“The feminist movement is still going strong” – Jean Kemitare (Uganda) – 3/4

I am still in conversation with Jean Kemitare, a feminist from Uganda. Did you catch the previous parts of the interview, when Jean told me about her childhood’s influence on her feminist vision (part 1) and how it translates into her daily work (part 2)? Now, we discuss her views on how women’s rights movements have evolved since she started this work.

As you’ve just explained, feminist movement-building has been central to your work for over a decade, and you’ve played a crucial role in coordinating women’s rights organizations in the Horn of Africa, East Africa, and Southern Africa. What evolutions have you observed when it comes to feminist movements in the region?

There are those who say the feminist movement has lost momentum, that it has lost steam, but I don’t believe that. I think the movement is operating differently because these are different times. We are facing a different kind of pressures, but the feminist movement is still going strong.

In our parent’s time, activists faced backlash because they were bringing up a new kind of discussion: it was all about equality. The backlash we face now is heavier, and that probably means we are doing something right. (She laughs.) We are deconstructing power structures and deconstructing power imbalances. And once you really touch on the core of power, as we are, you get that backlash.

What kind of pressures are you referring to?

We are operating in a context where there is a deliberate shrinking of the civic space in many countries, so our ability to organize and to express our discontent is being scattered politically, socially, and economically in order to maintain patriarchal power dynamics. We also have rising religious fundamentalisms, both in Islam and Christianity, which are significantly impacting women's rights and women's organizing. It affects solidarity and connection, for example, beliefs around the rights of sexual minorities affect how we organize, and that plays into patriarchy’s hands.

Economic strife is also a challenge, with globalization and other macroeconomic policies that our countries have taken upon, we are moving more towards full-scale capitalism and neoliberalism. In my opinion that affects our organizing and women's rights. What that means is that increasingly, people get into an NGO not because of their passion or beliefs, but because it is a job. And I am not saying that people doing this work are not passionate; neither am saying that that passion can’t develop regardless of how the person got started.

“The backlash we face now is heavier, and that probably means we are doing something right.“

Do you see any opportunities, in addition to the challenges you’ve mentioned?

I think that there are a lot more feminist scholars from Africa, who are producing knowledge we can build on. More generally, feminist consciousness across the continent is rising. Previously, with the expansion of development and NGO work in Africa, there was this feeling that it was up to the “activist organizations” to speak up. Now, women are saying: I’m a woman, so it’s my responsibility, even if my job is to work at the bank. 

We also have opportunities with technology. Now we can engage with each other across geographies and we can heighten connection, solidarity, and strengthen the movement. I feel we have a lot of opportunities for a stronger connection, for enhancing our own analysis, and for taking action in different ways. We can use technology to learn from each other and to build connections and collaborations across geographical spaces. I’m thinking about the global outcry in support of Sudanese activists, for example.

Power at our fingertips: Jean sees technology as an opportunity for African feminists. Photo by Christina @ WOCinTechchat. Via Unsplash

Speaking of technology, let’s talk about social media activism for a minute. I’m asking this as someone who was late to the social media party so I might be mistaken, but it seems like, with social media, feminist organizing is centering more around individuals – and no longer around organizations. Is this something you’ve observed as well?

At some point, the movement was based on organizations and it felt as if you had to be in certain organizations in order to contribute to the movement. Social media has heightened our awareness of issues, it’s popularized feminism and made it easier to access, so more individual women from very different sectors started engaging.

But the danger is that one can become a strong online activist, but then there is no action once they’re offline. Because of the backlash I told you about earlier, it has become easier to be an online activist than to do the work that comes with day-to-day organizing or community mobilization. It is easy for me to re-tweet and make noise from my phone but will I go out and support women that are experiencing threats? Will I go out and join the people who are petitioning in Parliament or will I be too busy on the computer uploading content to the app? We need to have a balance between online and in-person activism. But at the end of the day, we need every kind of activist. We need the people who go out and mobilize communities. And we need people who can mobilize online.

I sometimes worry about the rise of individual feminist influencers due to social media, and that it may spread the idea that feminism is an individual journey rather than a collective movement.  

Yes, but this is not only prevalent on social media. Even in offline spaces, there are always people and organizations you see a lot. When I was younger, we were already pushing back against dominant voices. Here I am now, and young women are telling me the same thing, and that’s unfortunate.

The question is, how do we recognize the value and worth of everyone, even those who are playing different and less visible roles? If I am not making noise on social media or traditional media or in other processes, are you seeing my worth and value as a feminist? We need to see that individual contributions build up to a whole, so that we stay connected with each other and we stay in solidarity.

“How do we recognize the value and worth of everyone, even those who are playing different and less visible roles?”

Going back to the movement, is there an issue that you think African feminists should be paying more attention to?

I think we need to get more comfortable with money and embrace getting compensated for our feminist work. We need money to organize, and to live comfortable lives. I get uncomfortable when people make it seem like if you’re asking for money you are “materialistic” and not interested in the cause.

Also, self-care has become important to me and I feel like women who are engaged in self-care may be perceived as being materialistic or selfish. I agree with Audre Lorde that self-care is not a luxury: it’s self-preservation. Taking care of ourselves is not something we’ve done well as a movement; we’ve been told by the patriarchy that we're not supposed to do that. That’s why we have a lot of burnt out, disillusioned feminists now. I believe you need to continually take time off to recharge and rebuild yourself.

Why do you say that patriarchy keeps us from taking care of ourselves?

It is patriarchal to expect women to give it all, right? It is patriarchal to expect women to be virtuous and to give their all for nothing. When it seeps into the movement, it is patriarchy in sheep’s clothing.

I’m beginning the journey of falling in love with myself. And that is not what patriarchy sees as being a good woman. It’s seen as selfish, vain, and materialistic. But I don’t think we should self-sacrifice, get ill or burn out in the name of building the movement.

Many thanks to Jean for sharing her perspective. In the next and final section of this interview, we go more personal and discuss one issue I’ve been thinking about a lot: feminist parenting. According to Jean, feminist parenting is not just about working with your kids, but also working on yourself. Read more here.

Join the conversation!

I can’t wait to hear your thoughts. Write a comment below, or let’s chat on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram @EyalaBlog.

Want to connect with Jean? Find her on Twitter @JeanKemitare