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Women, particularly in Africa, need feminism so as to advocate for their
rights in the patriarchal setting of African societies. But the fact that some
women, under the umbrella of it abuse children, men, and even their fellow
women are problematic in contemporary African novels. Liberal and radical
feminisms are part and parcel of feminisms in championing women’s rights.
This article examines women’s liberal and radical feminist stratagems with
the lens of African social appraisals in giving an answer to the following
question: what are the African social appraisals of women’s liberal and
radical feminist stratagems in their quests for women’s rights? Or what do the
stratagems applied by liberal and radical feminists lead women to in
contemporary African societies? Through liberal and radical feminist
readings of selected contemporary African male and female writings such as
Amma Darko’s The Housemaid (1998), Daniel Mengara’s Mema (2003),
Asare Adei’s A Beautiful Daughter (2012), and Lola Shoneyin’s The Secret
Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives (2010), we have examined how women with
liberal/radical feminism are treated and considered in African patriarchal
setting. In short, the result shows that African women need a feminism that
gives way for consistent dialogue and which goes in line with non-violent
stratagems like the one of liberal feminism in their quest for women’s rights.
The contrary, as in radicalism via violence against children, men or women,
leads to men’s violence on women, isolation of women and humiliation of
women in contemporary African societies. The position of the contemporary
African female and male novels, we have worked on proves that violent
stratagems adopted by African feminists in advocating for women’s rights
should be reconsidered so as to assure the respect for human rights and take into account the socio-cultural realities of African societies. |