Sexism in Ghana

This morning at breakfast I was talking to Amanda and Michelle about the cultural differences between American women and Ghanaian women. It is very interesting to live in a place where you are the minority, but it is even more interesting (and challenging) to live as a minority when you are a woman. Even though many Ghanaians deny that women are seen as inferior to men, this is a part of life that Americans (who would know what life is like otherwise) are very aware of. Apparently in the dance department, there are many girls who have been forced to have sex with their dance instructor's. These girls have been warned that if they don't, they will be given a failing grade in the class. What is even more maddening about this, is that evidently everyone knows about this problem and does nothing to stop it. One of the international student's here, who is a dancer, is taking this problem to the head of the International Office. I believe she already took it to the head of the dance department, but apparently he is also one of the offender's. Hopefully Suzi will be able to do something about this serious problem.

Last week, Commonwealth Hall (the men's dormitory) had their Power Night on campus. It's basically a big concert or party outside of their building. Amanda walked up to Commonwealth with a friend and when she got there she was ushered into a section set aside specifically for women. All of the men stood on stage and sang extremely sexually offensive songs directed toward the women sitting on the chairs below. Amanda was shocked and asked the girl sitting next to her why she even came. The girl just giggled and said that the boys were just joking around and it didn't mean anything. Whether or not these men were just joking, their actions were very offensive and should not be tolerated by anyone.

Personally, I've had to deal with some very strange situations with Ghanaian men myself. I juggled around the idea of writing about this on my blog, but since I said that I was going to write about my experiences here as honestly as possible, I guess I should. A couple of weeks ago, I went to the Volta Hall beach party near Kokrobite. Every year, the traditional halls on campus have a beach party that basically the entire school attends. There was live music, food and drinks, as well as football games on the beach. Around 7 or so at night, after the sun went down, I was walking around with my friend Stephanie. Stephanie really needed to use the restroom and so we wandered around everywhere looking for one. When we had no luck, she decided to just take a little "swim" in the ocean to relieve herself. So I walked down to the ocean with her and leaned up against a concrete slab while she went into the water. A Ghanaian guy walked over and sat on the slab right next to me. He started talking and all I heard was "bla bla bla". I've grown rather accustomed to ignoring the men here. After a minute or so of ignoring him, I finally turned around to tell him that I wasn't interested. When I did, I looked down to see his pants unzipped. This man was masterbating right in front of me. I immediately sprung off the wall and started yelling at him. He stood up to walk away and I punched him in the arm. It wasn't a very impressive punch that my brothers would be proud of, but I was afraid he would retaliate if I punched him in the face. Perhaps it wasn't wise of me to even yell at him, but my angriness toward his actions upset me very much and I felt that if I just walked away, I would be doing all of woman-kind an injustice. I felt that I wasn't in any real danger since Stephanie was walking up the beach toward me and there were about 10 or so people within close distance of me who would have definitely heard me scream if he tried to harm me.

I'm not saying that all Ghanaian men are perverted pigs, however. I have met many guys here who are very respectable and caring men. Some of which I'm sure I will maintain contact with for many years to come. I don't think the mindset of Ghanaian men is necessarily any different from American men either. I think they are just more direct and blunt with their requests. My roommate said it isn't too outlandish for a Ghanaian guy to wak up to an obruni and ask for sex. Basically, the guys here have no game whatsoever. Even the harmless ones ask you for your number before asking for your name. I have continuously used the "I don't have a phone" excuse, and it works pretty well. I also always tell them that I have a boyfriend, but that never seems to stop them. "I want to be your friend here," is what they reply. This is one aspect of Ghana that I won't miss when I'm back in America. I can't wait to walk down the street without hearing cat calls and having men grab onto my hand and try to pull me to them as I walk by. "Obruni, I'm trying to talk to you," they say. I think I've developed somewhat of a New York attitude here. I have no tolerance for these pushy men whatsoever.

On a lighter note, I'm about to go into the market in Madina to purchase diapers...then I'm going to the orphanage. I'll be sure to bring my camera with me to take pictures! Our water on campus has been off all day and so I'm hoping it comes back on before I get home tonight. Otherwise I will be a hot, sweaty mess after working at the orphanage. Anyway, better run!