Colonial Christianity: The Origins of the Oppression of African Women
Unbeknown to many, most of human history took place in Africa, where women were equal, if not superior, to men. For thousands of years, African societies were matriarchal and they prospered. By bringing an oppressive form of Colonial Christianity to Africa, Europeans replaced millennia of prosperous matriarchy with oppressive patriarchy.
The world’s first civilizations arose from the spiritual, economic and social efforts of African women and African women, in turn, went on to lead those Matriarchal societies.
Feminist artist Lauren Webber’s works on traditional fabrics at the First Floor Art Gallery in Zimbabwe explore the complex relationship between the past and present condition of African women, by exposing the continent’s long history of female dominance and how it has been subverted by Christian patriarchies.
The rituals and culture of African matriarchy did not celebrate violence; rather, they promoted fecundity, exchange and redistribution. Matriarchy in ancient Africa was not a mirror image of patriarchy today; because, it was not based on appropriation and violence.
Frantz Fanon once remarked, “Colonialism is not a thinking machine, nor a body endowed with reasoning faculties. It is violence in its natural state”. Webber illustrates how for centuries, Christianity has been the shield that justifies colonialism; what is less known, is that it has also served as the sword, up and down the African continent, leaving piles of bones in its wake. Just as violence cannot be separated from colonialism, Christianity cannot be separated from colonial violence.
Early man was unaware of the link between sexual intercourse and birth; they thought only women created life. Consequently, women were the first Gods, which formed the basis of gender equality in Africa.
