Women In Africa
In many parts of Africa, there is a large discrepancy in who controlled
the resources, access to the economy, individual autonomy and central voice in
the government between the men and the women. African men, for the most part,
have the largest say in the activities of the country. When issues of concern
arise, "men's issues" usually became the issues of national concern, and those
issues pertinent to women go to the back of everyone's mind. Women are forced
to accept the results of men's actions, and usually nothing gets accomplished
that benefits them. Because women continually were overlooked, they began to
come together and protest. If one examines the following women's protests ...
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they successful?
In several instances women became so angered by their lack of voice,
that they were moved to act. In some of these cases, women were relatively
successful in organizing and mobilizing. The story of the Aba Riots, which is
discussed in both The Warrant Chiefs and African Women, proves this point well.
In Nigeria, in the late 1920's, the Warrant Chiefs wanted to impose a system of
annual taxation. What was so displeasing to the people about the tax was that
it involved a census, and that the money went towards no specific project. The
concept of counting free people was a foreign one to the Igbo. This notion went
contrary to custom, and it was believed to bring about death (Afigbo, 229). The
people of the Eastern Provinces felt that because they were being counted, the
colonial government was enslaving them or that they were out to destroy them.
Also objectionable to these people was the fact that the collected money went
towards "‘development'" (Afigbo, 228), ...
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mass numbers had gathered to discuss the tax, and went from
there to the mission teacher's home to ask them why they were being taxed. The
women equated being counting with taxation. "They also sent messengers ‘armed'
with fresh folded palm leaves to women of neighboring villages inviting them to
come to Oloko" (Afigbo, 238). The women traveled on foot to ask other women for
support, and the women they approached in their villages would go and rally
their peers and bring the idea to their attention. From there, the women would
decide if they would join the movement and what action, if any, would be taken.
The mere fact that women were able to organize themselves to act in such
a ...
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Women In Africa. (2005, April 6). Retrieved April 19, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Women-In-Africa/24891
"Women In Africa." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 6 Apr. 2005. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Women-In-Africa/24891>
"Women In Africa." Essayworld.com. April 6, 2005. Accessed April 19, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Women-In-Africa/24891.
"Women In Africa." Essayworld.com. April 6, 2005. Accessed April 19, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Women-In-Africa/24891.
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