My friend thought that actually people should be able to dress however they want. The question was not resolved but has been a running theme in the back of my mind since I came to England. For you see, my jeans and knee length skirts have confined me to fuddy duddy status here; fitting micromini denim jeans, or itsy bitsy shorts over thick black tights are de rigueur here, and my refusal to wear them makes me unpopular, not to mention unfashionable. It all came to a head recently when I was engaged in a debate about feminism which began along the same lines. I stated, unashamedly, that I was not a feminist, in so far as being a feminist meant the right to over sexualise my clothes, my speech, my demeanour. You could have heard a pin drop. Me, the only African in the room and a woman at that, how could I not be a feminist when feminism has done so much for African women? But what has feminism actually done for African women? It strikes me that the term is bandied about to cover a multitude of evils and sometimes to the detriment of those women that it seeks to protect.

On one hand you have a societal malfunction. In politics, we talk of Politics (capital P) - government, the state, political parties etc - and politics (little p) - power relationships that govern everyday society. My argument is that feminism hasn't done much for African women because it continues to fight for representation in Politics with little regard for the politics of being an African woman. We bemoan the under-representation of women in parliament without investigating the social structures and systems that make it difficult for women even to consider going into or succeeding in Politics. Think about the lukewarm reception Wangari Maathai received on her return to Kenya after winning the Nobel Prize, because of a domestic scandal in the 1980's. We can tolerate women in Politics as long as they don't aspire to be more than second fiddle to a Big Man, a side kick. Sample the current situation - Julia Ojiambo, Martha Karua, Sally Kosgei, Lina Jebii Kilimo - all highly intelligent, educated, women but confined to side-kick status. One would think that 51% of the population of Kenya had nothing to say or do in the current stalemate except be a victim of the actions of men. I stress at this point that this is in no way an endorsement of some of the politics that these women practice. But, as I said to another friend of mine, although I disagree with everything that Condoleeza Rice stands for politically, the mere fact of her existence in the position of Secretary of State has opened up doors for Black women in the US - more so than any affirmative action programme.

On the other hand, you have the disconnect between Euro-centric feminism and the African woman. Like all other elements of politics, the development of feminism as a theoretical approach has, in my opinion ignored and undermined the position of the African woman. To my contemporaries at the University, I am forced to continually state that I will not fight for the right to wear a miniskirt and stroll down the street blind drunk at 1:30 a.m. before all the women in my country can go into hospital to give birth without fear of dying, or girls can at least have the choice to go to school or not. It is a position that has won me many critics, who argue that true liberation for women did begin in Europe but then spread to Africa, and the victories that women have won in the board room in Europe are having a positive effect on women in Africa. I'm yet to be completely convinced. I believe that the victories of the European woman have made it slightly more difficult for the African woman, if for no other reason because like other dominant paradigms, it seeks to standardise rather than celebrate the diversity of women. To put it simply, if a woman wants a highly successful and well paid career, to travel around the world but at some point to walk away from it all and have children, preferably with a (well trained ;-)) husband in tow, it is almost in direct contravention of the position advocated by the status quo.

Feminism today is - like realism, neo-liberalism and other positions - for the most part an exclusive discourse between men and European/Western women. And it's not just African women who are excluded from this discourse, or rather pummelled by its participants. Muslim women also find themselves viewed as sell outs for their refusal to standardise or close ranks with either side of the debate. Women in poverty in general are constantly being dictated to and told what to think and when, with little regard for their own opinions. In my opinion this is the great feminist tragedy. We need to get back to basics - fight for the right of women to exist as equals, to make informed lifestyle choices. I believe that there is definitely a problem that needs addressing, but perhaps the dominant brand of feminism is not the tool with which to do so.