A Case for the Nigerian Brand of Feminism.
A while ago, I wondered at how that feminism in Nigeria seemed to take on a nature incongruent with what was obtainable in the western part of the world.
The word is associated with more bile and stigma in Nigeria than in Europe and the US. While westerners also have their heated contentions against feminism, the movement certainly carries less cringe there than it does in Africa.
Infact, a recent report states that 4 in every 10 men in the US identify as 'feminist.’
I earlier told myself that, obviously it was because, the average Nigerian lady is schooled to be financially dependent on the male figures in her life. And any smart person knows that the tools for independence, power and control will always be primarily, economically sponsored.
If you decide to cede to another, the power to determine your survival, whether you do this thinking you’re being pampered or not, you cannot turn around to seek autonomy & self-agency.
If you truly expect men to take responsibility for your finance(needs & wants), the direct consequence of that action- at least for the most part- is an uneveness in the power dynamic.
But as I’ve realised, this is not the full picture. Feminism and female agitations in Nigeria can never be equivalent in texture with feminism in the rest of the world because its advocates are not exactly asking for similar things.
The woman in the West is fighting a different battle from the woman in Asia, who is fighting a different battle from the woman in Africa.
The feminist in America is concerned with abortion rights, paid maternity leave, pushing back at sexist, micro-aggressions at work, or equal remuneration with a man for similar job descriptions.
The feminist in India, Iran, Pakistan etc, is fighting for her right to be not be married off at a certain age, her right to go to school and her right to engage in the barest minimum social activities without being stoned to death or burnt alive.
In Nigeria, the feminist is battling for her right to be treated fairly in marriage and be accorded kindness & consideration from society regarding general marital and domestic issues.
The struggles are different, & our systems of agitation are adapted to our peculiar challenges. This doesn't make the Nigerian brand of it less valid.
Agreed, alot of Nigerian women are not sincere when they speak of feminism, because unlike their western counterparts, a great number of these women still believe their lifestyle and existence should be funded by a man.
And when you make agitations that depart from traditional status quo, you have to assess the risks of your agitations squarely and embrace every part of it.
But many more are sincere. They’re responsible for their own financial destinies, are not waiting for anybody to come save a broke damsel in distress, and are living this reality already.
As a matter of fact, women are the bread winners or equal providers in so many homes in Nigeria today, a fact which many feminist-aggressors conveniently ignore. And that’s because for the most part, African women are taught to attribute the glory for their efforts in the family to their husbands.
This is why, whenever I hear men speak in absolutes with regards to their supreme usefulness as providers, I find it incredulous. Growing up in Lagos, I knew so many of my friends whose moms were the ones financially responsible for the home and their children’s welfare.
In fact, this is a moot point: African women have always engaged in all forms of trade, SMEs and handiwork to contribute to the upkeep of their families.
Yet, many Nigerian men when they want to discountenance Nigerian feminism, prefer to focus on the untoward conduct of a small sect of Gen-Z ladies online, a crop of women spurred by the Instagram baddie craze who want their luxury lifestyle to be funded, and who claim they bring “themselves” to the proverbial table, an innuendo often understood to meaning their sex organs.
There’s a recent term for what these men are doing: Nut-picking. It refers to intentionally seeking out extreme, non-representative members of an opposing group, and parading them as evidence that the entire group is irrational or incompetent.
But these men should know better. These women do not represent the average women. A recent report has it that women in Nigeria are the founders of at least 70% of the SMEs in the country today, and that at least 80% of African households are funded by two income providers.
These men know these stats are true in reality. But then again, why should a woman’s agitation to be treated fairly and accorded respect even be about her financial contribution to the home? Is it not enough that she is a home maker?
Scratch that. It is enough that she is human, or the partner to someone who has chosen to do life with her.
Feminism in Nigeria is at its fledgling state. Admittedly, it has a lot of gray areas and needs more conversations. The agitations, both in expectations and in methods, are still nebulous and seem markedly different from its western counterparts.
But that’s because the pain points are different. For all its famed glory, western feminism is not the standard. Yes, it formed the foundation of the movement globally, but even the current wave of western feminism does not look anymore like the feminism of their forebears.
And this is interesting because, many ill-informed African men often deride African women’s feminism as watered, in contrast to what they consider to be western feminism. Anytime they say this, I have a good private laugh.
Because I know that the feminism they have in mind when they think of the west, is the first and perhaps second wave of feminism. Do they even know that there have been multiple waves of feminism and the west is currently on the fourth? They think of feminism only through the lens of civil rights agitations, the fight to vote, to own bank accounts in her name, to be represented in political offices, etc.
They clearly have no idea where modern day western feminism has toured into. If they had any idea, they frankly would be happy with the African feminism that mostly concerns itself with equity in domestic arrangements, something that quite frankly, is not only doable, but is the most basic form of feminist agitations if you ask me.
