A few months ago, I heard about and joined Wikimedia Ghana user group as an editor (a voluntary role). Because I was new, I was still finding my way out in my new role and learning to edit articles on Wikipedia. Apart from my passion for writing in general, I do not know exactly what prompted me to join the moment I heard about the group but I believe I was influenced by the kind of social media post I saw the first time I heard of Wikimedia Ghana User Group. I'd seen a post on a friend's WhatsApp status that invited interested people to attend an 'Edit-a-thon' and article writing session organized for interested writers and editors which was geared toward increasing the number of articles of Ghanaian female politicians that are available on Wikipedia. Later, as I joined the group, I would learn that Wikipedia has fewer biographies about notable women than men and it also has fewer female editors as well. The gap is simply too huge, especially in Ghana.
About four months after I found out this information, I was hit with another discovery; my Ghanaian literature lecturer had just introduced us to a new set of stories the class was to take for the course. We were required to read a collection of short stories and poems written by Ghanaian writers including Mabel Dove Danquah, a Ghanaian female influencer and politician whose contribution was immense during the struggle for Ghana's Independence and whose stories are described as 'feminist' as they mostly addressed the injustices of the typical Ghanaian patriarchal social living and maltreatment of women in many ways. To be honest, it was my first time reading about her. As any student of Literature will do, I started research to read more about this Gold Coast (now Ghana) prolific writer whose works were unknown to many people in my class including myself. I did not find much information online.
Fast forward, a few weeks later, I watched on TV, Professor Mrs. Jane Naana Opoku Agyeman (first female vice-chancellor of a public university in Ghana) in an interview on a popular TV channel. From conversations with the interviewer, she expressed her concern about how no or little is written about the Ghanaian women who helped in Ghana's struggle for Independence. Unlike their male counterparts, little or nothing is written or said about them. As my interest peaked, I started searching online for stories about women who helped in the fight for Ghana’s independence. Though it had crossed my mind to ask if such women existed before, I'd never really thought about it or come across any literature on it. It is not something they teach us in school during our social studies lessons either. In my quest to find more, I came across an article which stated that Nkrumah had mentioned and appreciated the efforts of certain women during his inaugural Independence celebration speech delivery to the nation on 5th March, 1957 at the old polo grounds. Women such as Hannah Kudjoe, Theodora Salome Okoh, Rebecca Naa Dedei Aryeetey, Mabel Dove Danquah among many others who are not even known are worthy of mention and study when learning about Ghana's Independence yet their stories are not taught in school as their male counterparts. It is hard to find any information on the contributions of any founding mothers on the internet, in historic records or in books yet we know that there were women whose contributions were numerous and led to the success of Ghana's freedom.
Globally, some of the problems facing women today include lack of access to equal opportunity in education, lack of women in political power, patriarchy, and lack of women in political power. Even the few women who are in political power do not get the recognition that they deserve as their male counterparts. For many women at the top table, false accusations and stories like sleeping their way through to the top make it uneasy for them to carry out their duties effectively and for their stories to make impact.
Why is this so? Patriarchal system makes it difficult for women to find their voice, to unleash their potential and to be the best versions of themselves. For most girls and young women, hearing the breakthrough stories of successful women is important for them to be motivated ad learn that there is nothing they can’t do if they put their minds to it. The truth is gender inequality is a widespread pandemic that incapacitate people and put some in mental slavery. Gender equality is possible and it is an agenda we must seek to make the world a better place. Fighting for gender equality is not a battle of the sexes, it is a liberation that seeks to make both men and women enjoy fundamental human rights in peace. It is possible to achieve this goal if girls will have equal access to education, equal employment opportunities, have the platform and opportunities to tell their stories as boys do. This is why it is important for women to tell their stories because these stories have great impacts on the younger generation - both male and female. Strategic engagement of female writers, editors, motivational speakers, change makers and activities are important to help bridge the storytelling gap.
We need to hear women’s voices. Storytelling is indeed an important tool that can be used to effectively bridge the gender gap.
