Neither culture nor religion should hold back women?s leadership

Despite widespread belief and the stories imprinted on our minds from the pages of history books, which portray the contrary, Africa always has had strong women leaders.

Despite widespread belief and the stories imprinted on our minds from the pages of history books, which portray the contrary, Africa always has had strong women leaders.

Perhaps when asked to name these gallant heroines, many of us would not be able to call the names of Yaa Asantewaa (Queen of the Ashanti, Akan peoples in Ghana who fought against British colonialism); Me Katilili (of the Akamba peoples in Kenya who foresaw the arrival of British colonialists and led a rebellion against the laying of the railroad); and Mary Wanjiru (who led a protest against the arrest of Harry Thuku when the men refused to react and was killed by the British colonialists outside of the Norfolk Hotel in Nairobi).

If one had to point to the quality, which made these women leaders, it is the fact that they all resisted what they saw as injustice—and, interestingly, what they saw as injustice was not only in relation to their own self interest (either as individuals or as women collectively), but also in relation to the interests of their entire community. All of these women were able to mobilise others behind them regardless of what their communities may have thought of women’s leadership.

Admittedly, one was a political leader in a matriarchal community where women’s leadership was accepted, but the other two were ‘ordinary’ women in communities where women’s leadership was typically confined to the family or community levels.

What do these women’s stories tell us about women’s leadership? That, like men’s leadership, women’s leadership is not only about being visionary—it is about having the courage and integrity to stand up for one’s convictions, regardless of the personal, family or community perceptions that may have to be breached to do so.

That, like men’s leadership, women’s leadership is also about being able to convince others of one’s own beliefs and to ensure that others move with, rather than against, one. And, most importantly, their stories tell us that the capacity for leadership is not confined to men in positions of acknowledged and recognised political power—women can exercise it too, and both men and women who do not hold acknowledged and recognised political power can exercise leadership in many different ways.

Culture and religion should not, and did not, hold back the leadership potential of women like Yaa Asantewaa, Me Katilili, and Mary Wanjiru. Neither of these ‘enforcers’ of gender roles is contained and static. Both are constantly evolving, subject to the individual choice, and both internal and external influences and pressures.

Women’s customary rights are evolving also as a result of economic and social change within the communities, giving rise to the conclusion that tradition and modernity are not mutually exclusive—tradition can be and is dynamic, being influenced by modernity.

Regardless of what fixed ideas we may hold about culture, gender and leadership, it is clear that both customary and religious law offer some (albeit limited) opportunities to enhance women’s enjoyment of rights in relation to law.

Women’s ability to act in our own self-interests is also dependent on our self-worth, our ability to accrue resources and the value assigned to those resources. This ability can therefore be realised through reform processes that address both the external (the constraints to the realisation of our self-interest, to our collective organisation), and the internal (our own perceptions and understandings of our rights). Factors, which would enhance women’s enjoyment of our rights, include legitimising women’s claims to rights through changing gender stereotypes, roles and gender-based divisions of labour.

We are all responsible for doing this legitimising work. The question is whether we will choose to exercise the courage of our convictions—in effect, whether each one of us will take on the mantle of leadership to fight against all forms of injustices including those which impinge on women’s full enjoyment of their human rights.

L. Muthoni Wanyeki is a political scientist who works on development communications, gender and human rights and has published in these fields. She is currently the Executive Director of the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET).

This article is part of the GEM Opinion and Commentary Service that provides views and perspectives on current events.

janine@genderlinks.org.za for more information.