by Hanna
I am a 24-year-old feminist researcher living in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This blog outlines my feminist journey from adolescence to adulthood — and the lessons I learnt along the way.
I started calling myself a Feminist at a young age. It was a decision that was not influenced, nor by any means reinforced, by my family or friends. This was understandable because the society I live in (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) does not exactly reward those that call themselves a feminist or that work towards a feminist cause. Therefore, being a feminist had meant being against the majority of people — constantly facing a profusion of opposing views and opinions. As a teenager, I argued — furiously, with anyone and everyone who was not a feminist and who was interested in a little war. I found it baffling that I had to defend something as fundamental as ‘women’s rights’ and even more absurd to not always be able to win those arguments.
My early feminist years were uncomfortable, rough, and I have come out the other end with a bruised ego — yet, more dedicated than ever. I started reading more, evaluating my tactics, and being more focused on the end goal. Winning an argument was no longer satisfactory. I realised I wanted more. For a short while after this realisation, I stopped arguing and started conversing with people whose views could not have been more different from my own. I tried to study why feminism was incomprehensible to most people in my society, and note down the misconceptions I heard regarding the subject. In doing so, I was also able to establish a wall between the personal and the political. More importantly, this journey enabled me to create a platform that aimed to speak to thousands instead of focusing on convincing one person. This platform was Addis Powerhouse digital newsletter.
Several factors have motivated me and my co-founder to start Addis Powerhouse in this community, where the concept of a feminist newsletter was relatively foreign. One of these factors I owed to my profession as a feminist researcher at Includovate. Here, I have access to research works that are capable of playing a major role in the future of gender relations not just in Ethiopia, but in the world. I was able to establish close friendships, and gain valuable mentorship from colleagues with vast research expertise on gender. This has helped me unlock a new level of feminism — evidence-based activism that strived for measurable progress.
Upon its creation, Addis Powerhouse aimed to create a lively platform for Ethiopian feminists and women’s rights movements to rise above systems of oppression and co-author new feminist realities. To achieve this goal, it works to amplify feminist voices in Ethiopia and to change the negative perceptions surrounding feminism. The newsletter is released monthly and discusses one topic per Issue in depth. The topics we usually entertain are those that are considered taboo to talk about in the country (such as abortion and sex work) or those that get little to no attention in mainstream media (such as disability inclusion). As such, I am grateful for my feminist research experience, which has taught me how to validate women’s experiences and promote gender equality in the writing process.
This holistic feminist journey does not mean I am no longer naively jumping into arguments with people who have no intention of changing their views. But I am now more strategic and artful in my dialogues, and more attentive to people’s thought processes. Conversations that often seem futile to people also end up feeding into our newsletter issues and sparking interesting conversations on social media — that have a more productive end.
I am now able to see how all my experiences, formal and informal; academic and professional; contribute to my feminism. So, to the young feminist looking to unlock new levels of feminism, I say let your environment teach and drive you.
About the Author
Hanna Lemma is a Feminist Researcher at Includovate. She is currently one of the researchers involved in the revision of the 1993 National Policy on Ethiopian Women. She has a BA degree in Economics and an MSc in Development Economics from Addis Ababa University. Hanna is also the co-founder of Addis Powerhouse feminist digital newsletter. The newsletter prides itself for being the first of its kind in Ethiopia to amplify the voices of Ethiopian women’s rights movements and activists.
Includovate is a feminist research incubator that “walks the talk”. Includovate is an Australian social enterprise consisting of a consulting firm and research incubator that designs solutions for gender equality and social inclusion. Its mission is to incubate transformative and inclusive solutions for measuring, studying, and changing discriminatory norms that lead to poverty, inequality, and injustice. To know more about us at Includovate, follow our social media: @includovate, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram.
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This post first appeared on Changing And Measuring Social Norms, please read the originial post: here
