From: rhuffman@diana.cair.du.edu (Robert T. Huffman)
Subject: Re: Feminists!
Organization: University of Denver, Denver, Colorado
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 92 14:23:05 GMT

In article <204543@unix.cis.pitt.edu> pmmst8@unix.cis.pitt.edu (Paul M Mweene) writes:
>
>Recently there has been an outcry about my first posting on this subject from
>people who felt that I am a proponent of keeping African women in servitude to
>African men. While this   is far from the truth, I have observed that none of
>the objections issued from African women, and I therefore take this as a vindi
>cation of my views.

This seems to be rather convoluted logic.  How many African
women ever reply to postings of any sort on this newsgroup?  Well, none that
I know of.  Thus the fact that no African women have responded to that first
posting can hardly be taken as "vindication" of sexist opinions.

>(A) An individual mentioned rather ignorantly that Africans should hence forth
>take to discussing their social issues in public, and in the mass media as the
>case is in America. I consider this statement arrogant and patronising because
>any one who ahs taken time to consider the issues knows that these methods have
>yielded nothing but failure and inevitably the distruction of family life

If your view is that the "sanctity of the family" (to use a favorite phrase
of US conservatives, people who I am surprised Paul Mweene evidently agrees
with concerning the rights of women) must be preserved at all costs, then,
yes, feminism may have been a failure.  But if you believe that all human
beings, regardless of sex, have equal rights, feminism has been enormously
successful.

>  -Most people do not realise that the institution of matrimony in Africa is 
>   a contract between two families, where in the wedded undertake to conduct
>   and treat each according to the norms stipulated by the society, monitored
>   (but not interfered with) by and approved by both their families.

Paul Mweene is in the habit of making sweeping generalizations about cultural
norms in Africa, of which the above statement is one example.  I am no
cultural anthropologist, so it could be that he is right and this is ideed
an accurate description of marriage throughout the entire continent.  Perhaps
other people can respond to this.

>
>(b) Some one stated that that Off Our Backs is a very respected publication,
>  and it's motives can there for never be suspect.

Well, I didn't mean Off Our Backs's motives could NEVER be suspect, but you
were indeed implying in your post that the articles in the magazine penned
by African women were in fact penned by non-Africans, and I do not believe
the magazine would ever do something like that.  Face it, some African women
obviously disagree with your viewpoint.

 I think this is an over
>  generalization of a very subjective matter. It is very unlikely that I will
>  take the advie of ANY American on marriage knowing their record and pjilosophy  on the issue. It follows therefrom that the rantings of tthes spinisters and
>  divorces who produce this publication is of no value to me.

A good tactic--if you don't like someone's opinions, attack them personally.

 Furthermore this
>  subject is a fundamental part of a culture that even in africa itself or for
>  that matter between different ethnic groups in Africa, the understanding is no  perfectly uniform. It is clear that any changes imposed from outside will
>  likely do more harm than good.

This is probably true.  Fortunately, there are at least some African women
who want to get men off their backs, and thus change will be internal.

>......I have to go to class, but let me say that given our record and their r
>  ecord we should be producing any magazines and them doing all the learning..

I suspect that no culture has all the answers.  Perhaps we can learn from
each other.  There are a lot of things I respect in the African cultures I
have come in contact with and which I wish were a part of American culture.
Subjugation of women, however, is not one of them.

Robert Huffman
rhuffman@diana.cair.du.edu

Newsgroups: soc.culture.african,soc.culture.indian