Postcolonial History 101
The "coloniality of gender"
Gender is a social construct, not a biological distinction. We must dismantle our modern system of gender - because although it presents itself as if universally agreed-upon, it was originally mostly native to Europe. As such, gender is a geographically and culturally distinct way of organising society. The Western gender binary was only imposed upon the rest of the world during colonisation.
Inventing gender
“The higher the development of the race, the stronger the contrasts between men and women.” Krafft-Ebbing, German sociologist in 1886
A colonial invention in the 19th century, "scientists" argued for White superiority due to their unique ability to show visual distinctions between females and males. Consequently, the word "women" referred to White women only as BIPOC were said to not display any sexual differences. "Scientists" hence also claimed that sex was race-specific.
Using sex & gender to advance racism
Differences in appearance between sexes were regarded as a civilisational accomplishment exclusive to the White race. "Scientists" at the time argued that White women looked different from White men because of their role as homemakers. This also informed policy at that point, cementing the belief that "primitive" peoples would evolve and develop differences in appearance between sexes as well once “civilization” was brought to them. This benevolent act of helpiing “primitive” races around the world (aka colonising them), was seen as a moral obligation and part of the “White man’s burden”. The colonial project specifically also entailed destroying Black and Indigenous kinship structures to force European conceptions of gender and sexuality upon them as we will see in the example of Yorubaland.
Yorubaland
Yorubaland, spanning the modern-day countries of Nigeria, Togo and Benin is the subject of Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí's research on the colonial history of gender. Oyěwùmí’s main thesis is that “gender was not an organizing principle in Yoruba society prior to colonization by the West”. Instead, age was the primary feature of social hierarchy, whereas gender only became institutionalised as a consequence of colonialism.
Colonialism & patriarchy
While Yoruba peoples did acknowledge distinct reproductive roles, these weren't exploited for setting up a social hierarchy. That also meant that women weren't excluded from society and participation in economic, religious or public arenas, as the category "women" only emerged from colonialism.
The colonial authorities in Yorubaland also saw it fit to establish their patriarchal system in their colonies as well, which highly disadvantaged women. For instance, they only recognised male leaders, hence barring women from any type of political position. They also legally defined women as second-class to their husbands.
White saviours
The artificial creation of gender and womanhood in Yorubaland was vital for colonisers to exploit and subordinate people that had enjoyed more autonomy, power and freedom prior to colonisation. This gender inequality, only created and established by European colonisers, was later instrumentalised by the British to justify their intervention - because they needed to save native women from native men.
A multidimensional problem
Colonialism wasn't ever just about the extraction of resources; true domination also meant remodelling political and economic structures. As systems of oppression go hand in hand, colonialism and patriarchy supported global capitalism and vice versa. As a result of the establishment of gender and women's exclusion during colonialism, labour could be split up into productive and reproductive labour, only further undermining women's position in society.
Sources
Ballestin, L. (2018). Gender as Colonial Object: The spread of Western gender categories through European colonization. Available online: https://publicseminar.org/2018/07/gender-as-colonial-object/.
Lugones, M. (2016). The Coloniality of Gender. In: Harcourt, W. The Palgrave Handbook of Gender and Development. pp. 13-33.
Oyěwùmí, O. (1997). The Invention of Women: Making an African Sense of Western Gender Discourses. University of Minnesota Press. Minneapolis.
Vaid-Menon, A. (2021). The Racial History of Gender Non-Conformity. Available online: https://bit.ly/3D0CyKl.
Vaid-Menon, A. (2021). The Invention of Women: A Colonial History of Gender. Available online: https://bit.ly/30j7ebE.
Vaid-Menon, A. (2021). The Racist History of the Sex Binary. Available online: https://bit.ly/3ol3ONl.
Vaid-Menon, A. (2021). Gender and Colonization. Available online: https://bit.ly/2YFxgFi.
Comments