Amina Mama at Media encounter
Accra, Jan 26, GNA - Professor Amina Mama, a Sociologist and Gender Activist, on Tuesday called for a broader participation of men and women in the affairs of the female gender for positive impact on the social and political transformation of society.
She said it was necessary everybody saw himself or herself as a gender specialist and to be critical of what women were doing to reduce their marginalisation in public and social life.
Prof Mama, who also occupies the Chair in Gender Studies at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, made the call in Accra, in a presentation titled "Gender Politriks" at a media interaction dubbed "An Evening with Amina"
The programme was organised by the Entertainment Committee of the Ghana Journalists Association jointly with Women in Broadcasting (WIB) and sponsored by Abantu for Development, a Non-Governmental Organisation. Prof Mama is the wife of Somali Journalist and Writer Nuruddin Farah who had also given a presentation at a similar encounter in Accra some few days earlier.
She noted that talking about women going into politics had been in vogue in recent times, but said politics had been characterised by a power play, which was full of tricks, which marginalized women's participation in top political positions.
She noted that Ghana had very few women Ministers and also there was no woman President or Head of State among the African leaders, pointing out the need for strong organisations and new broader crops of leaderships to champion the interests of women.
Prof Mama said wars at the beginning of the last century, and the nationalist fights and struggles, which were driven by masculinity accounted for the male dominance in political life. She observed that politicians had often disappointed their subjects, and that women usually had been deprived of applying their experience after long years of training.
There was also a transfer of domestic chores into the labour market where women were expected to do certain forms of labour in addition to similar work done by men.
Prof Mama called for a new kind of understanding and strategy to create the necessary change.
Ms Ajoa Yeboa-Afari, President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), noted with pleasure that the lecture was the first time a couple had given presentations to media personnel of the Association within a week.
She announced that such encounters would be regular on the calendar of the GJA.