The gap between us: Perceptions of feminism and womanhood in Northern Ghana - evidence from Sagnarigu Municipal District

Abstract

While earlier studies on gender equality in parts of Africa revealed some understanding of feminism and the gains made by feminists’ movements across African cities, these studies were conducted largely in urban areas where cultures have been immensely inflected by education, traditional and social media as well as cross-cultural norms and values. The extent to which feminism—a philosophical and a political movement committed to drawing attention to the conditions of differently situated women and empowering them to overcome oppression in its various forms—is understood in rural areas, including those in Northern Ghana, has received limited academic attention. Much scholarly work on this subject matter is predominated by privileged subjects, who on occasion are removed from the daily struggles and realities of women at the grassroots. This study deployed a grounded theoretical perspective, relying on in-depth interviews involving 30 women from diverse backgrounds and social classes to explore the knowledge and awareness of feminism, cultural conceptualisations of femininity and the resonance of such conceptualisations with contemporary feminists’ theorising. The study found that norms that frame women as men’s subordinates are deep-seated in the Sagnarigu Municipality, and indeed across much of northern Ghana. Furthermore, most women in the study area, an extremely heteropatriarchal setting, have very limited understanding of feminism. Feminism is considered as foreign and diametrically opposed to the cultural norms of the people.

Keywords:

• Feminism(s)
• Women’s subordination
• Power
• Femininities
• Northern Ghana

1. Introduction

Feminism(s), initially perceived as a group of movements focused on undoing struggles of and emancipating women from male domination, systemic oppression and structural inequalities, has bred various forms of feminist philosophy over the years as ideologies have diversified and constellated (Colley & White, 2019). Although all feminist scholars seem to agree that feminism is a collective struggle to redress the subordinated position of women across human societies through the combined efforts of both men and women, the pathways are different (Kolawole, 2002). For some scholars, men have dominated women for many years, and this must be changed through a collective militant resistance by women to male hegemony (Buechler, 1993) . Others see feminism as an individual struggling to achieve equality, arguing that feminist issues can be addressed through pre-established profitable mechanisms (Baer, 2016; Korolczuk, 2016; Sifaki, 2016). Some other scholars also argue that feminism has already achieved the goals it set out to achieve in the first wave, so it is not needed anymore in contemporary times (McRobbie, 1993, 2009; Medina-Vicent, 2018). Yet, postfeminism or the aftermath of feminism has been described as an attempt to undo the gains of the women’s movement (McRobbie, 2009).

While these different conceptions of feminism resonate with the ideologies of some scholars and activists in African cities, many others, particularly, in rural areas, have yet to understand what feminism is about. Decolonial African feminists such as Maseno (2020) point to the dominance of Western-centric epistemologies and conceptualisations of feminism in the global movement Although liberal feminism might be finding its way into some African contexts, as argued by, Kolanyane-Kesupile and McAllister (2021), the tenets of mainstream feminism are believed by many Africans to be at great odds with traditional African values such as marriage, heteronormativity, motherhood and caregiving as reported by Dosekun (2021). Neoliberalism will also not appeal to many Africans because of its capitalist and atomistic tenets, which are at odds with African collectivism and communitarianism. Post-feminism, which tends to argue that feminism as a group struggles for gender equality, is no longer relevant and is a misfit in all contexts as outstanding issues remain unresolved. In some societies, particularly in the global south, deep-seated socio-cultural and economic barriers that prevent women from achieving equality with men still need concerted efforts to be addressed institutionally and collectively albeit with culturally sensitive mechanisms. As Rubin, 1975) argues, all societies have sexual and gender systems, but the specific contours and power relations of each system vary from one society to another. Many contexts across Africa are still largely rooted in oppressive and discriminatory cultural norms and values, such as women working for their husbands, having no voice in household decision-making, paying inequality and women's exclusion in politics and leadership positions, which need to be addressed through feminist advocacy. From the framing above, feminism as conceptualised by the radical, neoliberal and postfeminists does not resonate with African values about womanhood, manhood, marriage, motherhood and other cultural specificities that do not lend themselves to what many African feminists describe as Western-centric conceptualisations of feminism (Akurugu, 2021a). Whereas Akurugu (2021b) points out the dangers of such a totalising framing of what matters to African women and feminists’ movements, we argue that as these hold ways across cultures on the continent, we need to engage them while at the same time highlighting their limitations.

Yet, early research on gender equality in Africa showed the existence of a significant body of knowledge on feminism and the achievements of the African feminist movement (Akurugu, 2021a); Kolanyane-Kesupile & McAllister, 202), as far as the researchers are aware, the degree of understanding of feminism in rural northern Ghana has received limited academic attention and this study directly addresses it. The study answers the questions: what is the level of knowledge and awareness of feminism among women in Sagnarigu Municipal District? What is women’s understanding of femininity in Sagnarigu Municipal District? How does the conceptualisation of womanhood converge or divert from the Western-centric conceptualisations of feminism? Answers to these questions will enrich our understanding of feminism in the study setting as well as assist in the development of strategies that promote feminist advocacy while informing policy formulation to encourage collective efforts at eliminating discriminatory cultural values and practices against women towards the achievement of gender equity in society.

Having provided an introduction, the rest of the article is divided into four sections: The first section examines theoretical discourses on feminism to provide a framework for the research. This is followed by a methodology which describes how the research was conducted and this is followed by results and discussion. The concluding section reflects on the implications of the findings for feminist discourses, particularly in the global South, and also makes recommendations for policies and programmes that can address gendered inequalities in rural Ghana.

2. Theoretical perspectives of feminism

Similar to the waves of feminism, academic theories of feminism are diverse and nuanced. Feminism comes in a variety of academic theories that seek to explain its relevance, motivations, achievements, and, more recently, irrelevance (Melo Lopes, 2019). Radical feminist feminism focuses on the elimination of heteropatriarchy, the importance of sisterhood, egalitarian organisational structures, and the celebration of female identity (Browne, 2019). The challenge with this theory is that its tenets are quite restrictive and exclusionary, particularly for female subjects for whom these institutions and practices are important. Indeed, it also undermines men’s efforts in gender equality struggles. Liberal feminists tackle issues of historical and systemic disadvantages and injustices faced by women by promoting their entry into the capitalist system and paid labour so as to engender gender equality (Brown, 2019). Liberal feminists address the aforementioned challenges with radical feminism by not seeking revolutionary changes; instead, they demand transformation within existing structures, relying on the efforts of both men and women (Tong, 2007). Both radical and liberal feminists tend to reify the differences between women and men and this sex-gender binary has come under severe criticism over the years in the women’s movement (Judith Butler, 1999; Rubin, 1975). In a groundbreaking work that highlights the fluidity of gender identities, McCann et al. (2020) draws attention to the limitations of this normative and rigid distinction between men and women. Using the acclaimed theory of performativity of gender, Butler argues that gender identities are performatively constituted, meaning they are produced and reproduced by imitating and reiterating past gender norms. The flush that attends gender identities, according to her, offers great potential for performing gender in ways that reinforce the norms pointedly or radically subvert them, throwing into relief the reification. Marxist feminists shift attention from gender differentiation in feminism to the economic systems where they consider capitalism rather than patriarchy as the main perpetrator of women’s oppression (Cruz, 2018; Katerina, 2017; Di Stefano, 2019). The challenge with this theory, however, is that it reinforces social structures that perpetrate inequalities among the sexes. Neoliberal feminism, which has been developed along the lines of the capitalist market economy, argues that feminism is about victimhood and tries to shift the conceptualisation of feminism from group to individual struggles (Colley & White, 2019). The challenge with this, however, is that it reinforces institutional barriers that perpetrate inequality between the sexes in societies around the world. Butler et al. (2020) criticises athese theories for their unitary conceptualisation of femininity, which is a focus on subjects in Euro-American contexts, as many of them for a long time failed to consider the individual experiences of women in other parts of the world, particularly in the global South. Yet, women’s lived struggles in these contexts are complexly intertwined with the legacies of colonialism, neoliberal conditionalities and local androcentric institutions that oppress them (Akurugu, 2020; Kapur, 2001; Mohanty, 1984). Feminist scholarship emanating from the global South since 1970s has focused on highlighting the intersectional issues and the multiple struggles but also the resilience of women in these settings (Mohanty, 1984; Amadiume, 1987; Oyewumi, 1997). In recent times, the efforts have included decolonising feminist theorising, development of theories and practices by drawing on indigenous knowledge systems, conceptions and practices on gender and feminism (Ogunyemi, 1985; Akurugu, 2020).

African feminism, although also varied and nuanced, articulates concerns and struggles of many African women. “Womanism”, one strand of African feminism, was expressed by Ogunyemi (1985). African womanism is anchored on the multiple struggles of the “African woman” with endemic poverty, armed conflict and deep-seated patriarchal structures. African womanism sought to extend feminist discourses to such intersectional issues as racism, deprivation and minority rights. Juxtaposing womanism to (mainstream) feminism, Ogunyemi explained that “[i]f the ultimate aim of radical feminism is a separatist, idyllic existence away from the hullabaloo of the men’s world, the ultimate aim of womanism is the unity of blacks everywhere under the enlightened control of men and women” (Ogunyemi, 1985: 71). Ogundipe-Leslie (2007) also proposed the concept of “Stiwanism” that emphasised the struggles of African women against poverty, wars and western imperialism. Stiwanism’ stands for Social Transformation Including Women in Africa and it highlights the fact that African women are in the struggles against poverty, neoliberal capitalism and neo-colonialism together with men. Stiwanism, for her, “is about the inclusion of African women in the contemporary social and political transformation of Africa” (Ogunyemi, 1985: 230). For Ogunyemi, as for Ogundipe, activism in Africa needs to involve men and to explore their struggles as well. While this approach may be less threatening to the patriarchal norms and thus eschew men-hating distracting discourses, within the context of gendered power imbalances advocates need to be wary of the risks of subsuming women’s struggles under those of the dominant men. A feminist agenda needs to be anchored in the experiences and struggles of multiply situated women.

Acholonu (1995) framed the concept of “motherism”, drawing out the importance of motherhood, social and biological to women in Africa. In an era of greater concern for equity, social inclusion and diversity, this restrictive framing and presumed heteronormativity is unsettling as it risks minoritizing some segments of our society who may not necessarily identify as women or for whom motherhood is not considered important. These African feminists and many others, such as Nnaemeka (2003) who proposed negotiation feminism and Ezeigbo (2012) who proposed snail-sense feminism, have tried to lead the struggle for gender equality from African perspectives, which appear to diverge from mainstream feminism. Feminists’ scholars rightly observe that feminism as considered in Europe and North America is different from feminist ideologies from the global South. This suggests that a unified concept of feminism may not be appropriate and that if feminism or the struggle for gender equality must be universally accepted, it must take note of the different experiences of women across settings (Butler, 1999; Kamau, 2012). Similarly, notions of femininities vary across context and in the study area as elsewhere; they are complexly intertwined with patriarchal institutions and power inequalities. Closely related to this is the pervasiveness and normalization of violence against women in the study areas (”G.S.S,” 2021; Akurugu, 2020, 2021b). This contextualization requires that feminist discourses are based on the local setting in order to accommodate the subtleties of cultural values that are upheld by people from different locations at any given time, while efforts are made to address any forms of culturally induced violations of women’s rights in each society. Rather than dismissing the relevance of feminism altogether, as postfeminists argue, the current research demonstrates that feminism is still very important, especially if only trans-disciplinary approaches are adopted to conceptualize it. This resonates profoundly with the tenets of the New Conservative Feminist Theory, which is the main framework for this study. According to the New Conservative Feminist Theory, traditional discriminatory practices based on gender must be eradicated but traditional female characteristics as mothers, caregivers and wives to their husbands should be maintained (Schreiber, 2018).

3. The study area and methodology

The data for this study were gathered from communities located within the Sagnarigu Municipality of the Northern Region. Sagnarigu Municipality is one of 16 districts of the Northern Region of Ghana. Sagnarigu Municipality is bordered by Savelugu Municipality to the North, Tamale Metropolis to the south, Tolon District to the west and Kumbungu District to the east (”G.S.S,” 2021). The Municipality has a land area of approximately 114 square kilometres and is located between latitudes 9.4687° north and longitudes −0.8654° west and has an elevation of 189 m (”G.S.S,” 2021). The Ghana Statistical Service (”G.S.S,” 2021) reports that the population of Sagnerigu Municipality is approximately 342,000 and of this 50.6% are males and 49.4% are females. There are 23,447 households in the Municipality, with an average household size of 6.3 persons (”G.S.S,” 2021). The Municipality was chosen because it is organised along heteropatriarchal lines and also has both urban and rural populations, thus providing the best context for studying framings and conceptualisations of feminism and femininity among women. The majority of women in the rural areas of the Municipality are engaged in crop cultivation and animal husbandry, while the majority of women in the urban areas are employed in various sectors of the economy, although they dominate the informal sector, engaging largely in activities such as marketing, shea butter processing and service provision (”G.S.S,” 2021). According to the 2021 Population and Housing Census, 55% of women aged 18 and above have completed at least lower secondary school, 32% have completed upper secondary school and 22% have graduated from tertiary institutions, but only 13.5% are employed in the formal sector, while those who have completed upper secondary and tertiary institutions are mostly engaged in sales or service provision. Respondents were of different age categories. Eighteen of the participants were aged between 34 and 38 years, five were between 18 and 23 years, two were aged between 24 and 28 years, three were between 29 and 43 years and the other two were above 44 years. All the research participants were married except one who was widowed. The participants had various levels of education, 13 had completed Junior High School, nine completed Senior High School and the other eight attended various tertiary institutions ranging from colleges of education to universities. Participants were engaged in various economic activities. Eleven of them cultivated crops and reared animals, nine were into sales of variuos items, four were into hairstyling and the other six were employed in the formal sector as nurses, teachers and administrators.

The dominant religions in the Municipality are the Abrahamic ones—Islam and Christianity—which have strict rules on relations between men and women, urging women to submit to their husbands (Glas & Spierings, 2019). The cultural and Islamic religious norms permit polygynous marriages and following this, 75% of married men in the Municipality have more than one wife (”G.S.S,” 2021). Sagnarigu Municipality is dominated by the Dagomba ethnic group, which, like many other cultures in northern Ghana, is deeply patriarchal and practices patrilineal inheritance system whereby only men are normatively permitted to inherit the property of their deceased fathers or uncles (Chigbu, 2019). Culturally, women are not entitled to land, as it is considered to belong only to male members of the patriliny (Chigbu, 2019). The Municipality has recorded many cases of violence against women in addition to other cultural practices that tend to perpetuate male dominance and women’s subordination (G.S.S 2021).

Map of Northern Region Showing the Study Area

4. Research approach and sampling

The study adopted a qualitative method using a grounded theory where findings emerged from the data that was gathered through in-depth interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with 30 women who were purposively selected. The qualitative approach allowed for the collection of rich data on gendered inequalities and power imbalances in the Sagnarigu Municipality. This approach permitted the gathering of in-depth narratives on male-female power relations in the study communities. Participants were purposively selected using Expert Purposive Sampling technique— a technique which allows for the selection of only people who have in-depth knowledge about the subject because of their lived experiences and knowledge of the issues being studied. In this study the issues are local people’s awareness of feminism, local conceptualisations and framings of womanhood and femininity and the convergence or divergence of such framings with western-centric conceptualisations of womanhood. These participants were identified through women associations and civil society organisations that are interested in gender. Fifteen women from the urban sector of the Municipality were selected. These women had attended many workshops organised by non-governmental organisations to educate women on issues of gender equality, women empowerment and feminist activism. Fifteen other women were selected from the rural part of the Municipality, and these too were opinion leaders who had had opportunities to counsel women on husband–wife relationships and violence against women. These women commanded a lot of influence in their respective communities and all of them had been married for at least 15 years at the time of the study. While the urban participants gave in-depth narratives on how women and men relate in the context of the urban areas, the rural participants also provided narratives on how men and women relate in rural areas in terms of women’s rights, inclusion in decision-making, participation in politics and reproductive rights. Five of the urban women were actively engaged in feminist activism, while the other 10 were not actively involved but had a strong passion for gender justice. For their part, five of the rural women were also passionate about gender equity issues, although they were not involved in any activities that could be classified as gender activism. All 30 women provided relevant information that enriched the quality of the study.

5. Data collection

Both primary and secondary data were collected for the study. Secondary data was collected through documentary reviews, which examined articles, books and documentaries to ascertain the contemporary discourses on gender justice issues and how these debates are shaped by values and norms in specific cultural contexts. Primary data were collected through in-depth interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). The fieldwork lasted for 6 months. It started on 12 December 2021 and ended on 28 May 2022. Ten women—five from the urban group and another five from the rural group—were selected for in-depth interviews due to their personal involvement in and passion for gender issues. The remaining 20 participants were divided into four groups of five each for Focus Group Discussions. The interviews were conducted in both English and Dagbani depending on which language participants were more comfortable with, while all FGDs were held in Dagbani as most of those who participated in the FGDs expressed preference for the local language. The interviews were focused on gender equality in terms of removing institutional barriers to women’s advancement in corporate institutions, access to education, access to affordable livelihoods, access to land and the ability to influence decision-making at home, at work and even in religious associations. Discussions were extended to find out how they understood gender issues in a Northern Ghanaian context and how men and women could collectively address issues deemed discriminatory against women. Each interview session lasted between 30 minutes and 1 hour. The FGDs also covered similar issues but extended to discuss marriage, what society expects of women, what religions teach them about marriage and the possibility of reconciling religious and cultural values with contemporary values of equality between people. Four focus group sessions were held, each lasting at least 1 hour, and none lasting beyond 1 hour and 30 minutes. The researchers used pseudonyms to represent the participants who took part in the study, to ensure anonymity and the confidentiality of the data collected. All 30 participants were assigned pseudonyms ranging from P1 to P30 for identification and reference. P1 represented respondent 1, P2 represented respondent 2 and this followed sequentially to p30 who represented respondent 30.

6. Data analysis

The data was analysed using an inductive thematic analysis (Table 1) where themes emerged from the data by themselves (Creswell, 2016). The researchers concentrated on what participants’ statements revealed about their opinions but not their stated opinions, an approach that Salloum et al. (2020) describe as latent semantic analysis. The data from the interviews and FGDs were transcribed into text, and the transcripts were shared among the researchers. The researchers each coded the transcribed data by highlighting and colouring sections of the text and developing shorthand labels to describe their contents. These codes enabled the researchers to gain a condensed overview of the main points and common meanings that recurred throughout the data. After that, patterns in the generated codes were identified and themes built by combining the codes. These themes were reviewed and mapped against the entire data set. Few of the themes were broken down and others combined to make the themes more meaningful and useful. The refined themes were then named to represent the exact variables that were used in the study.

Table 1. Participants' understanding of femininity and feminism in Sagnarigu District

Codes	Basic Themes	Organising Themes
Fight for female rights Equality of women to men Forcing men to do women’s work Encouraging LGBT+ activities Demanding equality Encouraging men to treat women well Partnership in marriage Female empowerment No forced sex Vote and be voted for Hands of men	Demanding that women are treated equally with men Encouraging women to demand their rights to be respected 'Removing barriers to women’s progression Men and women should participate in house chores and childcare Women’s electoral rights Women’s rights to sexual consent	Knowledge and awareness of feminism
Marry Give birth Cooking and taking care of children Obeying husband Keeping the house neat, Looking good for your husband Beautiful sexy and desirable care	Marriage and childbirth define womanhood Women must cook, wash, clean and keep the house tidy Women should respect and obey their husbands Women must look beautiful for the husband Women should do house chores, and men should assist only. Women must look good to be desired by men Men must take care of women	Womanhood in Sagnarigu Municipality
Foreign culture Not for Africa Setting women against men Breaking family Not suitable for African values Very bad Relevant Irrelevant	Feminism is foreign to African culture Feminism breaks families apart Feminism is against generational values Feminism is not relevant to us Feminism has a role to play	Femininity and Feminism in Sagnarigu District

Source: Field data, 2022

7. Results of the study

7.1. Knowledge of and perceptions on feminism

The analysis of the field data showed that some of the respondents, especially those from the urban sector, demonstrated knowledge and awareness of feminism, although much of what they expressed about feminism could be classified under the radical form of feminism. Their general understanding of feminism was limited to the resistance of women against men who, to them, have subjugated women over the years. The participants pointed to the fact that the world has been shaped over the years by norms and values that are, for the most part, in favour of men. The gendered inequalities are a consequence of men’s privileged access to better opportunities for self-realisation, their control over productive resources and assets and their occupation of the best positions in economics, politics and education. By contrast, in most cases women are perceived as second fiddle, playing supporting and subordinated roles. One of the respondents explained:

To me feminism is about fighting for women rights. It’s about women recognising the fact that they have been dominated over the years and then teaming up together to demand that this be redressed … . It’s about women seeing themselves as folks in the struggle and resistance against male domination (P1, a woman, aged 35, married and an administrator in the public service)

Another respondent also expressed similar views during the interviews. She informed us that:

Feminism, to my understanding, is about women coming together to fight for the transformation of certain practices that tend to subordinate women to men and require women to be docile and subservient to men at all times. It is a movement that need to be welcomed by all women because we have gone through and are still going through a lot from the hands of men (P10, a woman, aged 43, married and a development expert)

Most of the respondents (18) expressed ideas that are quite militarised and could be understood to be in line with radical feminists, ideals. These perspectives do not regard feminism as a domain for negotiation or collaboration as Nnaemeke and Ezeigbo proposed earlier. Few others, however, had different ideas about feminism and in the following quotes the dominant influence of religion and cultural norms loom large. One of the participants expressed her view as follows:

Those things— gender equality, LGBTI+- they are bringing cannot work here. We have our culture and they also have theirs. We know that a man should marry a woman but now they are saying awoman can marry woman and man can marry man. It is even against the will of God. God created Adam and Eve and not Adam and Ibrahim so those things cannot work here. We are women and we are happy being treated as women (P29, woman, aged 32, married and a trader)

Another also expressed similar views:

Feminism is an idea which says men and women are equal … . How is that possible? God created a woman out of the rib of a man … this means that women emanated from men and they cannot turn round and say they are equal they should please give us some rest with these White men’s ideas. If they are saying men and women should work together as husband and wife with each performing his or her duties, that is perfect, but the issue of equality is foreign to us (P17, a mother of 7, married and housewife)

Overall, the analysis showed that women in Sagnarigu Municipality have varied views on feminism, its nuances and the main objectives of the movements.

9. Conception of womanhood in Sagnarigu Municipality

The study investigated how femininity is conceptualised in the Municipality. The respondents expressed varied views. All participants were of the view that the society expects women to grow, get married, give birth, and be obedient and respectful to their husbands. Women are also expected to take care of children and be caring wives and mothers. Women who do not live up to these expectations are less respected and may suffer sanctions such as being socially isolated or avoided or stigmatised. This finding resonates with Akurugu’s (2020) examination of the wilful woman persona in north-western Ghana where she reports that hardworking and assertive women in that context risk being stigmatised as being more than men. All participants in our study expressed the view that womanhood is highly valued and the society has strong expectations for women to adhere to these. The society has prescribed “feminine” behaviours and these are tightly policed and thus, a woman whose gendered performance diverges from these is stigmatised and may even be socially isolated by other women. These views were strongly expressed by respondents from the rural section of the Municipality. One of them expressed it this way:

Over here, women are expected to perform special roles. Once you start menstruating, your mother begins to teach you about marriage. She tells you what to do to please a man, how to treat a man, how to respect him, and maintain your home and keep it at peace. We believe that when marriage fails, it is the fault of the woman. A woman is the one who is supposed to keep the house together. When you marry and Allah blesses you with children, then you are a complete woman. Women are supposed to be taken care of by the men, admired by them and treated as their queens. The men are supposed to provide for the women and the women are supposed to respect and adore their men and look good for them always (P6, Woman, aged 29, married and a farmer).

Another respondent expressed a similar view about womanhood in the Municipality. She explained as this:

Over here, as in many parts of Ghana and possibly Africa, women are expected to behave differently from the men. They are expected to make the home, give birth, take care of the children, prepare them for school, send them to school, and pick them up from school and a whole lot. If a woman wants to combine career and marriage, it means she has to go to work, close from work come and take care of the house, cook for the husband, do laundry and many other things. So, if you go round, you will find that many women who are working and are married have brought their relatives to be staying with them to help with the house chores (P21, Woman, Married, aged 39).

The views above corroborate Acholonu’s motherism with emphasis on mothering, social and biological. Another respondent, however, had a different view. She expressed it as this:

The traditional view of a woman as a slave to a man is changing, although not too rapidly. Some men are beginning to see that women need help in the Kitchen, with laundry, home keeping and even taking care of the kids. They do assist their women. But of course, there are conservatives or traditional men who still believe that a woman must serve a man and that home keeping is reserved for women only (P12, woman, married, aged 25, a trader).

Respondent P12 recognises that gender roles are transforming, with some men now taking on roles that were hitherto considered as “feminine”. While this assertion may be apt, the extent of social change is rather extremely low since such men also risk stigma by the majority of women and men in the study setting. For the majority of the participants, women are still understood as subordinates to men and in daily and ritual lives, everything they do should be oriented towards pleasing the men and shoring up their feminine identities.

10. Womanhood and feminism in Sagnarigu Municipality

The study investigated how feminism could fit into the cultural conceptualisation of a woman in Sagnarigu Municipality. Participants held varied opinions about womanhood and feminism in the Municipality. Most of those from urban areas expressed views that indicated that feminism was very key to changing some of the discriminatory practices against women in the Municipality and across Ghana. One of them explained it as this:

Feminism is very important at this time of our lives. Women are increasingly moving into the formal sector of the economy. We have nurses, we have bankers, and we have teachers. They work the same hours as the men and yet must come home and do the cooking, laundry, childcare and give their husbands sex even when they are obviously not ready for that due to fatigue. Women need to come together and collectively demand for change in these kinds of practices (P9, married, aged 22, a nurse, not marries).

P9 appears to have imbibed feminist ideals and she recognises the multiple burdens on women as well as the importance of mobilising and advocating collectively to engender change. Similarly, another participant who was also from the urban sector of the Municipality expressed her opinion and it reflects the numerous demands for women’s time. She explained:

Women are caught between being the woman society expects of them and finding happiness within themselves as individuals. Many of the women you see in marriage today are living corpses. They are abused in all aspects and some are even physically abused by their male partners. There are also some who are mistreated by their husband’ relatives. In our culture, a woman has to do laundry for her man, mother and father if they are alive and even sisters-in-law. If she doesn’t do these, she is seen as an irresponsible wife, and some may even go further and kick a woman out of the marital home because she is unable to perform all these duties. We women must unite and demand a change in all these discriminatory practices against us (P25, married, 27 years and a teacher).

A third participant agrees with those above. She explained:

Women do suffer. Our culture has always favoured men. If you get married, it’s a problem; if you don’t, it’s a bigger problem. Childbirth is one of the most revered values here. If a couple fails to have a baby soon after marriage, the woman takes the blame. She is called all sorts of names. Meanwhile, sometimes it is the man’s fault. If the man doesn’t have enough sperm, why should the woman take the blame for it? We really need to unite as women and demand the abolition of some of these practices. They are discriminatory … . As a woman, you have no rights to your parents’ property, no access to land and some even refuse to send you to school, what crime have we committed? At this time we need the feminist movement in this part of our world the most (P18, married, 35 years, and an administrator).

Together, the narratives above highlight the constraints society’s norms place on women and their limited agency in both the natal and marital family in relation to inheritance. Nonetheless, some participants, particularly those from the rural sector of the Municipality had different views about womanhood and feminism. Their narratives reproduce problematic assumptions on women’s roles as subordinate to men. They saw feminism as a foreign culture and did not want anything that had the potential to break the existing families that they had built over centuries. One of them expressed it this way:

These things are for white people. We are African women and this is our culture. We cannot demand equality with men. We can only ask that they treat us well as their wives. Sometimes it’s hard to stay married, it’s true, but as a woman you ought to have patience. You don’t have to compete with your husband. I am happy to run the house because that is what makes me a woman. A man has to go out and look for food and bring it to us (P12, a married woman, aged 29 and a housewife)

Another participant supported this view:

Feminism to me is an idea that is being spread around by the White people to put women against men. They ask us to let our men cook, how can a man enter the Kitchen? If so, then there is no need for a man to marry. A man is supposed to bring food so that the woman will cook the food. That is why men marry women. So to me that idea is for the Whites and we need not to worry ourselves about it (P13, a woman, married, aged 37 and a housewife)

For both P12 and P13, feminism and gender equality are alien to Northern Ghanaian cultures and therefore have no relevance. Ghanaian societies, rural and urban, Northern and Southern, are replete with troubling notions regarding “masculine” and “feminine” roles. For these interlocutors, to question the status quo is to question their femininities. Overall, while some of the participants felt feminism was needed to address issues of gender equality, others expressed opinions that frame it as foreign and unfit for the Dagomba culture. Most of those who advocated for feminism were those resident in the urban sector of the Municipality and had considerable levels of formal education, while most of those who said it was foreign were from the rural areas. Most of the second cohort had little to no contact with formal education and interactions outside their communities, and these may have accounted for views that tended to bolster the cultural norms to oppress women.

11. Discussion of findings

The study found that most women in Sagnarigu have problematic conceptions of feminism and femininity. Some of the rural women (8) reduced feminism to LBTQI+ activism. While LBTQI+ activism is an important part of the women’s movement, the latter is more encompassing. Those who showed greater understandings were the educated women, and yet they appeared to limit their feminism to radical feminism. Makulilo (2022)) made similar findings in Tanzania when they investigated rural women’s perceptions of feminism and energy democracy. Abdullah (2018) also found that many women in rural Nigeria are less familiar with the objectives of feminism and perceive it as a struggle against men. Although feminism has penetrated the length and breadth of the world, its impact is felt more in Europe and North America (Molyneux et al., 2020). Adisa et al. (2019) argued that societies in the global South remain largely patriarchal and are more concerned with micro- and macro-economic issues than with feminism. Although the Beijing and Kenya conferences engendered greater awareness in African women about women’s rights and gender equality, much of this was felt in urban areas and it remains mostly among educated elite women (Molyneux et al., 2020). While the waves of feminism in the global movement are raging, many people in the global south, especially in Africa, have not fully imbibed what it is all about, let alone debate its varieties, relevance and obsolescence. As Daily (2019) argues, the “African girl” is seen as a victim who demands salvation from Western women, and thus feminism is mostly understood in terms of mission rescue rather than a collective struggle for equality, as our research participants suggest or as an individual struggle for equality, as promoted by neoliberal feminists. While feminism may have made a greater impact in relation to its goal in Europe and North America, outstanding issues with the gender pay gap and inequalities in various forms remain in those contexts. In the face of yawning gendered gaps in public life, normalised violence and deep-seated patriarchal ideologies that oppress women, feminism is very relevant and sustained advocacy in African societies today is as imperative as it is elsewhere, even if the extent of gendered inequalities differs from one context to another.

The study also revealed that femininity for many women in Sagnarigu means an ability to marry, have children, take care of them, manage the household and be obedient and respectful to husbands. Women are not expected to claim equality with men; instead, they are expected to be desirable to men and to be treated well. Thus, the issue of equality is not paramount. Although some educated women living in urban areas had similar views, their perspectives were probably shaped by education and cross-cultural influence. Unlike the rural women, most of them felt men should simply help with household chores and childcare. Both positions, however, are incompatible with the views of radical, liberal and neoliberal feminisms, which demand equality between men and women in all aspects of human life. Rubin et al. (2019) also found that in many African cultures the differences between men and women are still very strong. In many societies, especially in rural areas, women are not supposed to participate in certain activities that are stereotypically regarded as masculine. For example, it is not customary for women to compete for leadership in associations made up of men and women (Daily, 2019). Even in the formal sector, some professions are considered masculine, so it is unusual to see women in construction, mechanical and electrical engineering, as these professions are considered too difficult for women. Makulilo (2022) also found in Tanzania that women are expected to engage in those professions, which give them time to take care of their families, as this is considered their main responsibility as wives and mothers. While the situation may be different among elite families in urban areas, the situation among other women, especially in rural areas, is not the same. The danger is that even women themselves have internalised these cultural norms and practices and see no need for change. As P11 asks “ … how can a man enter the Kitchen? If so, then there is no need for a man to marry.” For her, the roles are clearly defined and justly too and there is no need for men to “usurp” the duties of women. Issues of gender equality are barely critically interrogated and contextualised; they are summarily dismissed by both women and men as Western. Dagomba women are expected to be able to marry, make themselves desirable to the men and bear children. They are also required to cook for the husbands and take care of the family, including the extended families of the husband in most cases. Any performance short of this exposes women in marriage to stigmatisation and violence with fatal consequences on occasions. Whereas these conceptualisations echo the perspectives of some African feminist scholars, they are troubling inasmuch as they overburden women (Acholonu, 1995). This conceptualization of femininity requires a collective effort at reorientation and enculturation so as to engender transformation and this makes feminists research such as the current one very relevant to African societies.

The study also showed that femininity, as understood by the women of Sagnarigu Municipality, may not fully fit the concept of feminism as expressed by any of the feminist theories, no matter how loosely defined. Although the participants’ views have some semblance with those of the new conservative feminists, their understanding of femininity as almost slavery to men may not fit with the philosophy of conservative feminists. The cultural definition of femininity, which is still very strongly articulated and accepted even by women in rural areas, means that feminism and the struggle for gender equality is not over. However, radical feminism can be a very difficult movement to sustain in rural Africa precisely because of the militarised ideals which are more threatening to the status quo. Other forms of feminism, especially conservative and liberal feminism, may be attractive to some women because they are less radical and can be fine-tuned to fit into some of the existing cultural values, while ensuring women’s dignity and respect as human beings. Although Koburtay et al. (2020) argue that any cultures that support discriminatory practices against women are irrelevant in contemporary human societies, this may not entirely reflect reality in rural Africa because of the dominant influence of the norms, values and belief systems, even some of the women have accepted these practices and do not find them discriminatory. A mechanical approach to eradicating such cultural practices can be counterproductive as it will encounter fierce resistance. Just as it took time for societies in the global North to transform certain institutional and cultural discriminatory practices against women, so African societies require sustained advocacy to go through social transformation of such magnitude, but it should be gradual rather than overnight. As the African feminists have pointed out, we need negotiation, collaboration and complementarity with men to achieve gender justice and women’s liberation.

12. Conclusion

The study explored the knowledge and awareness of feminism, perceptions of femininity and their compatibility with the tenets of mainstream feminisms among women in Sagnarigu Municipality in Northern Ghana. The study found that women had limited awareness of the global feminist movement and its ideals. The study further revealed the pervasiveness of strong cultural conceptions of femininity, which are not only restrictive but also oppressive. Yet, few of the women expressed views that reverberate with the philosophy of feminism. The study also showed that women found it acceptable to be married to men, treated as wives, taking care of the home, children and husbands. For some of the participants, this is important for defining femininities. These women also cared little about being equal to men because the culture expects them to be subservient; to be women and women cannot be equal to men. This is consistent with the New Conservative Feminists theory, which argues that women want to be treated as women by men. Such views are common among many African women, but internationally this is often blared by the activities of a few African gender activists who, most often, come from wealthy and elite families. When women still feel indebted to men in this way, as the women in Sagnarigu Municipality do, it means that there is still much work to be done.

Changing the perception of women from seeing themselves as servants and lower in status to male partners to seeing themselves as equal partners in a consensual union; from seeing marriage as an institution that defines femininity to seeing it as a choice to partner; from seeing themselves as objects for men to be desired to seeing themselves as people to be loved and respected by both sexes require collective efforts of both men and women. This collectivism may be similar to the feminist movements that made great strides in Europe and North America in the early 1960s and 1970s. It is obvious that none of the identified mainstream feminists’ strands can adequately address the issues of gender inequality in Northern Ghana and in many African societies. The African feminists’ discourses offer important ideas for anchoring feminism on the lived struggles and aspirations of African women and their cultures. Despite this, many of them, as we pointed out earlier, are potentially exclusionary in their emphasis on reproductive roles. Consequently, there is a need to develop a framework that integrates the indigenous cultural norms and expectations of women with the tenets of the global feminist movement to guide the negotiation for gender equality in Northern Ghana and Africa at large without radically upsetting the social institutions that are revered by women and men. To this effect, we propose the introduction of a gender sensitisation programme in all pre-tertiary educational institutions so as to carefully integrate context-specific conceptualisations of feminism and femininity into the global understanding of the concepts without forcefully altering the values and norms, which inform such specific conceptualisations. We further propose the integration of males into these gender sensitisation programmes so as to provide an intersectional approach to the feminist agenda without necessarily altering the goals of such movements. Finally, we propose that the state and other education stakeholders may provide incentives that will motivate parents to send their girl children to schools so that a more educated female gender may become more aware of their rights and reconceptualise problematic framings of gender and femininity that constellate to perpetuate male dominance across African societies.

Correction

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the undying support of Professors Samuel Marfo and Mohammed Sulemana who assisted by proof-reading the work and making relevant suggestions, which improved the quality of the study. We also acknowledge all participants who contributed immensely in providing data for the study. We are equally indebted to the anonymous reviewers whose comments and suggestions have enriched the quality of the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no direct funding for this research.

Notes on contributors

Tobias Tseer

Dr. Tobias Tseer teaches Organisational Conflict and Feminism at the Simon Diedong Dombo University for Business and Integrated Development Studies in Wa, Northern Ghana. His research interests are in gender and conflict studies. He has published extensively on ethnic conflicts in Ghana. His recent article was published in the International Annals of Criminology by Cambridge University Press. He is open to research collaboration at any level within his area of research interest.

Constance Awinpoka Akurugu

Dr. Constance Awinpoka Akurugu is an experienced researcher and a gender activist at Simon Diedong Dombo University Business and Integrated Development Studies. She has published numerous articles on gender, governance and housing policy. She has over fifteen researched articles in the area of gender and development. She is willing to collaborate on research projects within her area of research interest.

Robert Yakubu Ajuik

Robert Yakuku Ajuik is a Lecturer at Simon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies. He has fifteen years of teaching experience and has keen interest in gender studies. He is willing to collaborate with people who have interest in the areas of gender and development.