2023 is here!
You probably had a lot on your list for 2022. You may or may not have achieved everything and that’s okay, we make plans and life takes its course, doesn’t it? Here at FemInStyle Africa, we had our plans for 2022 but not all of them materialised. We had grand plans for our magazine. For example, we wanted to monetize aspects of it by publishing a bi-weekly e-magazine that required a subscription and had space for feminist advertising. We had most of our logistics figured out and writers identified to kickstart this dream. However, we couldn’t realize our dreams because of our finances. Despite this, we organized and held a very well-attended hybrid program to usher in International Women’s Day. Unfortunately, expenses at the end of this program plunged us into debt and we had to shut down operations for some six months and only resumed in September.
I’m telling this story not to bore you, but to make you know that you are not alone in non-achievements for the year 2022. But, 2023 is here and we can only plan and hope that the year goes the way we want it. This year we have a lot in store for you and luckily, we will be turning three. It is the age that most organizations will give us grants to continue our work. We refuse to give up on our objective to give voice to women on the continent and so this year, we will go cup in hand to seek help for our activism. We hope that you will indulge us when we come knocking at your door.
There are those who want us to believe that we are in a post-feminist era; a time where women have achieved parity and equality. Yet, we are far from it and events in the last year has made this rather glaring. There are still very few women in decision-making positions in every facet of our societies; there are still very few women in power all over the world. In fact, we keep recording ‘first women’ in almost every institution. In 2022, we had the first female Vice-Chancellor at the University of Ghana. While this was a feather in our cap, it also goes to show that we have a long way to go in terms of gender equality if we’re still recording ‘firsts’ in 2022. We hear of gender-based violence every day and we still grapple with queer issues, especially for queer women of color. In Ghana, a young woman who had completed all requirements to be called to the bar was suspended for allegedly being queer. In the US, Roe v Wade was overturned, rolling back years of feminist activism and emboldening other countries in Africa to strengthen anti-feminist laws. All these events show that the fight for equality is just now starting.
This year, we are back with a bang, giving voice to marginalized voices. We are committed to publishing an article a week and scaling up as time and resources will allow us. We invite you to join us on this ride—as a writer or a reader. This year’s, International Women’s Day theme is “𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐀𝐋𝐋: 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲”. What a theme that embodies what we do here at FemInStyle Africa. Come join us to use digital tools to speak for gender equality. As we are entering an election season for most of Africa and starting with Nigeria in February, we invite commentaries, articles, interviews, and Q and A’s that border on and speak to elections. It’s our year of digital activism, join us to get our voices heard with our digital tools. You can reach us at [email protected]. Happy New Year FemInStylers!
