“The impact of colonialism on the role of African women was mostly positive.” Discuss.

The question requires that candidates offer a considered and balanced review of the argument that the impact of colonialism on the role of African women was mostly positive. They may support the argument by addressing ways in which colonial governments and missionaries provided some education for girls. The new colonial order also offered women the prospect of financial independence through wage labour or as market traders. Candidates may also look at how missionaries sought to eliminate discriminatory traditional practices such as polygamy and female genital mutilation. For areas of disagreement, candidates may consider how colonialism led to an increase in the average female workload, with men often having to leave home to work as migrant labourers in mines or on plantations. They may also focus on the gender structures of colonial administration and the ways in which it served to reinforce existing patterns of patriarchy and male domination.