24. A Sex Strike for Resistance
Nana Yaa Asantewaa put an exclamation mark on her badass speech by grabbing a gun and shooting into the air. The effect was electric, firing up the audience and whipping the embers of Ashanti resentment into a roaring blaze of resistance. That evening, she and the gathered chiefs “drank the gods” – libations poured out as offerings – and pledged to rid themselves of the British yoke. She was also appointed Ashanti war leader and commander of the forces – a role to which no woman had been appointed before.
Within days, thousands had flocked to join her. Many more, who had initially been reluctant to join, were shamed into doing so after Asantewaa enlisted the women, to carry out a highly effective public relations campaign. Women were organized into marching around their villages and engaging in martial rituals to demonstrate their support and solidarity. The masculinity of laggard men was publicly challenged, and Asantewaa even got Ashanti women to withhold sex from their husbands if they did not join the resistance.