Achola Odido
Uganda
Why not put the Feminist Charter into pictures and song, as well as make a documentary
out of it?
I live in Kampala Uganda and I work for Radio One FM90. I am a reporter,
assistant producer for Spectrum Political Talk show. I also currently being
trained to host the show, which would make me the first female political talk
show host in the country. I am also an artist (painter) and photographer, poet
and freelance writer, and have just started making documentaries.
I call myself a feminist because I believe that there is nothing a man can
do that a woman cannot do. Also naming myself as a feminist and studying
feminist principles has made me reclaim and be proud of my feminine qualities
that I had deliberately hidden and rejected because I believed it made me
vulnerable to the abuse I had been subjected to at various points in my life.
For the feminist movement to shift, it is important that spaces and avenues are
created for self-definition. These need to move away from the victim/ whore/
bitch/mother discourse. We also need to make concerted efforts to take our
principles out into the public sphere and unwaveringly explain what we are
about- rather than uttering out sporadic rants and then keeping quiet. These
feed into the stereotypes of feminists and do not advance our broader agenda.
Furthermore, although this issue crops up over and over again, the importance
of helping younger feminists establish themselves career-wise and financially
is another strategy that needs to form part of a holistic plan of transforming
not only society, but the movement as well. Th