Feminism In Third World

Third-World feminism, by virtue of its complicated negotiations with contemporary state apparatuses and vexed historical origins, is necessarily “a chimerical, hydra-headed creature, surviving in a plethora of lives and guises” (Heng, 1997: 30). In some nations, it manifest itself as an organized national movement; while in other nations, it may exist only as a kind of ‘hit-and-run’ guerrilla feminism which arises spontaneously around issue-cantered activity (Heng, 1997: 30). Historically, feminism in Third World has arisen in tandem with nationalist movements—usually against colonialism and/or imperialism. It is a truism that “nationalist movements have historically supported women’s issues as part of a process of social inclusion, in order

Throughout the liberation armed struggle, black Zimbabwean women described their goal not only as wanting freedom from racial and economic oppression, but also freedom from oppressive gender relations. Three and a half years later, in late 1983, thousands of women were detained in temporary prison camps during a nation campaign to end prostitution in Zimbabwe (Barnes, 2006: 251). This was done under the vagrancy law, in which women were picked up “on streets, in hotels and cinemas, and even at home, and held until they presented either marriage certificates or proof of employment” (Seidman, 1984: 419). Those who failed to produce either one of these required documents in the screening process were sent to a rural ‘resettlement camp’ (Barnes, 2006: 251). On condition, there was no proper clarity as to where instructions to detain women came from, as a number of ministers disclaimed all responsibility while others claim that the operation may solely had been taken by the police force without the clearance from ZANU’s leadership. Nevertheless, the state’s lack of action, as it distanced itself, emulated a sense of foothold to what was