Africa, Feminism, Doublethink

Doublethink was described by George Orwell in his legendary book, 1984, as the ability to simultaneously hold two contradictory beliefs. But unlike cognitive dissonance, a related term where contradictory beliefs cause conflict in a person’s mind, doublethink is marked by complete unawareness of holding contradicting views.

In a piece for The Guardian Nigeria titled “Feminism is not African, a question of cultural doublethink”, I argue that it is doublethink to support women’s equality in Africa while simultaneously claiming that the most successful tool for achieving women’s equality—namely, feminism—can not be African.