What is it about?

I discuss the work of the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) and the Mothers' Union (MU) in Kenya, two Christian women's organisations with colonial roots. I argue that their historical practices constitute forms of ethical “mothering”. I review some contributions to the concept of “mothering ethics” in African philosophy, African theology, and African gender theory to explain how the social and religious authority of “mother” has provided a route through which African Christian women can assert authority in politics and social life. The YWCA and MU have both changed since colonial times, and now reflect "matricentric" or mother-centered values, as well as the "maternalism" that characterizes their histories.

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Why is it important?

The YWCA and MU have large membership bases in Kenya, each gathering tens of thousands of Christian women together for community-building work, advocacy, and more. Yet these organizations and their contributions as do not receive much scholarly attention as women's movements. This article explores some of the motivations and justifications of the YWCA's and MU's activities, and the effects of their work, in light of African contributions to ethics and gender theory.

Perspectives

Many Christian women find motherhood spiritually significant, and it's part and parcel of some central theological ideas - especially those connected to Mary, the mother of Jesus. However, churches and theologians have promoted motherhood in sexist ways, so for women in cultural contexts influenced by Christianity, being a mother confers a particular status while not being a mother comes with certain social risks. Therefore, any values and practices that are considered "maternal" (like caring for children) should be affirmed as important but delinked from "biological" motherhood. I think approaching mothering as a metaphor for describing ethics is useful but needs to be part of an explicitly queer and trans affirming feminism. That is not a political orientation that the MU (which is part of the Anglican Church) or the YWCA currently promotes.

Dr Eleanor Tiplady Higgs
Brunel University

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: FROM “IMPERIAL MATERNALISM” TO “MATRI-CENTRISM:” MOTHERING ETHICS IN CHRISTIAN WOMEN’S VOLUNTARISM IN KENYA, African Journal of Gender and Religion, January 2019, University of the Western Cape Library Service,
DOI: 10.14426/ajgr.v25i1.3.
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