuous middle ground for a better discussion and placement of the female gender in the scheme of things in Africa. It arrived at the fact that the Western socio- cultural and religious background varies from that of the African woman and concluded that one cannot merge all African women under an unrealistic expectations of Western feminist theory, but instead to recognize and respect the differences that exist as a result of these diversities. In African culture, feminism has a better replacement with concepts like womanism and gender role division.