Initiation Practices Among Ejagham Women of Cameroon and Patriarchy: a Womanist Perspective
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Initiation practices among Ejagham women of Cameroon and patriarchy: a womanist perspective By Tabe Jennet Otob Epse Benoni-Wang 12382851 Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor in Philosophy in the DEPARTMENT OF SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY AND CHRISTIAN ETHICS Of the FACULTY OF THEOLOGY At the UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA Supervisor: Prof. Dr Vuyani S. Vellem September 2018 1 Acknowledgment Great thanks go to the Lord God Almighty for His wonderful Love and Mercy bestowed on us to carry on this journey thus far. We will forever praise His Holy Name. We thank the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon for granting us the opportunity to put ministerial work on hold for these years to pursue studies. We are deeply thankful. Immense thanks go to my supervisor, Professor Vuyani Vellem for his great mentorship, his tireless efforts, immense wisdom, and the care and support he has offered all these years to enable us to come to understanding. Words cannot say it all. We place on record your genuine efforts to expose us to knowledge and your struggles to restore the African mind to its original state. We will forever be grateful to you. Bravo! Forge on with courage. The Lord is your Strength. Thank you the University of Pretoria for granting us the opportunity to study at this great institution, for the scholarship you offered and all the academic resources you made available. You offered the best library facilities, went the extra mile always, making all resources available when needed. Thanks to all my Cameroonian brethren who have stood by us. You all are precious and God sent. It can be a very lonely journey sometimes if people like you who care are not nigh. My father’s and mother’s house, thank you for always being available in all ways, and for being on your knees with me and for me. Thank you for holding on together these years and remaining faithful to Him, Jesus amidst the unbearable challenges we all experienced. My heartfelt and deep appreciation goes to you my beloved husband, Daniel Benoni Elunge Wang. What a blessing you are! Thank you for your care, love, patience, and providence all these years. These years have been so tough for us, but His mercy never departed from us. Thank you for everything; the ugly and the good. Your unending love and Godly sacrifices proved greater than all the challenges. i Dedication To You “MISHI’ LI” - MR ELI, Oh Atah Ri, TabeNdipArrey My deeply loved Papa How I yearned for you to be here to behold and hold this “cafiticate” with your beaten, broken hands, charred by rubber, mud and mire and suffering to give me life! And to You: Pa MUNDAME Bellewang Beloved father-in-law, Lover of Peace You gave me the man of my heart! You Both Should Be Here If Humans Had the Say But you are with Papa YAHWEH the SUPREME BEING; The GOD of our Foremothers, Fathers, AND OUR BROKEN SEXUALITY. You are beholding this, And Possessing a better CROWN LOVE YOU BOTH ii Declaration I declare that this thesis is my own original work. All the works of other authors that are used in this thesis have been acknowledged and referenced accordingly. Signature of student:……………………….. Date………………………… Signature of Supervisor……………………. Date……………………….. iii List of Abbreviations ABEMO ANTI - Female Genital Mutilation Action in the Republic of Cameroon CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women ATR African Traditional Religion FC Female Circumcision FGC Female Genital Cutting FGM Female Genital Mutilation FGS Female Genital Surgeries NGO Non-governmental organisation SWF Second-wave feminism UNESCO United Nations Educational and Scientific Organisation UNO United Nations Organisation iv Table of Contents Acknowledgment ...................................................................................................................... i Dedication ................................................................................................................................. ii Declaration ............................................................................................................................... iii List of Abbreviations .............................................................................................................. iv Abstract .................................................................................................................................... xi Chapter one ............................................................................................................................ 12 1.1. General Introduction ...................................................................................................... 12 1.2. Background of the Problem .......................................................................................... 18 1.3. Problem statement ......................................................................................................... 26 1.4. Hypothesis ....................................................................................................................... 26 1.5. Objectives of the Study .................................................................................................. 27 1.6. Methodology .................................................................................................................... 27 1.6.1. Womanism…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………27 1.6.2. Womanism and patriarchy……………………………………………………………………………………..28 1.6.3. Womanism and sexuality……………………………………………………………………………………….29 1.6.4. Womanism and liberation………………………………………………………………………………………30 1.7. Delimitations ................................................................................................................... 32 1.8. Research Gap .................................................................................................................. 34 1.9. Outline of chapters ......................................................................................................... 35 1.10. Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 36 Chapter two .................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2. Patriarchy and Second wave feminism ........................................................................... 38 2.1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 38 2.2. The problem of patriarchy ............................................................................................. 39 2.3. The American context of patriarchy ............................................................................. 43 2.3.1. American patriarchal domestication of women…………………………………………………..43 2.3.2. Repression of women’s sexuality and shielding of the clitoris………………………..45 v 2.4. The rise of second-wave feminism and the clitoral orgasm discourses ................. 50 2.4.1. The rise of the second wave…………………………………………………………………………………..50 2.4.2. A re-visitation of the clitoral orgasm discourse………………………………………………….52 2.5. The legitimacy of second-wave feminist cause .......................................................... 56 2.6. Feminist application of orgasm debates in relation to ‘genital mutilation’ in Africa .................................................................................................................................................. 56 2.7. Second-wave’s intervention as the perpetration of colonial matrix of power, which is patriarchal ........................................................................................................................... 61 2.7.1. The operation of colonial power matrix………………………………………………………………..62 2.7.2. A critique of Second-wave based on the geopolitics of knowledge………………..67 2.8. Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 69 3. Ejagham women’s initiation practices and patriarchy: Empirical data from the field .................................................................................................................................................. 70 3.1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 70 3.2. Research environment ................................................................................................... 71 3.3. Empirical data collection ............................................................................................... 74 3. 3.1. Methods of data collection…………………………………………………………………………………….76 3.3.2. A tabular representation of respondents’ views…………………………………………………77 3.4. Nkim and Moninkim: Ejagham women’s aesthetic and sexuality school................ 84 3.4.1. Nkim e Nkim as the primary criterion for Moninkim dance………………………………..86 3.4.2. Moninkim dance: the making of pleasurable bodies as women’s agency………88 3.4.3. Women, sexual gratification and the Moninkim dance………………………………………90 3.4.4. Moninkim and Ngwiko of Kenya as spaces of sexual gratification………………….94 3.5. Patriarchy and Nkim e Nkim .......................................................................................... 96 3.6. Sexual pleasure and the practice ................................................................................. 99 3.6.1. Paradoxical responses from the generations…………………………………………………….99 3.6.2. Representation of women’s views