African Morality From The Opium

By Maryjacob Okwuosa

Talks of morality are the sermons most of us grew with in Africa. From religion to tradition, to beliefs and myths. 

As you might know, change hasn't stopped being constant and oppression seems to be getting deeper, looking like our signed style of change.

From my last article on Surrogacy, one of the most wonderful humans I know started a conversation with me on culture and morality. Her thoughts and ideas inspired the birth of this piece you are about to read. 

So today, we are going on a journey of morality. It won't be a long read but promising to be thought-provoking. 

Morality

Morality is seen as the distinction between right and wrong. 

Now we face the tough one of deciding what makes a thing wrong or right.  Most of us will definitely be unable to distinguish without help from our distinct religious literature or belief. 

This article is more from a human's point of view than the view of anything else in existence. 

We have very strong rooted  African cultures and traditions that existed long before the visit and colonization of the continent. In the real sense, it won't be out of place to say our culture was neutralized and declared obsolete by colonization and the importation of cultures and religions. 

I have listened countlessly to fanatics, imposing their beliefs and ideas of morality on others. Such activities are deeply rooted in abuse and infringement of people's human rights and all born from extremism and toxicity. 

More religions than I will be able to count in Africa have made unending lists of what they term wrong, most of which are exercised on women and girls. We have entertained morality as an approach to cage the freedom and truth of women and girls in Africa, empowering toxic masculinity, and dehumanizing our mothers, sisters, and daughters. 

The most popular on this morality list is women and girls nudity. Nudity has been termed so much of a sin that we cover our own bodies, even from ourselves. 

This has given the rise to abuse as women's bodies and nudity have been objectified. Leaving us conversant with threats around our nudity and femininity. 

Nudity

Nudity is defined as a state in which a human is not wearing clothes or covering up her/his nakedness.  

In a civilized world, Nudity is perceived as indecent and immoral. 

Before colonization, people lived their lives and bothered less about covering nudity. 

Across numerous cultures and traditions in Africa, Clothing and dressing style was used as a symbol of status, age, or title.

After Colonization, came the western civilization that has taught us very beautiful things and initiated us to a bigger world. This brought a lot of beautiful and equally ugly phases to our abode.

Very few communities across the continent still walk about nude. In many cultures, like the Zulu and Swaziland in southern Africa, nudity is used for the celebration of highly rated cultural celebrations.

Meanwhile across the continent, there is at least a community in each country that still holds their nudity culture dearly. 

Civilization taught us that nudity could cause sexual arousal and can be a justification for rape, sexual assault, and all forms of abuse. This justification came from a totally biased point of view, leaving women and girls as victims. 

Speaking to Punch Newspaper, the leader of  Kambari, an ancient rural community that is noted to be a naked tribe, located in Birnin Amina in Rijau Local Government Area in Niger State, Nigeria had this to say

 Moving around naked or half-naked is our culture and we don’t care what people say about us. We are comfortable that way because we find it normal. What attracts men is not nudity. Our men are attracted by how women plait their hair, good manners and the tattoos the young ladies have. Western civilisation is another man’s culture. Why must we embrace it, leaving our own that was handed over to us by our forefathers?

Before you make strange assumptions, I am not against civilization, neither am I asking African's to walk around naked, rather I am dragging off the opium to let you see that nudity should not be a tool for oppression or an excuse for abuse. 

Men from past generations, like the Kambari men, did not molest or rape their women for being naked. It is important to note that the objectification of the woman's body came with colonization and so did many religions and ideas that justify it. 

How could it be that a continent that was acknowledged to be met naked now finds nudity a suitable excuse for rape and abuse, including that of toddlers who still struggle in diapers! 

Making us ashamed of our color, our hair texture, our ascent, our strengths, and of course our nudity, was the oppressors trick to keep us oppressed. And reclaiming the pride in our beauty without shame of our nudity is an underrated step towards reclaiming our individual body agency and autonomy.

I hear people say Feminism came with civilization, but I dare to say that the major oppressions and dehumanization of women and girls are part of the ugly things that arrived with civilization. 

My all-time best author, Flora Nwapa, who is acknowledged as the first female African novelist to be published in English and broke the jinx for African female writers did not see herself as a feminist. This doesn't mean she lacked the attributes but because she was born and bred with little or no gender limitations.

Flora Nwapa was a powerful Igbo woman, from Oguta Ameshi, in Imo State of Nigeria. A town with her blue lake goddess as the most powerful Chi (god/goddess), with hard work, wealth, and power the only strengths that make people and class. As against the genitals as we have today. In this past, everyone had to make proof of their strength, and owning a penis didn't seat as criteria. 

My Point? Oppression of our body and looks came with colonization and was used to cage women and girls, while giving more power to men and boys, disabling them from seeing the general marginalization. This strategy has been used for centuries, drawing a fraction of the oppressed and using them to further oppress their fellow oppressed. 

African Feminism, is our very own counter measure. Letting us live and break free from these shackles, as oppression deepens. 

Before you attack a woman, a black woman be reminded that 

it is already very hard living as a black skinned person in a racist world, being a woman coumpounds that problem. It's not easy living as a black African Woman, becarful not to add salt to those injures.