Wollstonecraft on Patriarchy, the Myth of African Matriarchy and Emancipation of African Women through the SDGs

Nkama Uchenna Nympha; Aja Ngozi

doi:10.55927/fjmr.v2i6.4679

Authors

Nkama Uchenna Nympha University of Port Harcourt
Aja Ngozi University of Port Harcourt

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55927/fjmr.v2i6.4679

Keywords:

Emancipation, Matriarchy , Myth, Patriarchy, SDGs

Abstract

The myth of African matriarchy militates against the feminist agenda of women emancipation and liberation in Africa. This paper adopts the textual analytical method of research in exploring the relevance of Mary Wollstonecraft’s views on patriarchy to unpacking the myth of African matriarchy and how the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), can help to achieve effective of emancipation of African women. An unpacking of the myth of Africa’s claim to matriarchy relying on Wollstonecraft’s position on patriarchy, shows that patriarchy has been a feature of African societies from time immemorial, and not a product of colonialism. This paper argues that denying the fact of precolonial African societies being patriarchal is the reason that the ills of patriarchy persists in contemporary African societies. Hence, this study maintains that unearthing the ugly consequences of patriarchy in ancient African societies can pave way for realizing the feminist agenda in the continent. It recommends concerted effort by states in the continent towards implementing the SDGs with the idea of human rights, as the key to women emancipation in Africa.

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