Weaving Tailored Narratives: Celebrating African Female Agency

Ẹfua Ọyọfọ

Part of my mandate as a cultural storyteller involves identifying and disseminating the scaffolding of leadership. How women, in particular, set themselves apart in unique ways – and in doing so, become living legends who inspire.

Through my work, I’ve spent extensive time studying African culture, and examining, amongst other things, the methodology of agency. My adventures begin, typically, with deep dives into African heritage, culture and history – and thenceforth identifying how women carve out seats at metaphorical tables. The question I put forth, though, isn’t about the table but about the seat itself. How do we feel, sitting in it? The honest truth is, no matter how hostile or welcoming the table, we need to decide – for ourselves – if that’s the specific table we want to sit at in the first place.

What is agency, precisely? Broadly defined, it’s having control over the choices set before oneself. Many women are conditioned to feel they lack this control, amongst the policing they face. They’re given to believe that their life charts have been carved in stone from birth, and will follow a narrow set of choices before arriving at a foregone conclusion. It impacts their perception of freedom and autonomy, as well.

To illustrate this: looking at most women in today’s African society, we’re often sold on some idea of what “having it all” entails. There are different narratives describing what this utopian womanhood looks like. This narrative, however, isn’t very inclusive – and, as such, can be problematic for women who deviate from that idealised form of womanhood.

This year’s IWD theme, “Inspire Inclusion” aligns strongly with my views on the matter. Irrespective of gender, how do we invest in women so they’re able to see multitudes in their potential? If societies can embrace the fact that being a stay-at-home-mother is just as legitimate as a corporate baddie, then those societies will be better off in the long run.

Part of my desire to carry out my cultural study was to be able to articulate this nuance via intersectional senses and disciplines. Groundbreaking in its own right, I was able to demonstrate, through multiple artistic means, the myriad ways that women impact society. This differs amongst countries, states, towns and communities – as well as from person to person. The beauty in this, is appreciating the individuality in womanhood, as opposed to painting women with broad strokes.

African womanhood, it can be argued, stands parallel to the perception of the African continent. In studying several African societies, the emergent focal narrative often revolves around Africa being viewed as a monolithic identity, or around trying to prove that we’re not monolithic. We get caught up in arguing with others about elements of our culture, and showing off enormous mansions in order to prove we don’t live in mud huts next door to lions. As a cultural and corporate storyteller who (among other activities) coaches and designs masterclasses on forming narratives – during story development, it’s important to ensure that whatever you’re doing either deepens your understanding of a particular situation, or moves the plot forward. Thus, the best way we can advance the African agenda is by forging ahead with the things that need doing, and leaving off the rest. Eventually the rest of the world will adapt.

IWD always provides a chance for reflection. We see where African female agency can succeed because we give it the opportunity to do so – by giving it enough space to carve out its own identity – in other words, design the throne upon which it wants to sit, and ensure its comfort.

For ethnographers like myself, IWD provides an opportunity for further study and reflection. What the Margaret Ekpo from Calabar did in 1920s Abia has relevance in 2024 Osun, for example. Similarly, charting Buchi Emecheta’s journey from Ibusa to London might be helpful to a girl who finds her resilience tested by her circumstances. A destitute teen seeking to change her circumstances might draw some inspiration from the first female monarch of Enugu-Ezike during colonial Nigeria; and, within all the examples existing, may find that she sees something of herself in one, or each of these women. The point is, leadership and womanhood are not one-size-fits-all, nor should they be treated as such. Every woman can be her own version of heroic, and not feel she’s forced to emulate anyone towards whom she feels no alignment. That way, she’s valued for who she is, rather than who others think she should be. The fact that she doesn’t fit inside a box, becomes her strength.

The theme my exhibition addressed, centred around the ways women can be strong within, or alongside, our softness. Historically, women have been seen as ornamental and decorative, or hard and anti-feminine. Yet in reality, there is no dichotomy. A corporate leader doesn’t have to fit the context of a woman in a man’s world; she’s a woman in her world.

With this shift in perspective, we advance our strengths and attributes to the forefront, instead of burying them. That way we expand the concept of what is ideal, instead of fighting so hard to challenge it.

Extensive study shows that, fundamentally, we’ve been conditioned to look at African women’s behavioural patterns from a Westernised point-of-view; thus, we benchmark how an African woman greets her husband and find it lacking, because it doesn’t match how it’s done abroad. What happens when we take off the West-coloured lens and tailor our gaze to the African narrative? After all, we don’t wear winter coats during summer. As a (revised) proverb goes: if you judge a fish on its ability to fly, then you’ve failed the assignment.

ẹfua ọyọfọ is a cultural storyteller, writer, researcher, and inter-disciplinary artist, deeply engaged with deconstructing diverse cultural contexts. Her creative practice involves amplifying the voices of marginalized communities, advocating for the variegated richness of humanity inherent within African culture.

Her most recent storytelling installation, udamalore (Nigeria, 2022) confronts legacies around African female agency, fostering a deeper understanding of African culture from an owned-perspective. udamalore provides a platform for exploring African oral storytelling, symbolism, heritage, fashion, textiles, and stories.