A lot of skepticism linked to feminist theory steams from the lack of practical initiatives inspired by the second and third wave movements. Josephine Ahikire, senior lecturer in Kampala, would agree with these criticisms: she explained her love and hate relationship with a movement she thinks is often too abstract.
Sure enough, development agencies and individual countries do have gender policies - but they have yet to be really efficient. Their themes are distorted and do not make way for actual changes in women's lives which are not yet fully understood by bureaucrats and other UN agencies. In her words, 'the world is listenning, but the distortions are overwhelming'.
These considerations brought a really interesting question in the heart of the debate: Why did feminists want to share their visions and dreams with bureaucrats in the first place? One would guess that feminists thought that bureaucracy was the only way to make tangible changes in society, embedding them in legal frames meant to dutifully respected. Twenty years down the line, many are changing their mind, turning their back to the NGOisation and bureaucratisation of feminism.
Another major issue addressed this morning was the appropriation of the words 'gender equality': Josephine explained that in Uganda one can meet many people claiming tp be 'gender experts -but they hastily add that they 'don't like feminism', accompanying their logic with tired arguments such as "empowering women is not excluding men" which deeply misinterpret feminism, treating it as a threat rather than a movement aiming to consolidate equality between genders.
