THE WOUND BENEATH THE WIG: MISANDRY, FEMINISM, AND THE  AFRICAN GENDER CRISIS 

ABSTRACT

This article critically examines the evolution of African feminism, placing it within the context of  precolonial matriarchal rule, colonial disruptions, and the adoption of Western feminist scripts.  Unlike Western feminism, which evolved in response to established patriarchy, Africa had long  relied on gender complementarity rather than opposition. However, modern African feminism has  increasingly adopted donor-driven, NGO-branded narratives that, by depicting males as permanent  oppressors, risk exacerbating gender antagonism. This article examines the misandry inherent in  modern gender rhetoric, using historical records, case law, statutory reforms, and comparative  feminist studies. It contends that authentic African feminism must reject neo-colonial notions and  return to indigenous forms of balance based on Ubuntu and ancestral traditions. ancestral  traditions. The conclusion calls for decolonising feminist thought and developing legal-cultural  frameworks that address both male and female suffering to restore harmony.

INTRODUCTION

She walks into the room with confidence rehearsed, eyelashes heavy with borrowed glory, wig  secured like a crown of defiance. Her captions roar of independence, her language is lined with  rights and rage. Yet behind the digital revolution and cosmetic confidence lies a wound not just  personal, but historical. A disconnection. A script learned, not remembered. A gospel memorised,  not understood.

This is the African feminist today: powerful in posture, but often estranged from the matriarchs  whose strength was not screamed, but lived. The present-day discourse on feminism in Africa is  frequently loud, public, and celebrated as progressive. Yet, beneath the surface is a deeper wound:  isolation from ancestral gender structures. The metaphor of “the wig” indicates a stolen identity,  with modern feminism in Africa being dressed in Western terminology and disconnected from its  indigenous roots. Historically, African women were not passive victims of male dominance, but  rather possessors of political, economic, and spiritual authority.

The Namasole (Queen Mother) of Buganda impacted state governance; ¹ the Balobedu Rain  Queens of South Africa possessed both spiritual and political power;²and the Igbo of Nigeria had  dual-sex systems in which women exercised judicial and commercial authority (Chuku, 2009).³

According to Oyěwùmí (1997),⁴ Eurocentric patriarchal norms were imposed during colonialism,  limiting women’s authority to household responsibilities. As a result, modern feminism in Africa  frequently stems from colonial distortions and imported Western notions, rather than an organic  struggle.

This article contends that by blindly adopting Western scripts, African feminism risks(ed) devolving into misandry and cultural alienation. To back up this allegation, it examines precolonial  gender structures, colonial disruptions, donor-driven legislation, legal misapplications, and the  ignoring of male suffering. It further suggests returning to indigenous complementarity principles.

HISTORICAL FRAMEWORK: MATRIARCHS BEFORE MISANDRY

Prior to colonial rule, African societies valued gender complementarity. Matrilineal inheritance  was followed by succession among Ghana’s Akan (Awusabo-Asare, 1990).⁵ Bunyoro’s Nyabingi  priestesses led spiritual and political resistance to colonialism (Rutanga, 1910).⁶ Women like Yaa  Asantewaa (Ashanti),⁷ and Queen Nzinga (Ndongo),⁸ exhibited female leadership based on  cosmology rather than rebellion against males.

Colonialism disrupted this balance. Domesticity was redefined as submission under Victorian  patriarchy, and female spirituality was demonised as witchcraft (Strobel, 1991). ⁹ Thus, the  underpinnings of African feminism were altered: the movement now battled against imported  patriarchy rather than ancestral balance.

BORROWED SCRIPTS: WESTERN FEMINISM IN AFRICAN GARB

Western feminism emerged from centuries of systemic masculine supremacy (Strobel, 1991).¹⁰ In  Africa, however, colonisation caused the break, not indigenous patriarchy (Mohanty, 1988).¹¹ Yet,  current African feminism frequently adopts Western trauma narratives, presenting emancipation  as hostility rather than concord. The African man has been recast as the “perpetual villain” – always  violent, always absent, and always oppressive.

Ugandan laws illustrate this borrowing:

The Marriage and Divorce Bill, 2024 (pending) targets gender equality while reflecting donor driven goals.¹² The Succession (Amendment) Act of 2022,¹³ rectified discriminatory sections,  although under donor pressure.¹⁴ The Domestic Violence Act of 2010,¹⁵ and the Prohibition of  Female Genital Mutilation Act of 2010,¹⁶ and the Employment Act,¹⁷ are all protective measures,  although they are frequently implemented as imposed codes rather than culturally appropriate  reforms.¹⁸

Such legislation, while progressive in intent, has the potential to alienate communities when  presented as external demands. Feminism gets commodified within the NGO-industrial complex,  assessed by donor reports (“80 girls trained”),¹⁹ rather than true societal change.

JURIDICAL ANALYSIS: FEMINISM, MISANDRY, AND LEGAL BIAS Gender biases have persisted in African legal systems, manifesting themselves as misandry.  1. Custody Presumptions 

In Teopista Kayong v Richard Sekiziyivu,²⁰ the Ugandan High Court granted custody to the mother  despite evidence of mistreatment, citing the premise that “children naturally belong with the mother.” This demonstrates Eurocentric bias rather than the “best interests of the child” principle  under Section 3 of the Children Act.²¹

Sexual Offence Narratives

False charges in sexual crimes frequently escape rigorous inspection, emphasising female  vulnerability while dismissing male victimhood (Waterhouse-Watson, 2019).²²

Mental health and Suicide

Male suicide rates in Uganda are three times those of females (Ministry of Health, 2024).²³ Yet,  government policy and feminist campaigning are silent on male suffering. Thus, modern gender  jurisprudence frequently highlights female tragedy while ignoring masculine sorrow, resulting in  a one-sided quest of justice.

CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES: DOMESTICITY AND CULTURAL POWER

Domesticity is usually condemned as oppressive by modern feminism. Nonetheless, African  customs revered the household as a symbol of continuity and authority. The act of preparing a meal  was regarded as a spiritual offering that was woven into the fabric of communal life among the  Acholi of Northern Uganda (Nzegwu, 2020).²⁴ The kitchen served as a shrine rather not a prison;  motherhood was sanctification, not a limitation; and a woman’s influence in shaping future  generations was viewed as a political, cultural, and spiritual force.

As Sylvia Tamale (2021) puts it: “True African feminism must resist the capitalist illusion that  liberation is measured in productivity rather than cultural power.”²⁵ Submission, in primordial  settings, was deliberate recognition of worthy leadership rather than degradation (Metz, 2012).²⁶ The denigration of motherhood and domesticity threatens cultural degradation, resulting in social  isolation rather than emancipation.

NEO-IMPERIAL FEMINISM: REPACKAGED COLONIALISM

Ngugi wa Thiong’o (1998) referred to cultural imperialism as “the bomb planted in the mind.”²⁷ Modern feminism risks becoming a bomb: donor-driven, syllabus-imposed, and hashtag-governed.  African universities cite Butler,²⁸ and Steinem,²⁹ but ignore Mbuya Nehanda,³⁰ and the wisdom of  the Lubuga (Queen Sister).³¹ This is colonialism 2.0, with feminism serving as the new vessel for  external rule. Instead of indigenous wisdom, African feminism is packaged for grants,  conferences, and global applause.

THE FORGOTTEN VICTIM: THE BOY CHILD

The trend in Sub-Saharan Africa is clear: boys are becoming the unrepresented, if not forgotten gender. UNESCO (2023) estimates higher dropout rates among rural males in Uganda, frequently  resulting to labour exploitation, early fatherhood, or criminalisation.³²

Male mental health remains ignored, with suicide and violence rates disproportionately affecting  young males (Marraccini, 2023).³³ In many African homesteads, the father is absent and the  mother is overburdened, leaving boys either feminised or demonised. They grow up believing that  their masculinity is a problem to be managed rather than a strength to be nurtured. This indifference  is not only unjust but dangerous. A culture that empowers daughters to dream and pursue while  teaching sons compliance and silence creates future fractures. True equality must include both  halves of the social fabric.

VII. SUGGESTIONS AND WAY FORWARD

1. Epistemic decolonisation of feminist thought

To decolonise feminist thought, it’s important for African feminists to avoid blindly adopting  Western ideas. This entails reconstructing legal, cultural, and intellectual frameworks based on  African epistemologies, rather than simply proclaiming “Ubuntu” rhetorically. ³⁴ Universities  should promote studies on figures like the Namasole, Yaa Asantewaa, and Mekatilili wa Menza in  the same way that they reference Judith Butler,³⁵ or Simone de Beauvoir. ³⁶ This epistemic  decolonisation redefines feminism as recollection, not rebellion.

2. Reforming Gendered Jurisprudence

Courts must eliminate Eurocentric presumptions that perpetuate bias, such as the default  preference for maternal custody. Judicial officers should be trained to apply the “best interests of  the child” criteria contextually (Children Act, Chapter 62), ensuring that paternal rights and  responsibilities are equally honoured. Legislative reforms should impose more stringent  evidentiary standards in sexual offence cases in order to strike a balance between protection and  justice, thereby reducing the misuse of feminist language as legalised misandry.

3. Restoring Domesticity as Political Power

Domesticity should be transformed from an alleged location of tyranny to a centre of social  governance. Historically, the African household functioned as an independent political economy,  with food, ritual, and nurture serving as forms of cultural sovereignty. Policy frameworks should  therefore consequently safeguard and value both motherhood and fatherhood equally, viewing  these positions not as servitude but as forms of societal leadership.

4. Gender-inclusive Policy Addressing male disadvantage

Feminism without respect of male suffering perpetuates a divide. National gender strategy must  include male mental health, suicide prevention, educational dropout, and unemployment.  Empowerment programs should not only benefit daughters, but also free sons from silence, stigma,  and institutional mistreatment. This inclusive approach restores equilibrium and avoids  resentment from escalating into violence.

5. Cultural Renewal and Legal Pluralism

African governments must intentionally incorporate indigenous jurisprudence into their legal and  constitutional frameworks. Customary institutions such as women’s councils, queen-mother  chieftaincies, and ritual courts should be investigated, formalised where needed, and incorporated  as complementary governing mechanisms. Instead of TED Talks on trauma,³⁷ and Instagram  infographics, the revival of folklore, proverbs, and ritual in law and education would restore gender  relations as covenantal rather than antagonistic.

6. The Pan-African Feminist Framework

Finally, Africa requires a continental gender charter based on its own traditions rather than donor  ambitions. Just as the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights recovered human rights  discourse from Eurocentrism,³⁸ a Pan-African Feminist Charter must articulate gender harmony  anchored in African spiritual, cultural, and legal heritages.

CONCLUSION 

The dilemma of African feminism is not the pursuit of equality, but the abandoning of tradition.  Any feminism that exacerbates division rather than restoring unity is an alien intrusion. True  African feminism must recollect the covenant between matriarchs and patriarchs, in which gender  was a rhythm of complementarity rather than a battlefield. To cure the wound beneath the wig,  Africa must abandon imported scripts and restore native wisdom. Only then can gender justice  overcome conflict and embody harmony.

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