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Provide an analytical history of the major changes that occurred in the lives of 0th century Asante women.
In this essay I acknowledge there are many changes that occurred within the history of Asante women during the twentieth century. Their history is a confusing subject, as they do not feature objectively in much of the academic dialogue, as Jean Allman suggests, ‘women have not had a place in most of the scholarly investigations of Asante identity because British colonialism in Asante……..has profoundly circumscribed the way we think about ‘being Asante’.’ Allman stresses that the notion of Asanteness has been identified as being explicitly male by the patriarchal influence of British colonialism, although women had a very prominent position in Asante society prior to their rule. The fluidity, that was such an integral part of Asante society, was suppressed and re-made by colonial rule. The authors of I Will not Eat Stone are also in agreement with this point of view, as they stress they have pieced together a ‘large and complex puzzle’. Allman and Tashjian focus on conjugal production and reproduction. They discuss how external powers, such as colonialism, have changed the lives of Asante women. I will therefore base this essay around specific events the impact of colonialism and the cocoa trade. It will describe the major changes that shaped the lives of Asante women throughout the twentieth century. The essay will begin with a description of the roles and position of women during the nineteenth century, concentrating on marriage, matrilineal inheritance and their role as mothers. It will argue that Asante women’s positions changed politically, socially and economically within the frameworks that were set out by colonialism and the sudden expansion of the cocoa trade. During the middle of the twentieth century Asante women became autonomous in their own right as market traders. They began to divorce their husbands, freeing themselves from domestic responsibilities whilst they struggled for economic independence in a colonial, cash economy. This independence gave them a different kind of power that they had previously not been able to exert, nonetheless they were still constrained by the Asante ideal that children were their sole responsibility.
The roles of Asante women
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For Asante women, their fundamental role is to have children as they are the reproducers of their lineage. Asante is a matrilineal society and therefore inheritance is passed down through the mothers family. According to Gracia Clark, ‘Motherhood is central to female gender ideals for the Asante’. Clark proffers that motherhood ensures a persons ancestry is continued, it ensures security in old age and children are valued as a free source of labour. Allman is of the same opinion in her description of Asanteness as she highlights the prominent role the Ohemmaa (Queen Mother) had in Asante, ‘for the nineteenth century…women’s centrality to the process of ‘be(com)ing’ Asante can be located both in women’s central and salient roe as mothers (reproducers of the Akan matrilineage) and in the ohemmaa’s specific role as arbiter between the arenas of lineage and political order, between state and society.’ Asante women’s roles as Queen Mothers meant they had political authority. During the nineteenth century the Ohemma (Queen Mother) was responsible for women’s concerns and dealings. She was a member of the village council and as a female ruler she was paramount in all legal proceedings, as Margaret Peil (175) suggests. She was seen to be an educator and ethical custodian in the politics of the community.
The Ohemma (Queen Mother) and the impact of colonialism
The Ohemma would advise and council the Ohene (male ruler) of the state and she was the final arbiter when a new male stool was to be appointed. Kwame Arhin proposes, ‘The peace, order and stability of the political community, therefore, depended to a large extent on the ohemma. She could give the community a good or bad ruler or defy the customary rules and thus jeopardise the well-being of the community.’ The Queen Mother was an essential body behind every leader and would influence the choice of ruler and community decisions. The last war that Asante fought lead by a Queen Mother. J.W.Tufuo asserts, ‘The last war in Asante history was fought under the leadership of a Queen Mother in 100. Nana Yaa Asantewaa, Queen Mother of Ejisu, called on the various states in Asanti to take up arms against the British.’ This exemplifies the political power the Queen Mothers of Asante had. Their influence was equal to their male counterparts and they were able to exert power over the military.
Female leadership continued until a civil war weakened the forces of the Asante state and gave the British the ideal opportunity for a take-over in 186. It was during this period that women were ousted from positions of authority by the colonial rulers, as the British found it unimaginable for a woman to be in such a senior position of power. Arhin is of the opinion that, ‘the political role of the occupants of Akan female stools became apparently submerged in colonial rule and its supporting institutions.’ Women were no longer recognised in court and their official role as advisor and educator diminished within the colonial order. Allman and Tashjian have also recognised that Queen Mothers were ostracised under colonial, ‘British political rule included……..a profound break with the colonial past the marginalization of women, particularly in their roles as queenmothers (ahemaa).’ However, although Queen Mothers were unable to participate in colonial, legal proceedings, the power they had over the community still persisted in the way they continued to educate and administer, Ahir believes that ‘behind it all the ohemma continued to play her part in the making of traditional rulers, educating them in the lore of the dynasty and of the state, and advising them on regal bearing and courtly etiquette.’ Therefore, a Queen Mother was still able to exert much constitutional power behind British rule. If a king died it was the Queen Mothers responsibility to nominate the successor to a committee of elders.
The Odwira festival
Prior to British rule in 186, women were central figures in Asante with power and influence they could exert over the whole of Asante society. Women were not only biological, but also social reproducers of their society. They were responsible for the national make-up of Akan-ness. Women’s power used to be celebrated in a festival called the Odwira in which women were sanctioned to have illicit love affairs and bedlam was rife, approved by the state. This was a performance of Asanteness, intrinsically linked to gender. The festival affirmed women’s subordination, but also recognised their power, as Allman highlights the festival was, ‘acknowledging the power and centrality of women, especially as reproducers of their lineage (mmusua), even as it affirmed women’s subordination.’ The festival recognised the social power of women and this was linked to their matrilineage.
Marriage and the impact of colonialism
Marriage was also redefined under colonial rule. Allman and Tashjian recognise three different types of marriage (Allman and Tashjian 000) the marriage between a free man and a free woman, which is legalised by giving and receiving aseda (thanksgiving). In this example the wife is expected to service her husband exclusively and if she is unfaithful she will be liable for adultery expenses. Concubine relationships are less formal and the dissimilarity is that the husband is unable to claim for infidelity. The final example of marriage is that of a pawn wife. Often families pawned their daughters to receive loans from the husband of their daughter. This type of unification meant the wife lost all of her independence and was essentially a slave to her husband. Allman and Tashjian are of the assumption that a husband, ‘gained substantially in this arrangement since his marital rights increased dramatically. Among other things, he gained far greater control over the use of his now pawn wife’s labour.’ These situations highlight the subordination of women in both situations, whether they were marginalized and controlled by adultery fees, or by the wishes of their husband.
Prior to the conquest of the British Asante marriage had been a fluid process, rarely bound by contract as there were many different forms. A woman could become a wife if certain ceremonies were performed. This would entitle her to subsistence from her husband and adultery fees if she was unfaithful. However, many women remained concubines for different reasons, such as the wavering of adultery fees and domestic duties. Allman and Tashjian found through their research, ‘not only could marriage occur in stages over time, it could also be defined by the wishes of the families involved and follow no set pattern of ritual…..commoner marriage was a much more fluid process than the conjugal institution ruled on by Kunmasi courts.’ This changeable view of marriage the Asante had was discredited by the British as they enforced their own law onto Asante courts. The responsibilities of each partner began to be questioned during the 10’s as male chiefs began to exert more control over women. According to Allman, during this period, ‘marriage was a fact, a state of being, recognized by the court as non-negotiable. It was either or it was not; there could be no mitigating factors.’ The ossification of Asante society when written down became rigid. When cases were taken to court it was not possible to work on individual events, for the chiefs had to abide by the law, even though the definition of marriage was blurred throughout Asante. Allman argues that the British did not take account of history when implementing the law and reinventing Asante, for they asserted ‘a politics and ideology of ‘Asanteness’ that was essentialised, static and ahistorical. To be ‘Asante’ in the colonial period would be something you were or were not, not something you created and recreated.’ Prior to these laws there were no rigid rules in Asante society, people would address a problem individually and work through it, like marriage. Marriage is just one example, but the same philosophy worked through the whole of Asante society.
The impact of cocoa farming
The introduction of cocoa farming in the beginning of the nineteenth century had a huge impact of Asante society in many ways. Primarily it was men who established cocoa farms, aided by their wives, children and family, ‘women-as-wives provided much of the labour necessary for the creation of cocoa farms, yet men-as-husbands dominated ownership of these farms and therefore controlled the resulting profits.’ Matrilineal inheritance of farms was abandoned in this era and women often struggled to survive. They would put much of their time and energy into cocoa farming, whilst also trying to grow enough food to feed the family. Once the cocoa farm had firmly taken root, which could take up to five years, men began to enter into the capitalistic global market. This had many implications, the first being that instead of subsistence crops the farm would concentrate on cocoa and women therefore had to rely on their husbands for ‘chop money’ in order to buy food instead of growing their own.
Women did not simply appear on the market as traders with the introduction of cocoa. They had been trading throughout the nineteenth century, although not so salient roles. Allman and Tashjian are of the opinion that the cocoa trade was ‘a change of degree, not kind.’ The cocoa boom changed the Asante social and economic order significantly. However, these systems of production were already in place, for rubber, gold and cocoa had relied on the same kinds of organisational structure. An important factor was that the wives and children would act as free labour, ‘cocoa relied heavily on the organizational patterns that dominated rubber production…….most importantly, like its predecessors-marketable commodities like gold, kola and rubber-cocoa relied heavily on conjugal labour.’ It was at the beginning of the nineteenth century that pawn wives and slave labour became increasingly important. However, in 108 the British abolished slavery and pawning. Men no longer paid for pawn wives, therefore wives were deemed to be free labour.
The use of ntamoba and men’s responsibility towards their children
The matrilineal inheritance that had always featured so strongly in Asante history also lost its importance. During the nineteenth century a husband was obliged to look after his wife and children. If these demands were not met he would be denied the use of his children and the wife’s family could demand ntamoba. There are conflicting arguments on the precise definition of ntamoba, however there is a similar theme that could be argued and Allman suggests, ‘they all seem to share an underlying concern for a husband/father’s reciprocal obligations and rights vis-à-vis his wife’s and/or children’s family or abusua.’ Once cocoa production became firmly established the use of ntamoba was no longer used, for fathers rights to his children were inalienable. A husband would not have to provide reciprocity to his children’s family and therefore men had less responsibility toward their conjugal family. Allman concludes that it was during this period that patriarchal power dominated, ‘The rights of the conjugal father/husband became the rights of the nineteenth-century pawn-holder.’ Women and children were denied their independence, rights, and reciprocity from their fathers and husbands. As the region became increasingly monetized, from the profits of cocoa, men were able to exert more influence over their family, exploiting their labour. As McCaskie states, ‘matriliny did not preclude patriarchy.’ Men were consistently relieved of traditional legalities toward their family and if a man died, his matrilineal family would inherit his land and his wife would be left to look after his children.
Rounding Up Spinsters
It was during the period between 1 and 1 that chiefs became worried about women’s independence and they started to arrest them on charges of prostitution. Allman describes how the women rebelled against their preconditioned roles as subservient to their husbands, ‘Once the cocoa economy was established, many challenged their roles as unpaid productive labour and sought economic security and autonomy in the rapidly expanding cash economy as cocoa farm owners in their own right, or as foodstuff producers and traders.’ Although Asante Chiefs had been given authority through the colonial powers, the Rounding Up (of) Spinsters did not work. The women not only deceived the Chiefs by marrying brothers and friends who would pay the fine, they also earned their own economic sovereignty for they were free of the social obligations of marriage. Allman concludes by writing, ‘women made history in Asante, they were not just victims of it. The story of the capture of unmarried women thus stands as testament……to the success of at least some Asante women in negotiating the terrain of cocoa, cash and colonialism.’ Contradictory to the wishes of those in power Asante women set out their own parameters in a world that men dominated and wanted to control.
‘Gender Chaos.’
It was during this period that has been termed in academic literature as one of ‘gender chaos’. Women realised their roles as wives were being redefined by the cash economy and they started to become economically independent of their husbands as they became less reliable. Abu contends, ‘Increased mobility has facilitated ignoring of parental responsibilities by young men.’ Prior to the twentieth century, an Asante woman would remain in the house of her matrilineal. This meant she could rely on other family members to share childcare whilst she could work her spouse’s farm or independently earn her own income. During this period many women moved away from their matrilineal family so they could join their husbands farms. By moving their security networks were taken away, whilst their responsibilities increased. Allman argues, ‘cocoa had done much to alter the family in Asante.’ It was during this struggle of control over women’s productive and reproductive labour that women started to divorce their husbands, as they became successful traders. Women were powerless in the domestic sphere, yet they made a virtue out of necessity and took charge in the market.
Asante market women
To conclude, the women of Asante have held prominent positions in their society as Queen Mothers and although the colonial government did not recognise this power they have still retained their authority. During the colonial period the British undermined the fluid nature of Asante society as they implemented laws regarding marriage and conjugal rights. This did much to alter the state of Asante society and women’s status. However, throughout these changes a woman’s role as mother did not change. The most important relationship a woman had and continues to have is with her own mother and children. Clark believes, ‘The bond between mother and child is seen to be so strong that virtually nothing can dissolve it.’ Women have always married to have children, as they ensure their security in later life through the Asante matrilineal inheritance. Many women live in their mothers village for life, separately from their husbands, for they can never be thrown out of their matrilineal home. It is with the rise of cocoa farming that women began to feel the injustices of the patriarchal societies they were living in and they sought to gain their own independence.
Asante women were powerless in the domestic sphere, but through market trading they overcame their dependency on men and gained financial independence. The responsibility women had towards their children and the increasing lack of stability they received from their husbands gave women increased mobility towards gaining an income independently of their partner. Asante women’s ability to carve out a profit when the Ghanaian economy was plummeting left them open to charges of profiteering. Clark argues, ‘Market women became de facto deviants, not only because of their own increased agency, but because the whole economy had warped around them.’ Women held up a united front during this period and refused to bring down prices for those who envied them. Successive governments tried and failed to break the market women’s monopoly, Clark asserts, ‘Gender-based hostility featured prominently in the propoganda campaigns generating wide-spread public support for government attempts at price control and direct distribution from the 160s through the 180s.’ but their main source of strength was their stubbornness and determination to resist government directives such as taxes and licences to trade. Men were pushed out of the market sector as women became successful and Gracia Clark describes this period as the feminisation of the market place; ‘Ghanaian commentators………treat the market traders’ femaleness as an integral part of their commercial identity. Occupational categories like market traders are constructed with intrinsic gender and ethnic marking, just as part of the definition of gender and ethnicity is their occupational or economic content.’ The way in which trading is so predominantly a female occupation in the Kunmasi market, a vocation that used to be a male domain, stands as a testament to the power and independence of Asanti women. Throughout the twentieth century they have struggled against oppressive traditional, governmental and colonial powers who have tried to redefine their roles as women.
At the same time women are not respected as traders, as office workers and teachers are. They work to make ends meet so that they can survive. In this respect their liberation is a paradox for they are left with a double burden. Asante women have to trade so they can supplement the ‘chop money’ men give them, because it is rarely enough. They use the extra income they earn to finance themselves, their children and the men who are supposedly supporting them. Traditionally men gave women subsistence money to look after the family. However, in many cases women have to add to this although they rarely tell the men. Abu asserts, ‘Many women seemed to accept that a wife’s financial contribution to the running of the household was a necessary fact of life.’ This situation creates the illusion that the men are supporting their wives, but in reality they are not and Asante women’s freedom is still constrained by Asante men as fathers and husbands.
Bibliography
Abu, Katharine, ‘The Separateness of Spouses Conjugal Resources in an Asanti Town.’ In Female and Male in West Africa, Christine Oppong (ed). London George Allen and Unwin, 18.
Allman, Jean and Tashjian, Victoria, “I Will Not Eat Stone” A Women’s History of Colonial Asante. Oxford James Currey Ltd, 000.
Allman, Jean. ‘Fathering, Mothering and Making Sense of Ntamoba Reflections on the Economy of Child-Rearing in Colonial Asante.’ Africa 67 (17), 6-17.
Allman, Jean. ‘Rounding up Spinsters Gender Chaos and Unmarried Women in Colonial Asante.’ The Journal of African History 7 (16), 15-14.
Allman, Jean. ‘Be(com)ing Asante, Be(com)ing Akan Thoughts on Gender, Identity and the Colonial Encounter.’ In Ethnicity in Ghana The Limits of Intervention, C. Leutz and P. Nugent (eds). London and New York Macmillan and St. Martin’s Press, 000. pp7-118.
Arhin, Kwame, ‘The Political and Military Roles of Akan Women.’ In Female and Male in West Africa, Christine Oppong (ed). London George Allen and Unwin, 18.
Clark, Gracia, ‘Gender and Profiteering Ghana’s Market Women as Devoted Mothers and “Human Vampire Bats.”’ In Social History of Africa, Allen Isaacman and Jean Allmann (eds). Oxford James Currey Ltd, 000.
Clark, Gracia, ‘Mothering, Work, and Gender in Urban Asante Ideology and Practice.’ American Anthropologist 101 4 (1), 717-7.
Clark, Gracia, Onions Are My Husband Survival and Accumulation by West African Market Women. Chicago and London The University of Chicago Press, 14.
Hodgson, Dorothy, and McCurdy, Sheryl, ‘Introduction “Wicked” Women and the Reconfiguration of Gender in Africa.’ In Social History of Africa, Allen Isaacman and Jean Allman (eds). Oxford James Currey Ltd, 000.
McCaskie, Thomas C. History and Modernity in an African Village 1850-150. Edinburgh University Press Ltd, 000.
Peil, Margaret, ‘Female Roles in West African Towns.’ In Changing Social Structure in Ghana Essays in Comparative Sociology of a New State and an Old Tradition, Jack Goody (ed). London International African Institute, 175.
Tufuo, J.W. Ashantis of Ghana People With a Soul. Accra Anowuo Educational Publications, 16.
Other Sources
Central, Disappearing World-Asante Market Women. Science, Environmental Issues and Geography.
Bibliography
Abu, Katharine, ‘The Separateness of Spouses Conjugal Resources in an Asanti Town.’ In Female and Male in West Africa, Christine Oppong (ed). London George Allen and Unwin, 18.
Allman, Jean and Tashjian, Victoria, “I Will Not Eat Stone” A Women’s History of Colonial Asante. Oxford James Currey Ltd, 000.
Allman, Jean. ‘Fathering, Mothering and Making Sense of Ntamoba Reflections on the Economy of Child-Rearing in Colonial Asante.’ Africa 67 (17), 6-17.
Allman, Jean. ‘Rounding up Spinsters Gender Chaos and Unmarried Women in Colonial Asante.’ The Journal of African History 7 (16), 15-14.
Allman, Jean. ‘Be(com)ing Asante, Be(com)ing Akan Thoughts on Gender, Identity and the Colonial Encounter.’ In Ethnicity in Ghana The Limits of Intervention, C. Leutz and P. Nugent (eds). London and New York Macmillan and St. Martin’s Press, 000. pp7-118.
Arhin, Kwame, ‘The Political and Military Roles of Akan Women.’ In Female and Male in West Africa, Christine Oppong (ed). London George Allen and Unwin, 18.
Clark, Gracia, ‘Gender and Profiteering Ghana’s Market Women as Devoted Mothers and “Human Vampire Bats.”’ In Social History of Africa, Allen Isaacman and Jean Allmann (eds). Oxford James Currey Ltd, 000.
Clark, Gracia, ‘Mothering, Work, and Gender in Urban Asante Ideology and Practice.’ American Anthropologist 101 4 (1), 717-7.
Clark, Gracia, Onions Are My Husband Survival and Accumulation by West African Market Women. Chicago and London The University of Chicago Press, 14.
Hodgson, Dorothy, and McCurdy, Sheryl, ‘Introduction “Wicked” Women and the Reconfiguration of Gender in Africa.’ In Social History of Africa, Allen Isaacman and Jean Allman (eds). Oxford James Currey Ltd, 000.
McCaskie, Thomas C. History and Modernity in an African Village 1850-150. Edinburgh University Press Ltd, 000.
Peil, Margaret, ‘Female Roles in West African Towns.’ In Changing Social Structure in Ghana Essays in Comparative Sociology of a New State and an Old Tradition, Jack Goody (ed). London International African Institute, 175.
Tufuo, J.W. Ashantis of Ghana People With a Soul. Accra Anowuo Educational Publications, 16.
Other Sources
Central, Disappearing World-Asante Market Women. Science, Environmental Issues and Geography.
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