Nigerian Women in Cultural, Political and Public Spaces (Gender and Cultural Studies in Africa and the Diaspora) 3031405811, 9783031405815

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GENDER AND CULTURAL STUDIES IN AFRICA AND THE DIASPORA

Nigerian Women in Cultural, Political and Public Spaces Edited by Mobolanle Sotunsa Anthonia Makwemoisa Yakubu

Gender and Cultural Studies in Africa and the Diaspora Series Editor

Mobolanle Sotunsa Languages and Literary Studies Babcock University Ilishan-Remo, Nigeria

This book series spotlights the experiences of Africans on the continent and in its multiple and multilayered diasporas. Its objective is to make available publications that focus on people of African descent wherever they are located, ratgeting innovative research that derives questions, concepts, and theories from historical and contemporary experiences. The broad scope of the series includes gender scholarship as well as studies that engage with culture in all its complexities. From a variety of disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary orientations, these studies engage current debates, address urgent questions, and open up new perspectives in African knowledge production.

Mobolanle Sotunsa Anthonia Makwemoisa Yakubu Editors

Nigerian Women in Cultural, Political and Public Spaces

Editors Mobolanle Sotunsa Babcock University Ilishan-Remo, Nigeria

Anthonia Makwemoisa Yakubu Department of English Faculty of Arts National Open University of Nigeria Lagos, Nigeria

Gender and Cultural Studies in Africa and the Diaspora ISBN 978-3-031-40581-5    ISBN 978-3-031-40582-2 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40582-2 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover illustration: Andriy Popov / Alamy Stock Photo This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Paper in this product is recyclable.

To all members of the Babcock University Gender and African Studies Group (BUGAS) and all Young African women, who are aspiring for success.

Foreword: Nigerian Women in Cultural, Political and Public Spaces

The book Nigerian Women in Cultural, Political and Public Spaces is aimed at turning the searchlight, this time, not just any woman, but at the Nigerian woman. The struggle has been about the woman in general, but it’s fast becoming an obvious realization that the woman question is not the same all over. There is thus a need for a book which fills the gap for discourses on the woman question in Nigeria, on Nigerian women, and by mostly Nigerian researchers. That is where this book is a rich resource for researchers on women’s issues in Nigeria. The book would be a very useful document for scholars involved in researches that explore the place, status, and self-development of the Nigerian woman. Thus, through an intense exploration of a wide array of the available historical, qualitative, and quantitative materials and methodologies, this book takes us through the different levels where we see the Nigerian woman and the roles she is cast in. The book takes us through the experiences of the Nigerian woman in the different spaces and encourages the reader to question himself/herself, to see how the woman is empowered and her contribution to the development of the society. I congratulate the writers for this arduous task and invite the reader to enjoy this rich resource. Professor of African and Gender Studies in French National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN)

Doris Obieje

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Preface

The book Nigerian Women in Cultural, Political and Public Spaces is well timed as the country has just survived trying economic, political, and health times, mainly the economic downturn of many countries from the fallout of the Russian/Ukraine war, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the general elections Nigeria has just had. These experiences, amongst others, have raised many issues, sometimes complex, bordering on harsh realities, physical and mental health, increased political awareness, and survival adjustment measures, amongst others. In all of these, the woman question remains central and unsatisfactorily unanswered, for women continue to bear the brunt of these experiences. For instance, the rate of violence against women spiked all over the world during the lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the just concluded general elections in Nigeria saw a further decline in female candidature. This book then addresses the woman question in two ways. First, it documents the contributions of women to nation-building at the micro and macro levels. Second, the book identifies and critiques some of the challenges women continue to experience in a patriarchal society that refuses to allow them to fully utilize their abilities for self and national development. The chapters span subjects such as inheritance of property, spirituality, ICT, translation, Nollywood, and the thorny one, marital rape, to mention a few. These are issues that have confronted women for ages, and though women have made some progress in terms of remaining focused and dogged to their cause, there are still a number of obstacles to work through. While successive governments have made a number of policies ix

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PREFACE

aimed at changing the disempowering status of women, this effort has yielded little or nothing because the policies have not been actualized as they ought to—with political will, consistency, and the participation of the women themselves. This book, therefore, resuscitates our attention to the need to give an enabling space for women and to the fact that, at their different posts, women are still struggling to uplift themselves and their nation. Ilishan-Remo, Nigeria Ilishan-Remo, Nigeria  April 2023

Anthonia Makwemoisa Yakubu Mobolanle Sotunsa

Acknowledgements

We express our earnest appreciation to God for the inspiration, all the scholars who contributed to this book for their interest in publishing through this outlet, and our families for their forbearance and support.

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Contents

1 Introduction:  African Women in Cultural, Political and Public Spaces  1 Anthonia Makwemoisa Yakubu and Mobolanle Sotunsa Part I Nigerian Women in Cultural Spaces  13 2 Ethno-Cultural  Construction of Femininity in Igbo Folklore 15 Ositadinma Nkeiruka Lemoha 3 Women  as the Unsung Breadwinners in Igbo Cosmology in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God 35 Azuka Onwuka 4 Women  as Agents of Change in Some Dance Traditions of Orogun People of Delta State 45 Omoru Joy Aruoture 5 The  Dynamics of Traditional Power Structure: Women, Culture and Leadership in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart 67 Daniel Ibrahim

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Contents

Part II Nigerian Women and Media Engagements  81 6 Female  Engagement and Nollywood in Postmodern Africa 83 Gloria Ifeoma Okolie 7 Gender  Issues in the Nigerian Public Relations Profession 99 Omolayo Olusola Jegede, Helen Odunola Adekoya, and Feyishara Olojo 8 Influence  of Television Viewing on Eating Disorders Among Female Nigerian Undergraduates of Universities of Jos and Lagos115 Johnson Babafemi Akintayo and Adachukwu Grace Okafo 9 Audience  Perception of the Role of Culture and Media in Gender Stereotypes in Nigerian Television Commercials135 Aminat Sheriff Owolabi, Ganiyu Olalekan Akashoro, Abdulgaffar Olawale Arikewuyo, and Bashir Amoda Ajijola 10 ICT  as a Tool for Women’s Empowerment151 Ruth Amanze Part III African Women and Legal Frameworks 173 11 Towards  Women’s Career Advancements: The Banality of Recognition of Marital Rape in Nigeria175 Adekunbi Imosemi 12 Leadership  and Gender Diversity on Corporate Board in Nigeria197 Veronica Ekundayo and Dorcas A. Odunaike

 Contents 

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13 Customary  Law of Succession in Nigeria: Rethinking the Legal Status of Women227 Ademola A. Taiwo, Adekunbi Imosemi, Seyi Apampa, and Chinaka Emmanuel 14 The  Objectives of Gender Studies in Translation243 Simon Aboluwarin 15 Social  Media Re-victimization and Stigmatization of Sexual Assault Victims: Exploring the Representation and Social Reactions of Sexual Assault Cases in Nigeria259 Helen Odunola Adekoya, Oluwadamilare Jegede, Oguchi Ajaegbu, and Johnson Babafemi Akintayo

List of Contributors

Helen  Odunola  Adekoya Department of Mass Communication, Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Nigeria Oguchi  Ajaegbu Department of Mass Communication, Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Nigeria Bashir Amoda Ajijola  Department of Mass Communication, College of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, Nigeria Ganiyu  Olalekan  Akashoro Department of Mass Communication, College of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, Nigeria Johnson  Babafemi  Akintayo Department of Mass Communication, Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Nigeria Ruth Amanze  Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Nigeria Seyi Apampa  School of Law and Security Studies, Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Nigeria Abdulgaffar Olawale Arikewuyo  Department of Mass Communication, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria Veronica  Ekundayo School of Law and Security Studies, Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Nigeria Chinaka  Emmanuel School of Law and Security Studies, Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Nigeria xvii

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LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

Daniel  Ibrahim  Department of English, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Nigeria Adekunbi Imosemi  Department of Jurisprudence & Public Law, School of Law and Security Studies, Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Nigeria Oluwadamilare Jegede  Department of Mass Communication, Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Nigeria Omolayo  Olusola  Jegede Department of Mass Communication, Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Nigeria Ositadinma  Nkeiruka  Lemoha  Department of English, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria Dorcas  A.  Odunaike School of Law and Security Studies, Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Nigeria Adachukwu  Grace  Okafo Department of Mass Communication, Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Nigeria Gloria  Ifeoma  Okolie Department of English, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria Feyishara  Olojo Department of Mass Communication, Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Nigeria Omoru Joy Aruoture  Anchor University, Lagos, Nigeria Azuka  Onwuka Department Lagos, Nigeria

of

English,

University

of

Lagos,

Aminat Sheriff Owolabi  Department of Mass Communication, College of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, Nigeria Simon  Aboluwarin Department of Languages and Literary Studies, Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Nigeria Mobolanle Sotunsa  Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Nigeria Ademola  A.  Taiwo School of Law and Security Studies, Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Nigeria Anthonia  Makwemoisa  Yakubu Department of English, Faculty of Arts, National Open University of Nigeria, Lagos, Nigeria

Abbreviations

Chapter 4 TFA Things Fall Apart

Chapter 5 AMAA CRA CRC VHS

African Movie Academy Awards Child Rights Act Convention on the Rights of the Child Video Home System

Chapter 6 PR PRCAN

Public Relations The Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria

Chapter 7 FUBS Female Undergraduate’s Body Satisfaction NEDC National Eating Disorder Association TV Television (Thin ideal on TV is introduced)

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ABBREVIATIONS

Chapter 8 NPC The National Population Council SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

Chapter 9 ICT

Information and Communication Technology

Chapter 11 CAMA Companies and Allied Matters Act CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women UNO The United Nations Organization

Chapter 12 ACHPR African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women FHR Fundamental Human Right ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

Chapter 16 DSVRT GAD NGO NSPCC PTSD RAINN RTS WHO

Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team General Anxiety Disorder Non-governmental Organization National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network Rape Trauma Syndrome World Health Organization

List of Figures

Fig. 10.1 Fig. 10.2 Fig. 10.3 Fig. 10.4 Fig. 10.5 Fig. 10.6 Fig. 12.1 Fig. 12.2 Fig. 12.3

Graphical representation of respondents’ country Graphical representation of respondents’ age Graphical representation of respondents’ educational status Graphical representation of respondents’ work sector Graphical representation of respondents’ job position Graphical representation of the frequency of ICT tools used Age of the respondents Gender of respondents The Respondents Answers to the question on the factor ultimately responsible for poor representation of female on Corporate Boards in Nigeria

159 160 161 162 163 164 208 208 217

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List of Tables

Table 7.1 Table 7.2 Table 7.3 Table 7.4 Table 7.5 Table 8.1 Table 8.2 Table 8.3 Table 8.4 Table 8.5 Table 8.6 Table 8.7 Table 8.8

Distribution of respondents by gender Factors limiting women from attaining leadership positions in public relations firms Attributes for top management positions in public relations Contributions that qualify women for managerial positions in a PR firm Solutions that will enable women encountering glass ceilings in PR firms stand a better chance to hold leadership positions Students’ demographic characteristics Distribution of respondents according to frequency of exposure to TV programmes that portray thinness as the ideal body image Distribution of respondents according to the level of influence TV programmes portraying thinness as the ideal body image have on their feeding habit Distribution of respondents to ascertain if female undergraduates believe TV programmes will influence their eating habits and ultimately lead to an eating disorder Distribution of respondents according to the extent the symptoms of anorexia are present among Nigerian female undergraduates as a result of TV programmes Model summary ANOVA Coefficients

105 106 106 107 108 122 123 124 125 126 127 127 127

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List of Tables

Table 8.9 Table 8.10 Table 8.11 Table 8.12 Table 9.1 Table 9.2 Table 9.3 Table 9.4 Table 9.5 Table 9.6 Table 9.7 Table 10.1 Table 10.2 Table 10.3 Table 10.4 Table 10.5 Table 10.6 Table 10.7 Table 10.8 Table 10.9 Table 10.10 Table 10.11 Table 10.12 Table 12.1 Table 12.2

Summary of evaluation statistics of simple regression analysis between thin ideal on TV and female undergraduate’s body satisfaction Correlations Frequencies Test statistics Demographic characteristics of the respondents Level of exposure to Nigerian television commercials Role of gender in the audience level of exposure to Nigerian television commercials? Audiences’ perceptions of female gender stereotypes in Nigerian television commercials RQ2—What relationship exists between audience educational qualification and their perceptions of female gender stereotypes in Nigerian television commercials? RQ—Roles of culture in female gender stereotypes in Nigerian television commercials What is the role of age in audience perceptions of the roles of culture in female gender stereotypes in Nigerian television commercials? Country of respondents Age of respondents Educational status of respondents Work sector of respondents Job position of respondents ICT tools used Frequency of use of ICT tools Effect of ICT tools on work/business Effect of ICT tools on education/health Challenges of using ICT tools Regression coefficients of the effects of ICT tools on women’s work/business Regression coefficients of the effects of ICT tools on women’s education/health Board gender composition of all listed companies in Nigeria Board gender composition of companies listed on the Nigeria Stock Exchange on a sector-by-sector basis

128 129 130 131 141 142 144 144 145 146 147 159 160 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 166 168 169 211 216

  List of Tables 

Table 15.1 Table 15.2 Table 15.3 Table 15.4 Table 15.5 Table 15.6

Influence of framing of representation on level of engagement on sexual assault posts Influence of framing of reaction on level of engagement on sexual assault posts Influence of framing of reaction on level of engagement on sexual assault posts Descriptive for test of difference in the level of engagement on sexual assault comments by social media platforms Post-hoc analysis of variance of level of engagement on sexual assault posts by social media platforms Influence of framing of reaction significantly influences framing of representation

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270 271 272 272 273 274

CHAPTER 1

Introduction: African Women in Cultural, Political and Public Spaces Anthonia Makwemoisa Yakubu and Mobolanle Sotunsa

It is important to note that the social system in place in many African societies is patriarchy, a system that empowers the male sex at the detriment of the female sex, and in the process, puts in place structures and institutions to ensure the status quo remains  (See Khelghat-Doost & Sibly, 2020; Gupta, Madabushi & Gupta, 2023). To this end, space becomes a contested gendered terrain, another social tool used to the advantage of a particular group over another. While gender is usually regarded as the social relationship between the sexes, it is fraught with a struggle over resources; it is a power struggle that propels patriarchy to devise means and strategies to keep a particular sex away from the resources (Tamale,

A. M. Yakubu (*) Department of English, Faculty of Arts, National Open University of Nigeria, Lagos, Nigeria e-mail: [email protected] M. Sotunsa Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Nigeria e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 M. Sotunsa, A. M. Yakubu (eds.), Nigerian Women in Cultural, Political and Public Spaces, Gender and Cultural Studies in Africa and the Diaspora, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40582-2_1

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2004). One of these means is the entrenchment of the public/private dichotomy, reflecting the wheel of contrast patriarchy revolves on—good and bad; weak and strong; soft and hard; positive and negative; to mention a few. The public/private axis divides space along gender lines, and attaches particular qualities and variables to each. The private space is reserved for the woman — it is hidden; away from the public glare; disempowering; limited, and enrobed in a cloak of domesticity. The man dictates what goes on in there, however. The public space is the opposite — it is an open field of opportunities, possibilities, resources, empowerment, freedom, growth, privilege, and power. It is a space for the man, the progenitor of patriarchy, and it is he who limits the woman’s access into the space, through the institutions of education, religion, law, and culture. The man curtails the woman’s access into the public space out of fear that if allowed in there, she would take the staff of office from them. The myth of domesticity is therefore propagated to legalise women’s space as private. Interestingly, the man is also in control of the woman in the private space. This way, the woman’s personhood is made subservient to the man’s. The woman is thus domesticated, unable to access resources and opportunities that would expand her political, economic, social, and legal space. For the few who have managed to hold their own in the public space, they are constantly reminded that their space is restricted to the private, and they are regarded as the ‘other’, unwelcomed visitors in the terrain of the men. The marginalised position of women within the private and public space is tied to biology and ‘nature’. They are created soft and caring, with reproductive abilities and capabilities, and their social role, therefore, is to take care of children and of the home. The world out there is too harsh and mean; only the male can conquer it. Laws are enacted to complement biological reasons for the domesticity attached to women; and words like ‘homemakers’ and ‘caregivers’ are reserved for them, while men are ‘breadwinners’ and ‘heads’ of the family. More importantly, however, the domesticity of women confines them to second-class citizens who have limited control to exercise their rights to vote and be voted for, to participate in decision making, to own landed properties, to bail someone out of police custody, to get international passports, to be selected as reagents, among others. To be able to carry out these citizenship rights to a limited extent, they have to rely on the men in their lives, who would open the entrance to the public space for them, for just a while. The public space, therefore, possesses the resources women and men need to explore in order to live a ‘good’ life. This space,

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however, is off limits to women (Mcewan, 2001; Phillips, 2000; Burnet, 2011). While the public space gives the men a privileged status and shields the resources therein from women, the private space increases the vulnerability of women, as their disempowered status facilitates the commodification of their bodies as sexual objects, and the deifying of their bodies as mothers. Since women have to rely on men both within the private and public spaces, they become susceptible to gendered social conditioning and all forms of emotional and physical abuse. The public/private dichotomy approves the cloak of domesticity for women, thereby promoting gender inequality in a typical patriarchal society. African women, however, are not content with their subservient lot. They put up different actions to show their displeasure over their status in the society. They realise that the public space is an important resource they also need to annex for their development. For starters, they move the private space into the public, especially for women who are in the informal sector. They disregard the imaginary lines of public versus private dichotomy and push domesticity into the public realm, for right out there, as they ply their trade, they also take care of their babies strapped to their backs, and prepare meals for them and themselves, right out there in the public view (see Pozarny, 2016: 7). This way, they shatter the artificial separation and express their willingness to be players too on the public terrain. For the fewer number of women in the formal sector, their unrelenting efforts for a more equitable system has led to African governments signing charters and adopting policies in order to open more of the public space to them. Through the United Nations World Conference on Women in Nairobi, Kenya (1985), and in Beijing, China (1995), the African Union’s 2003 Maputo Protocol, and through the African Union’s declaration of the African Women’s Decade, 2010–2020, African leaders have expressly appended their signatures on documents to indicate their desire and willingness to see more women in the public space. But these documents are not binding, and the reality is that women are still resisted from decision-­making fora and government circles. At the national level, women’s efforts in the public space, where they insist that women’s rights are human rights, have attracted legislative response and policies, especially in the light of the sexual abuse of women and girls in the private space, and of the nonchalant belief of the public space that private issues should not be brought into the open, that is, into the public space, and this is why, is spite of the gender desks in a number

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of police stations, domestic abuse issues are always referred back to the homes of the victims, to be treated there. The Child’s Rights Act (2003) enacted to handle sexual and domestic offenders of children have been ratified by many states in the southern part of Nigeria, while the northern states have kicked against it because it goes against the Sharia law that accepts the practice of child marriages. There is also the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act of 2015 that addresses gender-based violence. This Act is wrought with much opposition, as it does not address same sex sexual violence, or the rape of a man by a woman. The most consistent criticism against the Act is the opposition to marital rape, as many Nigerians do not believe that there can be rape within marriage. On the grounds of religion and culture, a number of gendered Bills have been rejected on the floor of the House. A recent example is the Gender and Equalities Bill, which was first presented in the Senate in 2016, and for the third time, on December 15, 2021, it was again rejected when it was re-presented. The Bill proposes stiffer punishments against sexual offenders and equal opportunities for both men and women, especially in employment and inheritance rights, among other issues. It has been a case of push and shove from women to men, and vice versa, with the latter holding on firmly to the reins and resources of power, refusing to make the scene more democratic, with both parties contributing to the development of the polity. The players of the public space use threats, folklore, and violence, amongst other tools, as control measures to restrict women’s further incursion (Nesbitt-Ahmed, 2015; Pozarny, 2016), and this has led to protests from women at various times and in various ways, even up till the twenty-first century. From colonial times, women have come together to reject abuse and injustice against their persons, and against their men and children. This is not new, because during the precolonial period, many African communities, though patriarchal, had in place certain shaming acts women are allowed to publicly display against men or even reagents who had perpetrated one form of abuse or the other (Onyesoh, 2021). Ironically, African women in postcolonial African states have not been able to resort to courts and tribunals to address gender and domestic abuse they go through because these are patriarchal structures which have become more institutionalised over the years, against the emancipation of women. However, the protests are ongoing. Since the twentieth century, women have gone against the patriarchal belief that they are their own worst enemies, and have been able to come together and successfully carry out protests to express their displeasure and rejection of oppressive

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policies. Examples abound. In Nigeria, there was the one-month-long Aba Women’s Riots of November to December 1929 against draconian taxes levelled against women and domestic animals by the British colonial government. Between 1947 and 1948, there were the Abeokuta Women’s Riots or the Egba Women’s Tax Riots, organised by the Abeokuta Women’s Union (AWU), and spearheaded by Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. There were civil unrests in other parts of Africa as well during the colonial years. In 1946, the Pare Women of Tanzania carried out riots against imposed taxes; there were also the riots organised by Kom women in 1959 in the former British Cameroons (Andrade, 2007; Ramtohul, 2020). In Nigeria, the twenty-first century is replete with protests and other types of civil unrests with women at the forefront. In 2019, women under the aegis of a number of women groups organised a protest in Abuja FCT against police molestation of women and girls. In April  2014, the #BringBackOurGirls (BBOG) protests rocked different parts of the country, with women leading the action. The recent #EndSARS protests of 2020 over the human rights abuses of the special unit of the Nigeria Police, Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), has as one of its frontliners, the iconic activist, Aisha Yesufu. It is interesting to note that these protests by women are played out right there in the public space (Kanes, Shoemaker, & Carlise, 2019), to push for more space for women to explore some of the resources to develop themselves also. On the Nigerian political terrain, the large number of women therein does not translate into leadership. What one sees is the huge presence of women as followers, members, and disciples. This confirms the view in some circles that in all the countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria has “one of the largest participation groups” (Isaksson et al., 2014, 311). It is somewhat ironic that in the military dispensation in Nigeria, there was a higher number of women appointees in governance than in the democratic dispensations the country has had. Patriarchy rears its ugly head in women’s participation in politics too, especially in the areas of public/private spheres. The strong belief still holds that politics is a public affairs engagement, and women belong to the private sphere, and so has no business with ‘harsh’ reality of the public world. Women’s quest to participate in politics is seen as a misnomer, an interference that would do them no good. Power and leadership are all about control of resources and politics facilitates this control. Politics allows one to access, allocate, and control resources (Tamale 22), and African women’s “lack of access to and control over resources… is the

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single most important cause of gender inequality in Africa” (Tamale 19). Women are sacrificed on the patriarchal slabs of inferiority and second-­ class citizenry, and their greatest asset, their labour, is exploited to their continued disempowerment (Hernandez-Truyol, 2004; Tamale, 2004). But women have continued to push for a change, and through civil society groups in their respective African countries, they have pushed for an empowering space within the political sphere. Again, their efforts have led to some national and international policies in favour of their empowerment. Some of these include the United Nations’ Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which was ratified by Nigeria in 1985. Then there is the 2005 Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, which the Nigerian government also endorsed. Another example is the 2006 National Gender Policy, which stipulates that 35% seats in Parliament should be occupied by women. In 2010, the African Union (AU) set up the African Women’s Decade (2010–2020), with the theme, ‘Grassroots Approach to Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment’. These, among a number of others, were aimed at encouraging women’s participation in politics and governance from the grassroots level (MEWC, 2018). These translated into affirmative actions in some African countries, like Rwanda and South Africa. For instance, in September 2018, the number of women elected into the lower House of Parliament in Rwanda increased to 67.8%, indicating a higher world record (The New Times, 2018; IPU, 2018). The sixth position in the world is claimed by Namibia, with 46.2% of women in the Lower House, and 23.8% in the Upper House. Nigeria, like a number of other countries within the African continent, has a different story. After many years of military rule, Nigeria had its first democratic elections in 1999. During the 2015 general elections, there were 359 contested seats, and 20 women were elected (5.6%), while out of the 109 federal lawmakers in the Senate, only 7 were women (6.4%). In terms of women lawmakers, Nigeria assumed the 180th in the world (Women in Parliaments: World Classifications, 2019). For the gubernatorial elections, out of the 760 candidates who contested for governors and deputy governors, women were only 87 in all (11.45%), while out of the 1774 candidates for the House of Representatives, 269 were women (15.16%) (NWTF, 2015). During the 2019 general elections, 7.3% was the percentage of women in the Senate, while 3.1% make up the total number of women in the House of Representatives (NWTF, 2019).

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The poor number of women in politics is also reflected in the practice of tokenism, the patronising act patriarchy engages in to give a false impression of being all egalitarian and inclusive. We not only see the appointment of female ministers and directors, to give the impression that national and international policies are being effected, we also see the first lady, or wife of the president, having her own political initiatives. For the late Maryam Babangida, wife of the military ruler, General Ibrahim Babangida — August 27, 1985 — August 26, 1993 — her pet project was the Better Life Programme (BLP), which initially targeted women in the rural areas and later extended to all women in Nigeria. Then during the tenure of the late General Sani Abacha (November 17, 1993–July 8, 1998), his wife, Mrs Maryam Abacha, founded the Family Support Programme (FSP) as her own initiative to offer support along the lines of health, agricultural, and economic to Nigerian families. The tenth First Lady of Nigeria was Justice Fati Lami Abubakar, wife to Abdulsalami Abubakar, who was the Head of State from June 8, 1998, to May 29, 1999. Her pet project was named Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection (WRAPA). It was a non-governmental organisation that supported the rights and protection of women through advocacy and the law. For the late Stella Obasanjo, wife of President Olusegun Obasanjo, her energies and time were focused on the support of physically challenged women and children through the project, Child Care Trust (CCT). Mrs Turai Yar’Adua is the wife of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua — May 29, 2007 to February 9, 2010  —  and her pet project was Women and Youth Empowerment Foundation (WAYEF). The initiative was geared towards poverty reduction, education, and health of its targeted beneficiaries. Through her non-governmental organisation, A. Areuera Reachout Foundation, support in terms of health, education, skills acquisition, and wealth creation, amongst others, was offered to women, the elderly, and youths, particularly. The then First Lady, Mrs Aisha Buhari, whose husband, President Muhammadu Buhari, assumed office on May 29, 2015, created her initiative, Future Assured, to empower women, children, and youths. Like many policies, projects, charters, and actions regarding the promotion of women in patriarchal societies, these pet projects of Nigeria’s First Ladies, operated from public offices and driven by public funds, do not last, are not sustained, and the beneficiaries are very limited, making it look as if the status quo has not changed in favour of women particularly. The change is very slow and laborious, especially when one looks at the

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activities of particular women in Africa’s history who sought to make the lot of the African woman better: Queen Amina of Zaria (fourteenth century); Queen Nzinga of Matamba, Angola (seventeenth century); Queen Ahangbe (Tassin Hangbe), Benin (eighteenth century); the religious leader, Nehanda of Zimbabwe (nineteenth century); the Queen Mother, Yaa Asentewaa of Ghana (nineteenth century), and a long list of various women in Nigeria and other parts of Africa. Where there have been women presidents—like Slyvie Kiningi of Burundi, who presided in an acting capacity between February to October, 1993; Ivy Matsepe-Cassaburi of South Africa, who also held the position in an acting capacity in September 2005; Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, the first elected African female president, 2006–2018; Rose Francine Rogombe of Gabon, who was interim President from June to October 2009; Agnes M.  Bellepeau of Mauritius, who was Acting President from March 2012 to July 2015; Joyce Hilda Banda assumed the position of President of Malawi when the incumbent president, Bingu wa Mutharika, passed on. She was the vice president at that time. Her tenure as president lasted from April 2012 to May 2014. The acting president of the Central African Republic from January 2014 to March 2016 was a woman, Catherine Samba; From June 2015 to March 2018, the first female president of Mauritius was Ameenah Gurib-Fakim; in Ethiopia, the first elected female president is Sahle-Work Zewde, who assumed the position in October 2018. She is still the current president; lastly, the latest female president of a country in Africa is Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania, who assumes that role in an acting capacity in March 2021, and is still there to date—the overall status and empowerment of women have been noticeably ‘non-existent’. But the changes are there, and it is only a matter of time before these will become felt by all. In spite of the view that “women are particularly effective in honest government…countries where women are supported as leaders and are at the ballot box have a correspondingly low level of corruption” (Olufade, 2013, 168), a number of social and economic challenges prevent women from having a sustained interest in politics. Some of these include funding, the demands of politics, violence and threats, lack of campaign experience, lack of support from both men and women, lack of media coverage, patriarchal beliefs and attitudes about female leadership, the statelessness of women through marriage, to mention a few. Unlike before when the public space was seen as a male affair, it has now become a contested terrain, where women, among other groups, agitate for access, inclusion and

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exclusion, control, enforcement, participation, citizenship, representation, and among other issues. Therefore, t he nature of women’s participation in the political process… provides further illustration of inclusion and exclusion in the public space and how struggles for participation are effectively part of the broader issues of citizenship and gender equality.                       (Alubo, 2011, 78)

The challenges women experience today started at the socio-cultural level, where they continue to be restricted to domesticity, that private space that is consumed with the unending working hours of wifehood and motherhood, and is sustained by folklore—myths, legends, proverbs, and folkltales. For women who are neither wives nor mothers, their space within the private sphere is further constrained. Women’s identity in the public space is reposited in men (as fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons), who act as their representatives and choose what to let them know and have. The pull of domesticity and reproductive functions on women is very strong, and for the few who have been able to break free of it by entering the public space, they keep being reminded of where they belong, even as they work extra hard to contribute their quota for their own and society’s good (Bawa, 2012; Reichlin & Shaw, 2015; Chopra, 2015; Pozarny, 2016). The 14 papers in this book critically examine the African women in different positions within the private and public spaces, the strong inhibiting presence of patriarchy, and the resistance women display to empower themselves. The first four chapters focus on different aspects of the Nigerian cultural milieu. In Chap. 2, Ositadinma Nkeiruka Lemoha examines 21 Igbo proverbs, 15 Igbo personal names, and 4 folksongs that portray the way women are generally regarded in an average Ibo community in Nigeria. In Chap. 3, Azuka Onwuka celebrates the hidden labour of women who engage in physical work in order to ensure that there is food on the table for the family. Chinua Achebe’s novels, Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God are used as the selected literary materials. Omoru Joy Aruotore makes us part of the excited audience of Chap. 4 as we watch the symbolically powerful dance of Urhobo women in Delta State. The Eya Udjo Dance and the Purification Dance are yearly spiritual exercises women carry out for the overall development of their community and her people. Daniel Ibrahim in Chap. 5 carries out a comparative analysis of

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access to power and leadership positions of Igbo women in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and contemporary Igbo women, and concludes that it is still a long way from home. The increasing number of women as directors and producers of Nollywood films is translating to more powerful and realistic roles for women, as seen in Gloria Ifeoma Okolie’s Chap. 6, which discusses the contribution of Nigerian women to the development of Nollywood. In Chap. 7, Omolayo O. Jegede, Helen O. Adekoya, and Feyishara Olojo state socio-cultural reasons why women are still few and far between in the Public Relations profession. The socio-­ cultural image of what physical beauty is has made a number of young female undergraduates to eat themselves into anorexia, as they watch their favourite television programmes, as expounded by Johnson B. Akintayo and Adachukwu Grace Okafo in Chap. 8. This academic view is further critically examined in Chap. 9 by Aminat Sheriff Owolabi, Ganiyu Olalekan Akashoro, Abdulgaffar Olawale Arikewuyo, and Bashir Amoda Ajijola, who discuss the role of culture and the media in the perpetuation of gender stereotypes. In Chap. 10, Amanze Ruth cites some instances in which women adopt ICT as an empowerment strategy. In Chap. 11, Adekunbi Imosemi raises a thorny issue in Nigeria’s gender discourse, ‘marital rape’, and proposes that the act should be criminalise, for the good of women victims. In Chap. 12, Veronica Ekundayo and Dorcas A. Odunaike revisit the issue of the number and status of women in the corporate world, and analyse 168 companies listed in the Nigeria Stock Exchange. The result evinced that the composition of many of the boards are made up of mainly men. Ademola A. Taiwo in Chap. 13 condemns many customary laws that discriminate against women owing or inheriting properties, and proposes that particular sections of the country’s Constitution can be explored by women to seek for redress. In Chap. 14, Simon Aboluwarin calls for the mainstreaming of feminism into the act of translation, as this will transform the presence of women. Chapter 15, by Adekoya Helen Odunola, Oluwadamilare Jegede, Oguchi Ajaegbu, and Akintayo Babafemi Johnson, critiques the role of the social media in the double stigmatisation of sexual assault female victims, discusses how social conditioning affects the performance of women in mathematics and the sciences. These chapters not only look at the present status of women in the patriarchal space but also propose steps that can be adopted to enlarge the space, so that women can fully be themselves, contributing to their overall and the society’s good.

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References Ajayi, T. (2019). Women and Nigeria’s 2019 elections. Retrieved March 30, 2022, from Kujenga Amani website: https://kujenga-­amani.ssrc.org/2019/02/15/ women-­and-­nigerias-­elections/ Alubo, O. (2011). The public space in Nigeria: Politics of power, gender and exclusion. Africa Development, 36(1), 75–76. Andrade, S. (2007). Rioting women and writing Women: Gender, class and the public sphere in Africa. In C.  M. Cole, T.  Manuh, & S.  F. Miescher (Eds.), Africa after Gender (pp. 85–107). Indiana University Press. Bawa, S. (2012). Women’s rights and culture in Africa: A dialogue with global patriarchal traditions. Canadian Journal of Development, 33(1), 90–105. Burnet, J. (2011). ‘Women have found respect’: Gender quotas, symbolic representation and female empowerment in Rwanda. Politics & Gender, 7(3), 303–334. Chopra, D. (2015). Balancing paid work and unpaid care work to achieve women’s economic empowerment. IDS Policy Briefing Issue 83. http://www.ids. ac.uk/publication/balancing-­paid-­work-­and-­unpaid-­care-­work-­to-­achieve-­ women-­s-­economic-­empowerment Gupta, M., Madabushi, J. S., & Gupta, N. (2023). Critical Overview of Patriarchy, Its Interferences with PsychologicalDevelopment, and Risks for Mental Health. Cureus, 15(6), e40216. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.40216. PMID: 37435274; PMCID: PMC10332384. Hernandez-Truyol, B. E. (2004). Women’s rights as human rights – Rules, realities and the role of culture: A formula for reform. In F. Jandt (Ed.), Intercultural communication: A global reader (pp. 328–345). Sage. Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). (2018). Women in National Parliaments. https://archive.pu.org/wmn-­e/classif.htm Isaksson, A.  S., Kotsadam, A.  A., & Nerman, M. (2014). The gender gap in African political participation: Testing theories of individual and contextual determinants. The Journal of Development Studies, 50(2), 302–318. Kanes, J., Shoemaker, J., & Carlise, A. (2019). Women, Cultural Rights, and Public Spaces: Analysis and Recommendations To Advance Women’s Human Rights. Oakland: International Action Network for Gender Equity and Law. Khelghat-Doost, H., & Sibly, S. (2020). The Impact of Patriarchy on Women’s Political Participation. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 10(3), 396–409. Make Every Woman Count (MEWC). (2018). African women’s decade 2010–2020: Women’s participation in decision making and leadership. Make Every Woman Count. http://iknowpolitics.org/sites/default/files/awd_ womensparticipationindecision-­makingleadership_2018.pdf

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McEwan, C. (2001). Gender and citizenship: Learning from South Africa? Agenda, 16(47), 47–59. Nesbitt-Ahmed, Z. (2015). Structural barriers to inclusion: A focus on violence. IDS: From Urban exclusion to inclusion, 29 October Urbanisation Workshop. Presentation. Nigerian Women Trust Fund (NWTF). (2015). Desk review: Gender assessment of the 2015 general elections in Nigeria, 2015. Nigerian Women Trust Fund (NWTF). (2019). Women representation in the Nigerian elective positions (1999–2019). http://nigerianwomentrustfund.org/ wp-­c ontent/uploads/Women-­R epresentation-­i n-­t he-­N igerian-­E lective-­ Positions.pdf Olufade, A. O. (2013). Nigerian women, politics and the national identity question. African Educational Research Journal, 1(3), 61–170. Onyesoh, J. (2021). Umuada: A socio-political institution for peacebuilding and conflict management in Nigeria? Gender in Peacebuilding: Local Practices in Indonesia and Nigeria, International Development Policy, 13, 137–152. Phillips, A. (2000). Second class citizenship. In N. Pearce & J. Hallgarten (Eds.), Tomorrow’s citizens: Critical debates in citizenship and education (pp. 36–42). Institute for Public Policy Research. Pozarny, P. F. (2016). Gender roles and opportunities for women in urban environments (GSDRC Helpdesk Research Report 1337). GSDRC, University of Birmingham. Ramtohul, R. (2020). Women, gender and politics. In O. Yacob-Haliso & T. Falola (Eds.), Africa. The Palgrave handbook of African women’s studies (pp. 1–17). Palgrave Macmillan. Reichlin, L., & Shaw, E. (2015). Gender, urbanisation and democratic governance. White paper written for the Institute for Women’s Policy Research commissioned by the National Democratic Institute. https://www.ndi.org/ Gender-­Urbanization-­and-­Democratic-­Governance-­white-­paper Tamale, S. (2004). Gender trauma in Africa: Enhancing women’s links to resources. Journal of African Law, 48(1), 50–61. The New Times. Rwanda: Women to Take 67% of Parliamentary Seats. (2018, September 5). https://allafrica.com/stories/201809050028.html Women in Parliaments: World Classification. (2019). Retrieved March 30, 2022, from http://archive.ipu.org/wmn-­e/classif.htm

PART I

Nigerian Women in Cultural Spaces

CHAPTER 2

Ethno-Cultural Construction of Femininity in Igbo Folklore Ositadinma Nkeiruka Lemoha

Introduction This chapter examines the construction of Igbo femininity in Igbo folklore. It focuses on how femininity is represented in proverbs, names and folksongs. Igbo society has rich folk culture, revealed in her beliefs, customs, legends, proverbs, idioms, tales, naming practice, songs, festivals, etc. Igbo folk culture is a reflection of values sacrosanct and integral to the laws, rules and regulations that govern everyday life of an Igbo person. These laws and regulations influenced the construction of Igbo femininity. Like femininity in most African societies, Igbo femininity reveals the socio-­ cultural prescribed characteristics and qualities for women. These qualities embedded in folklores and transferred from one generation to another in the process of socialization, thus facilitating the transmission of what constitute and/or define femaleness in Igbo society. This chapter, therefore,

O. N. Lemoha (*) Department of English, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 M. Sotunsa, A. M. Yakubu (eds.), Nigerian Women in Cultural, Political and Public Spaces, Gender and Cultural Studies in Africa and the Diaspora, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40582-2_2

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explores the content, contradictions and complexities of Igbo femininity in contemporary framework. It examines the socio-cultural constructs attributes for Igbo femininity as portrayed in folklores, with emphasis on how the Igbo woman views herself and her reactions  against the background of the societal perception of her. It focuses on the role folklores play in creating and perpetuating role-based femininity as well as  and women’s reactions to the roles. The data for the study comprise 21 proverbs, 15 names and 4 songs. It employs R.W. Connell’s concept of emphasised femininity and Deniz Kandiyoti’s patriarchal bargain as analytic tools. Igbo society is a gendered society. It is also kinship based. Therefore, in socio-cultural context, authority ranking is anchored on gender, thereby, creating dominance in gender relations and gender role division. Within the traditional setting, male power and privilege are lodged in and outside the family. It is worthy to note that Igbo gender culture is demonstrated in her folk tradition and articulated in her worldviews, norms and values. Igbo gender principle is complex, sacrosanct and reveals societal expectation in terms of character trait and appearance attribute for both men and women. Therefore, the behaviours required of and encouraged in women are forged by the society and culture and enforced through the institutions of family, marriage, affinity and peer group. The gendered social practices and behavioural socialisation in Igbo society starts at birth. It is worthy to note like Clearfield and Nelson (2006) that the boy child and girl child are socialised differently. While the boys are socialised to imbibe independence, active and strong disposition, girls are conditioned to imbibe dependency, passive and weak dispositions. This gender-specific socialisation engenders the internalisation of gender roles and enables the child identify with the assigned gender. Nevertheless, the normative expectation for a child’s socialisation is that the child grows with strong gendered self. In other words, the child develops character and personality that is in tandem with those ascribed to his/her gender by the society. This supports Simeon De Beauvoir (1963) assertion that “women’s character, her convictions, her values, her wisdom, her morality, her taste, her behaviour are to be explained by her situation in the society”. This chapter, therefore, examines the ideals and ethos of Igbo femininity through the memorialisation of Igbo folklore, thereby contribute to the existing body of knowledge on Igbo gender ideology, with emphasis on the construction and compositions of femininity in Igbo  proverbs, folksongs, and naming practice. The main goal of the study is to elucidate

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the content and complexities of Igbo femininity vis a vis Igbo women’s response to the socio-cultural constructed femininity.

Femininity: A Brief Treatise Femininity is a social construction that describes the behaviour, personality, appearance, or specific characteristics that society and culture ascribe to women. The concept of femininity, like masculinity, is fluid, diverse and sensitive to period and culture specificities. In other words, what is feminine in a culture or period may be unfeminine in another culture. For example, to be feminine in the United States of America, according to Wood and  Eagly (1999), is to be attractive, deferential, unaggressive, emotional, nurturing and concerned with people and relationships. In Confucian culture, femininity is associated with virtue and modesty (Hofstede, 1997). Arab femininity, according to Boulanouar, Aisha Wood, is silence, modesty and submissiveness. Igbo femininity, like femininity in most African societies, is centred on wifehood and motherhood/fecundity (Akujobi, 2011). The script of Igbo femininity is written and transmitted over time through culturally ascribed gender roles within the social institutions of family, marriage, age grades, peer groups and other affinity groups. The ideal Igbo females are depicted in folklores basically as wives and mothers, overtly dependent; and  submissive; passive; sentimental; over-­ emotional; gullible; mentally weak; ignorant; short-sighted; childlike; shy and generally inferior. These characteristics conform to Martha Nussbaum’s (1995) features of feminine objectification, which include instrumentality, denial of autonomy, inertness, fungibility, violability, ownership and denial of subjectivity. Although Igbo feminine ideal is rooted in what appears to be an age-long matriarchal foundation that is deeply entrenched in cultural representations, it co-exists harmoniously with equally deep-rooted forces of male domination and chauvinism embedded in patriarchy. Despite the fact that the Igbo valorised and entrench maternal ideals, these ideals are fundamentally patriarchal and central to the Igbo woman’s life, her raison d’être, built around her wifely and maternal/reproductive functions. Therefore, wifehood, motherhood and mothering are intertwined with femininity, foregrounding nurturance and fecundity. Julia Kristeva (1987) captures the essence of Igbo femininity when she states, “We live in a civilization where the consecrated (religious or secular)

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representation of femininity is absorbed by motherhood”. She argues, “If, however, one looks at it more closely, this motherhood is the fantasy that is nurtured by the adult man or woman”. Kristeva’s statement affirms femininity as a social script. Based on the aforementioned, this chapter defines Igbo femininity as socially scripted qualities for the Igbo woman that is anchored on wifehood and motherhood. It is worthy to note that, Igbo ethno-cultural construction of femininity is patterned in line with African gender ideology that regulates gender, assigns statuses and patterns of expectations for both male and female gender. In the forefront of actuating Igbo gender ideology are songs, folktales, name-practice, oral narratives, proverbs, aphorisms, etc. Hussein, Jeylan W. (2004) maintains that a society’s gender ideology is grounded largely in religious and social principles that justify rights and responsibilities accorded to each gender. He stresses that societies strengthen their gender ideology as a form of everyday social practice, with set of systems that censure and control the normative concepts of masculine and feminine behaviours. Furthermore, C.  West and D.H.  Zimmerman (1987) maintain that “occasions are organized to routinely display and celebrate behaviours that are conventionally linked to one or the other sex category”. Such occasions in Igbo culture come in form of moonlight tales, naming ceremonies, festivals, rituals, etc. In most of these occasions, femininity and/ or feminine ideals play centre stage. This is because the Igbo woman, like most African women, is an object of gender ideology that is steeped in socio-cultural stereotypes. Contributing to the discussion on femininity, Smith (1988) states first that “femininity is a set of public texts organized and controlled by men, but which largely control and influence women’s embodiment of femininity”. And second that “femininity is the way in which women actively apply their skills and work into these texts”. These texts are designed by men for women to skilfully work on. Smith’s conception aptly describes Igbo femininity as it is organised and controlled by male interest, while women act on them and even enforce compliance of other women. This has influenced the way Igbo women view themselves appendages to men.

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Conceptual and Theoretical Framework: The Conversation MacDonald (1995) conceptualises femininity as a multifarious concept that describes gender as a concept that is developed through socialisation and individual construction of self-concept. Nevertheless, as a critical perspective, femininity undertakes a development of broad scrutiny of femaleness, its compositions, construction and essence. It documents the components, composition and construction of femaleness that is not subject to sex. Femininity theory is a collection of schemes of ideas on the character traits and appearance attributes of the woman. As a concept, femininity describes the behaviour, personality, appearance and specific characteristics assigned to women. Alice H. Eagly states that femininity, like masculinity, is rooted in the socio-cultural; therefore, the society determines what being male or female means. Consequently, both males and females respond to the societal definitions by labelling themselves as feminine and masculine respectively (62). Nevertheless, R.W.  Connell (1987) claims that femininity is under theorised when viewed in relation to masculinity. Putting forward femininity theory, Jacques Lacan (1982) postulates that “femininity is a position constructed in language”, taken up by women as well as men. He argues that “every individual … displays a mixture of the character-traits belonging to his own sex and to the opposite sex, thus show a combination of activity and passivity whether or not these character-traits tally with his/her biological ones”. However, he bases his femininity theory on normative anticipations of the psychosexual position women take. In a different vein, Sigmund Freud  (1953) propounds an essentialist femininity theory, in which he likens femininity to an ‘effect castration’. He states that ‘women are castrated’, therefore, femininity is the effect of castration, asserting that femininity is passivity. Consequently, Troil Moi (2004) interrogates Freud’s claim that femininity is passivity and asks, “does it implies that all women are passive and no man is passive?” Conceptualising femininity, Susan Brownmiller (1984) maintains that “femininity is a romantic sentiment, a nostalgic tradition of imposed limitations that seeks to mystify functional aspects of a woman’s mind and body that are interchangeable with that of man”. She asserts that femininity is a genuinely part of women’s core identity, despite superficiality and artificiality that pervade its construction. On the contrary, Catharine MacKinnon (1987) looks at femininity from the point of view of

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domination and states that femininity is created by male dominance, claiming that “all the ways in which women are suppressed and subjected, restricted, intruded on, violated, and objectified are recognized as what sex is for women and is the meaning and content of femininity”. MacKinnon’s assertion lends credence to Connell’s (1987) claims that femininity is defined as “a position of subordination in relation to masculinity and organized as an adaptation to men’s power, emphasizing compliance, nurturance, and empathy as womanly virtues”, hence, the concept of emphasised femininity. Therefore, this study is grounded on the concepts of emphasised femininity and patriarchal bargain. The concept of emphasised femininity is the “cultural idealized form of femininity” (Messerschmidt, 2004, p.  42). It relates to women but designed to cater for the interest and desires of men. Connell (1987) maintains that “all forms of femininity in the society are constructed in the context of the overall subordination of women to men” and emphasised femininity is centred on “accommodating the interests and desires of men” or simply, “compliance” (1987, p.  187). Compliance is the most idealised form of femininity in Igbo socio-cultural setting. It is expressed in the display of sociability in the place of competence or know-how, fragility in mating scenes or copulation, agreement with men’s desire for arousal and ego-stroking in relationships, and in acceptance of marriage and childcare as the core role and essence of womanhood. These expressions of compliance are evident in Igbo songs, proverbs and naming practices. Deniz Kandiyoti’s patriarchal bargain underscores the roles folklores play in creating and perpetuating role-based femininity. Patriarchal bargain is the tactics women adopt to cope with and maximise detrimental situations, even when such situations emanate from patriarchal structure. Patriarchal bargain engenders the understanding of Igbo women’s conscious and unconscious strategies (Kandiyoti, 1988, p. 275) in grappling with commodification and objectification. Patriarchal bargain also underscores the role women play as transmitters of information between the society and themselves. These are expressed in Igbo folksongs, proverbs and names.

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Methodology The data for analysis comprise 21 Igbo proverbs, 15 Igbo personal names and 4 folksongs collected from both rural and urban discourse contexts. This premises Monye’s (1990) postulation that proverb usage and interpretation are context-sensitive. Therefore, the collection of data was restricted to contextual situations and circumstances where they were actually used by fluent Igbo language speakers. Also, library-based data were collected. More proverbs are analysed because of their centrality to Igbo folk tradition. The proverbs are paired; the first  of the pairs is written in Igbo language, while the other is the English translation. This becomes necessary to afford the non-speakers of Igbo language insight and understanding of Igbo proverbs. The proverbs are grouped according to their subject matter and themes such as female inferiorisation, women as sex objects, infantilisation of women, women as wives and mother, commodification of women, etc. The songs, proverbs, and names examined in the study depict objectification, commodification, and inferiorisation of the woman in Igbo socio-­ cultural construct femininity. To juxtapose Igbo women’s reception of the socio-cultural construct femininity, folksongs and names that eulogise women were interrogated. This is geared towards exposing the complexities and contradictions of Igbo construct femininity.

Anatomisating Selected Igbo Proverbs In Igbo ethno-cultural communication, proverbs are figurative, intense, meaning laden; they perform both instructive and informative functions and reflect life experiences. In Igbo socio-cultural setting, the ability to communicate is often tied to the ability to understand, decode, and use proverbs; hence, Chinua Achebe (1958) likens proverbs to the ‘oil with which words are eaten’. Igbo proverbs reveal undertones of male control of discourse; therefore, they underscore the place of women in Igbo socio-­cultural setting. Hence, many Igbo proverbs about women are sexist and derogatory, validating Balogun’s (2010) definition of proverbs as “cruel and unfair pithy sayings that derogate the-dignity, integrity, right and freedom of the womanfolk”. This definition aptly describes Igbo proverbs about women. Moreover, Igbo proverbs are gender, situation, occasions, and settings specific. Many proverbs that centre on women are replete with feminine

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inferiorisation, objectification, subjugation and comodification. However, there are some that eulogise women. This inconsistency reveals complexities and contradictions inherent in Igbo ethno-cultural constructed femininity. For example, the following proverbs inferiorise women and female sexuality: (1) Nshịkọ sị e gwuolem miri ukwu, gwuo mmiri nta, o wee bụrụ ite ofe agadi nwaanyị ga-eri ishị’m. (1b) “The crab says I have swum both big and small rivers; it becomes the soup pot of an old woman that will eat/swallow my head”. (2) Ọ tụ̀ ma ụ̀ma egbu amụ̀ma, ọ̀ gaghị̄ ezo mmı ̄rı ̄. (2b) “The vagina is feigning in vain as lightning, it will not bring rain”.

The above proverbs inferiorise women. The object of the first proverb, Crab, is an ingredient women use for cooking. It is rich in protein and enhances the taste of food, especially soups. In  the statement crab is lamenting and questioning the old woman’s authority, despite the fact that it is an ingredient women use in cooking. Therefore, lamenting  of being swallowed in an old woman’s soup pot casts aspersion on the woman and her culinary skills. The proverb is rendered when one loses control of seeming mundane or unremarkable things that s/he should control. The tone of the proverb is derogatory and depicts inertness associated with Igbo femininity. It also inferiorises women’s culinary skills. The second proverb is  derogatory  to woman’s sexuality. Literary, it someone who issues empty  threat. But the image  of the vagina points to docility, while lightning signals the possibility of rainfall. Lightning here is associated with the reddish part of the vagina, that electrifies. Lightning symbolizes power and energy. The vagina in the proverb is the metaphor for inconsequential power and energy, hence one who reneges on his/her threat. The proverb inferiorises female sexuality, relegating it to the site of docility and inertness. It appears that many of the Igbo proverbs about women are sexist. This is because in Igbo social-cultural setting, femininity is sensualised and women are treated as sexual objects. Men determine the place of women, their character traits, and appearance attributes; therefore, Igbo construction of femininity reveals feminine instrumentality and ownership. Women are instruments to assuage men’s erotic desire and, therefore, are owned by men. Therefore content and construction of Igbo femininity is geared

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towards promoting the interests and desires of the men. A look at the following proverbs attests to this fact: (3) Nwaanyị buru ọhu sị rawa ya,na ọhu bu nke ya, ma mgbe ọpụtara okwu, a chọwa nye nwe ọhụ. (3b) “If a woman carries her vagina, asking that she be sexed, claiming that the vagina is hers, when trouble erupts, the real owner of the vagina will be looked for”.

This attests to ownership of woman by man. She does not own her vagina. (4) Ana m atụ ọhụ ukwu ụjọọ ọ’ ya ga-ara onwe ya. (4b)“I am not scared of a big vagina because it cannot have intercourse with itself”.

Igbo sexist proverbs reveal objectification and commodification of female sexuality in the ethno-cultural milieu. It exposes man’s domination and control of female sexuality. The pair of proverbs above represents the intentional objectification of female sexuality. Though not freely realised, it is enclosed where women feel positioned and confined. Moreover, Igbo men, like men in other African societies, control the constructions of femininity, hence position women’s body in the site of objectification and commodification. This is done through sexualisation of the body of women, without recourse to her personality and emotion. In the proverb, Ana’m atụ ọhụ ukwu ụjọọ ọ ya ga-ara onwe ya, the vagina is derided. Hence,  no matter its size, it cannot frighten any man because men ‘own’, control and use vagina at will; therefore, it is amatory (exciting, sexual) and object of men’s control. Men’s control of women’s body is deeply engrained in Igbo culture, internalised by the society, reinforced by societal institutions and reflected in master/servant relationship depicted in marriage in Igbo society. In this marital relationship, women are violable and infantilised instruments. The following proverbs illustrate infantilisation of Igbo women: (5) Nwoke kụrụ nwaanyị ihe a gaghị asị ọ kụrụ madụ ihe (5b) “A man who beats a woman will not say that he has beaten somebody”. (6) Ego agadi nwanyi dika amu okokpa, anaghi ahu ya anya ma a na-eji ya eme ihe (6b) “The money of an old woman is like the penis of a cock; never seen but frequently

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used”. (7) A zuoro nwaanyi akwa ohuru, yaa gaa akwam oozu onye di ndu (7b) “When new clothes are bought for a woman, she pays condolence visit to a living person”

A typical Igbo man does not consider spanking, hitting or beating a woman an offence. The aforementioned first proverb attests to this fact. Women are grouped with children and treated thus. The proverb portrays women as children who are beaten for corrective measure. It, however, promotes and encourages wife battery and female assault that is prevalent in the Igbo society. Wife battery is not considered an offence or crime against the woman, rather Ndigbo regard wife battery as obligatory for men. When a woman tries to assert her right as human, she should be beaten to submission. Therefore, the Igbo man beats his wife as he beats his child at the least provocation. The seventh proverb represents women as showy, vain, empty and steeped in frivolities. Simply put, the proverb infantilises women. If one considers the excitement of a child whose parents bought a new cloth for, it will give insight to the proverb and how it infantilises and derogates the woman. Igbo ethno-cultural femininity is also anchored on motherhood and wifehood. Proverbs such as the ones below lend credence to the construction of Igbo femininity as wifehood and motherhood; they also commodify women: (8)Nwaanyị sị di gbaa ọkụ onyega-alụ ya (8b) “A woman who says to hell with husbands, who will marry her?” (9) Onye nwe nwaanyị nwe ihe ya (9b) “He who owns a woman owns her properties” (10)Ahụ nwaanyị bụ di ya (10b) “The body/life of a woman is her husband” (11)Mma nwaanyị bụ di ya “The beauty of a woman is her husband” (11b) Nwaanyi nwee agwa ojo, o to na aka nna ya “When a woman’s character is bad, she remains in her father’s house”

The above proverbs revolve around wifehood and motherhood; they promote feminine submission and subservience while foregrounding the interests and desires of men. This demonstrates what R.W. Connell refers to as emphasised femininity. The proverbs create the male-focus or androcentric norm that subsumes female principle in the male.

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Igbo women enter into marriage as a call to duty, as culture demands. Consequently, marriage and motherhood are regarded the greatest goal of an average young Igbo woman. Therefore, a woman who says ‘to hell to husband (marriage)’ challenges or derides cultural norm. This is perceived as an aberration, and for this reason, she is regarded as not marriageable. It is worthy to note that Igbo culture has no space for singlehood. It is largely an anomaly the society frowns at. A woman in Igbo socio-cultural environment is her husband’s property—‘spirit, soul and body’. The proverbs above are indicative of this. A woman is not regarded as beautiful unless she is married, hence, the saying, mma nwaanyị bụ di ya. “The beauty of the woman is her husband”. Therefore, feminine beauty in Igbo culture is tied to wifehood/marriage. Wifehood and motherhood are sacred hence; Igbo femininity is embedded in wifehood and motherhood. A woman who leaves her marriage for whatever reason is viewed as irresponsible and foolish, and her decision perceived as devastating. Therefore, the following proverbs attest to the place of husband in the life of an Igbo woman: (12) Ogeri lụọ di abụọ, ọhọrọ nke ka ya mma. (12b) “If a woman marries two husbands, she chooses which of them she prefers”. (13) Nwaanyị di ya nwụrụ o buru akpa ahịa tụkwas na’isi, mara ihe gburu di ya. (13b) “A woman whose husband dies and she carries a basket to go to market knows what killed her husband”. (14) Nwaanyị mara obi di ya, ọdịka o nyere di yaọgwụ. (14b) “When a woman understands her husband, it will seem as if she has given him love portion”. (15) Ihe ikwe nwaanyi ̣ di ya lụkporo nwaanyi ̣ na-ada bụ “biạ hụrụ ihe m na-ahụ, bịa hụrụ ihe m na-ahụ”. (15b) “What the mortar of a woman whose husband has taken a second wife sounds is come and see what I am seeing, come and see what I am seeing”. (16) Nwaanyị di ya chọrọ ịkpọ asị adịghị esite ya n’ofe ụto (16b) ̣“A woman whose husband has chosen to hate cannot gain his love by mere cooking of delicious/tasty soup”.

Often times in Igbo socio-cultural milieu, when a woman’s husband dies, she is accused of being responsible for the death. Therefore, she is severely punished and humiliated.

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As stated earlier, paradoxes pervade Igbo construction of femininity. This is because amidst inferiorisation and commodification, there are proverbs that eulogise womanhood. For example, (17) Aka ebe nwaanỵi gba gidere di ya na-eyirị eziokwu. (17b) “A testimony given by a woman against her husband seems like the truth”.

The inferior status of Igbo women notwithstanding, they are believed to possess the ability to give valued testimony, even against their husbands. In other words, the integrity of the Igbo woman is not role-based, but trait related. (18) Nkịta nwaanyị zụrụ na-ata gbu mmadụ. (18b) “The dog trained by woman bites people to death”.

The above proverb is laced with meanings and could be interpreted in various ways. It can be interpreted as a woman’s inability to inculcate discipline even in dog, or as the danger that accompanies woman’s agency, which manifests in her mental ability to go through the rigours of dog training. However, it is interpreted in this chapter as the Igbo woman’s capability to train even dogs. Because dogs are used for security, they are trained to be able to bite any imposter. The proverb eulogises Igbo women’s ability to train and their intelligence and skills required for training and disciplining. This questions and invalidates the weakness and passivity ascribed to Igbo femininity. Another proverb similar to the one above is (19) Etu ụkwụ ha nwaanyị ya a atụkwasa di ya. (19b) “However the size of a woman’s leg is, is what she places on her husband”.

The proverb illustrates the women’s unrestrained love, courage and ability to manage situations. The proverb underscores women’s ability to manage situations, especially as it concerns their relationship with their husbands. The proverb portrays women as resolute and the dominant partner in relationships. This concurs with Leith-Ross’ observation in her study of 1939 entitled, African Women: A Study of the Igbo of South-­ Eastern Nigeria.  (quoted in Raoul  Granqvist  & Nnadozie  yama, 1992) Leith-Ross made the following observations about the Igbo woman:

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She is ambitious, self-reliant, hard-working and independent… she claims full equality with the opposite sex and would seem indeed to be the dominant partner. The women’s councils (approved and trusted by men) enact laws for the protection of crops and enforce them by suitable penalties— including ridicule. (25)

Leith-Ross captured the disposition of the Igbo woman that is relegated or down-played in the construction of Igbo femininity. Her depiction contradicts the ethno-cultural depiction of Igbo femininity as docile, submissive, gullible, and childlike. Her study reveals Igbo women’s innate trait of intelligence and resoluteness that is often back-grounded in the generalised constructions. The intelligence and resoluteness of Igbo women is exemplified in the following proverb: (20) Nwaagadi, nwaanyị anaghị echefu egwu ọ mụrụ n’agbọghọ. (20b) “An old woman does not forget the dance steps she learnt in her youth”.

The proverb illustrates the mental ability and capability of Igbo women to retain things. Paradoxically, Igbo women’s mental ability and capability are acknowledged yet they are belittled and infantilised by the same culture that believe they are incapable of valid judgement and independent thought. However, the recognition of women’s mental prowess is derived from the society’s association of age with wisdom, rather than on their intellectual ability. Therefore, the old woman remembers the dance steps she learnt at youth, not because of mental prowess, but as a result of age induced intelligence. This chapter contends that the mental capacity of the Igbo woman is far from being age induced, passive and weak; rather, it is suppressed and relegated in male dominant discourses; it insists that women are value possession. This fact is acknowledged in the proverb below: (21) Agbụrụ ga-agwụ agwụ na-amụokeoke. (21b) “The tribe or group that heads to extinction gives birth to only male children”.

As stated earlier, Igbo is a gendered society. Within the society, there is the issue of male child preference; hence, men marry many wives in the bid to bear son(s). Women on their own do anything humanly possible in

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order to give birth to male children. But the proverb above reveals the danger in bearing only male children. The paradox in this proverb is that amidst male child preference and the belief that family perpetuation is through male children, is the danger of having only male children, as families get extinct where there are only male children. The proverb and its paradoxical underpinnings call our attention to the meaning and beauty of some of the names Ndigbo give their female children.

Excavating Naming Practices in Igbo Ethno-­Cultural Construct Femininity Names are very important in Igbo ethno-cultural setting. Names given to children depict the situation/circumstances surrounding their birth, the state of mind of their parents, and the state of affairs in a family or of parents. Names speak volumes in Igbo culture. For example, names such as the ones below express the importance/ beauty of female children: (1)Nwaanyịbụnwa  (2) Nnebụife   (3)Nnedịmkpa   (4)Ọ dịkemjụrụ  

        

“female is a child”. (Female child is worthy) “mother is something”. “mother is important”. Mother is worthy “Is there any I reject.”

These are essentially female names; they are women’s way of bargaining through patriarchal norms, views and values that relegate women. They stress the importance of motherhood and womanhood. Nwaanyịbụnwa for instance, infers that females ‘are beings of worth’. In like manner, Nnedịmkpa speaks of the importance of a mother. Hence, the importance of mother in the home cannot be over emphasised. Female names above demonstrate that despite the denigration or relegation of womanhood in Igbo socio-culture setting, Igbo people do not negate the value of womanhood and motherhood. Also, names such as: (5)Nwaanyi bu ugwuezi  “woman is the glory of the family” (6) Nneka       “Mother is supreme” (7) Iheakanne      “Nothing is greater than a mother” (8) Nwaanyi akolam    “May I no lack woman”

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attest to the social importance attached to womanhood in Igbo society and culture. Conversely, Igbo naming practice also portrays subjugation, objectification and commodification. For example, names such as: (9)Akunna     “the wealth of her father (10)Egodiya      “the money of husband” (11) Igbeaku     “box of wealth (12) ụlọaku     “house of wealth” (13) Ụrubia     “Profit or benefit comes”

The names above illustrate objectification and commodification of Igbo femininity. This is because most of portray women as the source of family wealth; the wealth acquired through outrageous bride price and other materials required of husband-to-be. Therefore, husbands see their wives as goods or properties they purchased, and part of their wealth or possession, hence, names such as Egodiya and Igbeaku illustrate ownership of Igbo women by men. Other names, like the ones below, (14)Mmanwaayịbụnwa   “the beauty of womanhood lies in childbearing” (15) Mmanwaayịbụdi     “the beauty of a woman is husband”.

These and their likes locate the identity of the Igbo woman in her roles as a mother and a wife. Consequently, the primary aim of every young Igbo woman becomes marriage and child bearing. The society derides singlehood, and single women are disdained, mocked and labelled ọtọọ na aka nne, ‘one who remains in the hands of her mother’. Based on this premise, a young Igbo woman becomes obsessed with marriage and child bearing; in most cases, she is not particularly bothered by whether she is the first or the last wife. G.T. Basden (1966) captures the sentiments attached to marriage in Igbo society and culture when he states: The Igbo woman shrinks from the prospect of being husbandless because she knows only too well the disgrace that is attached to that unfortunate condition. Such a woman is mocked and ridiculed, especially by other women while her own instincts are outraged, causing her to suffer acutely both mentally and physically. Not even in death would her failure be forgiven. (228)

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It is worthy to note that globalisation and its attendant acculturation have eroded some ideals of Igbo femininity. Nevertheless, the erosion has not totally hindered the enforcement of compliance to the societal expectations of Igbo femininity. For example, Ndigbo says, “nwaanyị ga fee onye mụrụ, e ruo onye n’ alụrụ”. “When a woman passes who are her parents, she gets to know who is her husband”. This indicates marriage as the essence of womanhood. It also reveals the periodisation of the lives of women. The society creates calendar for women, in which times are allotted for her, especially time for marriage and childbearing. For this reason, folksongs/tales become a channel through which Igbo women appropriately articulate their understanding and comments on the norms and values of the society.

Reinforcing Construction of Ethno-Cultural Femininity in Folksongs and Folktales Folksongs and tales have been used to portray the Igbo socio-cultural feminine ideals or constructions of Igbo femininity. Some of these folksongs/tales depict subjugation and commodification, while some of them mostly birth songs eulogise womanhood. An example is given below: Igbo (song 1)     English Ana m ajụ gị sị     I am asking you Mkpa gị ọ dị ole     How many are your needs Ma ọbụghị nwa e?   other than children?

Songs such as the one above are created by the women to eulogise fecundity. The lyrics portray childbearing as the most essential need of an Igbo woman. Fecundity and nurturance are celebrated through songs and names. The nature of these songs confers on them communal significance. Like most forms of folklore, the folksongs are conceived, composed and rendered through collective actions that are not traceable to individual influences. In another manner, the nurturing quality of the Igbo woman is also expressed in songs such as the one below: Igbo (song 2)          English Nne na-enye mgbe o na gu m-o,   Mother gives when I hunger for it, Nna na-enye m ogu birim o       Father gives me when-the-hunger-is-over,

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O gu birim o were weta ya-o,    When the hunger is over he brings it, Uta m gba ya, gba ya      my arrow hit him, hit him

The image of a nurturer and a selfless supporter in the song portrays motherhood as desirable, while portraying fatherhood as selfish and careless. While mothers attend to the immediate needs of their children, fathers seek to know after the mother has taken care of the issues. Meanwhile, the best way to satisfy an Igbo husband is by bearing children for him. Ndigbo believe and say gidigidiwụ ugwueze “population is the pride/honour of a king”. Thus, the importance of having not just children, but in large number, is what the following birth-songs portray: Igbo   (song 3)           English Ndụ gharị ukwu lee e!        wriggling of the waist, oh! Ndụ gharị ukwu.        wriggling of the waist. Ndụgharị ukwu lee!       wriggling of the waist, oh! Ndụ gharị ukwu.        wriggling of the waist. Ebe ndụ gharị ukwu tụrụ ime!   Where the wriggling of the waists results in pregnancy! Ndụ gharị ukwu.        wriggling of the waists Ọ bụ ghi ̣ ebe ndụ ghari ̣ ukwu.    Is not the place where the wriggling of the waists results Mụrụ nwa?               In child-birth? Ndụ gharị ukwu.        wriggling of waists. Ihe ndụ gharị ukwu emeela, o!      A wriggling-of-waist event has occurred oh! Ndụ gharị ukwu.        wriggling of waists.

Another song that eulogises woman is as the one below: Igbo   (song 4)         English Ụnụ nọ n ‘ụlọ eme gịnị?       What are you at home doing? Anyị nọ n’ụlọ amụ ga nwa o!    We are at home bearing children! Ka mgbe ụtụtụ, ka mgbe anyasị;    since morning, since night Anyị amụọ la nwa o!       We have delivered a child! Obi adị la anyị mma o!      We have become happy! Anyị nọ n’ụlọ amụ nwa       We are in the house bearing children

The wriggling of the waist is likened to seduction. Seduction is allowed in Igbo society when it involves man and wife. Women sing this song to emphasise its importance and their ability to seduce their husbands, the aftermath of which is childbearing (through wriggling of the waist). The

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second song also emphasises child bearing. When a woman is at home morning and night the outcome should be pregnancy. In the traditional Igbo society, women are fulltime house wives. Their main duty is to attend to home/house matters and their husbands’ sexual needs, morning and night. That is why in most Igbo villages, women who gave birth to ten and above number of children are celebrated in what is referred to as igbu ewu ukwu.

Conclusion This study reveals that majority of Igbo proverbs about women are sexist and depict women as passive, dependent, senseless, morally debased, childish and weak. However, women use songs and names to contend the derogatory and sexist stereotypes, ascribed to them. Conversely, folksongs and naming practice are not as masculinised as proverbs. Although some songs belittle women, birth songs eulogise them. Nonetheless, the eulogisation in birth songs remains complicit with the construction of motherhood as the idealisation of femininity.

References Achebe, C. (1958). Things fall apart. Heinemann. Akujobi, R. (2011). Motherhood in African literature and culture. CLCweb: Comparative Literature and Culture, 13(1), 2011. https://doi.org/10.777 1/1481-­4374.1706 Balogun, O.  A. (2010). Proverbial oppression of women in Yoruba African Culture: A philosophical overview. Thought and Practice: A Journal of the Philosophical Association Kenya, 2(1), 21–36. Basden, G. T. (1966). Niger Ibos. Frank Cass. Brownmiller, S. (1984). Femininity. Simon and Schuster. Clearfield Melissa W & N. M. Nelson. (2006). “Sex Difference in Mother’s Speech and Play Behaviour with 6- 9-, and 14- month-old infants” Sex Roles vol. 54. Nos 1\2. vol. 54. Nos 1\2 Connell, R.  W. (1987). Gender and power: Society, the person and sexual politics. Polity. De Beauvoir, S. (1963). Memoires of a Dutiful daughter. Penguin. Hofstede, G. (1997). Culture and organisation: Software of the mind. New York McGraw-Hill. Hussein, J. W. (2004). A cultural representation of women in the Oromo society. African Study Monographs, 25(3), 103–147.

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Kandiyoti, D. (1988). Bargaining with patriarchy. Gender and Society, 2(3) Special Issue to Honor Jessie Bernard, 274–290. Kristeva, J. (1987). “Stabat Mater” Tales of Love (L. S. Roudiez, Trans.). Columbia University Press. Lacan, J. (1982). Feminine sexuality (J. Rose, Trans. & J. Mitchel and J. Rose, Ed.). Macmillan Press. Macdonald, Myra. (1995). Representing women: Myths of femininity in the popular media, New York: Oxford University Press. Mackinnon, Catharine A. (1987). Feminism Unmodified: Discourses on Life and Law. Cambridge and London: Harvard UP. https://doi.org/10.10007/ s11199-0055-8874-1 Messerschmidt, J. W. (2004). Flesh and Blood: Adolescent Gender Diversity and Violence. Lanham, MD. Rowan & Littlefield. Moi, T. (2004). From femininity to finitude: Freud, Lacan, and feminism, again. Signs, 29(3), 841–878. Monye, A.  A. (1990). On why people use proverbs. AfricanaMarburgensia, xxiii, 3–11. Nussbaum, M.  C. (1995). Objectification. Philosophy and Public Affairs, 24(4), 249 91. Smith, Dorothy E. (1988). Femininity as Discourse In Becoming Feminine: The Politics of Popular Culture,  edited by L.G. Rowman and L.K. Christian-Smith, London: Falmer Raoul, G., & Inyama, N. (Eds.). (1992). Power and powerlessness of women in West African orality. Umea Chapters in English. Umea University Sweden. West, C., & Zimmerman, D.  H. (1987). Doing gender. Gender and Society, 1(2), 125–151. Wood, Wendy & Alice Eagly (1999) “The origin of Sex Difference in Human Behaviour: Evolved Disposition verse Social Roles” American Psychologist, 54(6), 408–423

CHAPTER 3

Women as the Unsung Breadwinners in Igbo Cosmology in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God Azuka Onwuka

Introduction Beyond their significance as literary masterpieces, Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God serve as historical artefacts that realistically capture the traditional African experience (represented by the Igbo experience) at the point of the abrupt colonisation-induced transition from the untainted cosmology of our forebears to the new order of Western civilisation. Abiola Irele (2000) notes that “if there is any single work that can be considered central to the evolving canon of modern African literature, it is, without question, Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart” (p. 1). According to Irele, the novel achieved this feat immediately it was published in 1958, because it provided a reconstituted image of an African society as a living entity through a unique language that embodied the cultural realities and

A. Onwuka (*) Department of English, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 M. Sotunsa, A. M. Yakubu (eds.), Nigerian Women in Cultural, Political and Public Spaces, Gender and Cultural Studies in Africa and the Diaspora, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40582-2_3

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values of the novel’s setting, thereby achieving cultural reclamation for Africa (p. 1). Gikandi (2001) agrees with this view and even credits Achebe with the invention of African literature, for he argues that before Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, none of the African writers was “able to enter and interrupt the institutions of exegesis and education the same way he did; none were able to establish the terms by which African literature was produced, circulated, and interpreted” (p.  5). With the publication of Things Fall Apart, Achebe was able to give a new meaning to the African experience without any attempt at deification of the ways of life of his people. Gikandi explains the impact Achebe made on him thus: ... reading Things Fall Apart brought me to the sudden realization that fiction was not merely about a set of texts which one studied for the Cambridge Overseas exam which, for my generation, had been renamed the East African Certificate of Education; on the contrary, literature was about real and familiar worlds, of culture and human experience, of politics and economics, now re-routed through a language and structure that seemed at odds with the history or geography books we were reading at the time. (p. 3)

Indeed, Achebe did not set out to produce art for art’s sake, but to capture the ways of life of his people and enlighten his readers about his Igbo people in particular and Africa in general. This proclivity to achieve the task of enlightenment to the reader runs through his novels. However, it comes in an unobtrusive manner to the reader. Confirming the didactic thrust of his novels, Achebe (1988) writes in his essay ‘The Novelist as a Teacher’: “I would be quite satisfied if my novels, especially the ones I set in the past, did no more than teach my readers that their past—with all its imperfections—was not one long night of savagery from which the first Europeans acting on God’s behalf delivered them” (p. 256). It is not surprising that Adebayo Williams (2001) in ‘The Autumn of the Literary Patriarch: Chinua Achebe and the Politics of Remembering’ says that “Achebe is like a traditional African deity, all-knowing, all-seeing, but enveloped in a forbidding wall of silence” (p.  8). Achebe chooses the appropriate time to speak and pass his information. In ‘Cosmology in the Novels of Chinua Achebe’, Carolyn Nance (1971) states that in the traditional Igbo society, cosmology is the concern of everybody, and each person has a unified image of the cosmos and his or her place in it (p. 121). Dissecting Achebe’s novels in her definition of

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cosmology, Nance notes that the universe in which humanity lives in each of the novels is different, with the old world speedily falling out of its cultural balance, courtesy of attacks from new concepts, thereby pushing the clan beyond traditional cosmology into a new world where materialism seems to be the norm (pp. 122–123). Achebe achieves this, not by creating novels that depict the Igbo cosmology and experience in a glorious light and image but by presenting that cosmology the way it is, for the edification of the reader, with the only addition being the reason for certain occurrences. For example, Achebe does not hide the fact that our forebears practised human sacrifice or the abandonment of twins. He merely shows the reason behind each of those seemingly barbaric acts. In essence, our ancestors did not live in a lawless society where people simply fed on one another like wild animals, as was earlier portrayed by foreign writers. This is why Nance describes Achebe as “a consummately matter-­ of-­fact writer” who “performs the valuable function of rendering living history into the emotive language of art” (p. 123). In other words, while presenting art in his novels, Achebe also presents the history, religion, anthropology and sociology of the Igbo.

Cosmology of the Traditional Igbo Society That cosmology of the traditional Igbo society is one in which men, women, children, ancestors and the gods have their specific roles. To keep that society stable and in equilibrium, each individual must play his or her role effectively. Even deities are not exempted from playing their prescribed roles. A deity can be placated with sacrifices, but when it becomes clear that a deity has failed the people or is no longer useful, it can be discarded or even destroyed, like Aninta people set their deity on fire (Arrow of God, 28). In this traditional Igbo society, the men, especially the titled men, are the lords of the clan. They decide what happens in the clan. For example, Okonkwo hands over Ikemefuna to his most senior wife and asks her to look after him, since he belongs to the clan, but she asks if Ikemefuna would stay long with them; Okonkwo thunders at her to do what she is asked to do, adding: “When did you become one of the ndichie of Umuofia?” (Achebe, 2008, p. 12). Equally, because of his knowledge that men of accomplishment rule the clan, Okonkwo does not take kindly to any softness or laziness in his first son, Nwoye: “I will not have a son who

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cannot hold up his head in the gathering of the clan. I would sooner strangle him with my own hands” (p. 26). For this reason, male children are preferred in the traditional Igbo society. Ezeulu’s first prayer in the novel includes this line: “And let our wives bear male children” (Achebe, 1974, p.  6). When a man dies without a male child, his property is inherited by his closest male relative, because it is believed that women must get married to men outside the big family called umunna. There are other reasons for the preference of male children, as explained by Juliet Okonkwo (1971): “Although children are generally desired, boy-children are preferred. This is a direct consequence of inheritance being only through the males. In the olden days, men were needed for wars and more strenuous work connected with farming, building and general protection of the clan” (p. 147). A man with a large family, especially one which included many sons, would never be intimidated by anyone. Consequently, “marriage is obligatory on all Igbo males” (p. 139), and “the primary purpose of the Igbo marriage is to raise a family” (p.  145). Ezeulu buttresses the people’s desire for children in his prayer to Ulu thus: “May we increase in numbers at the next counting of the villages so that we shall sacrifice to you a cow, not a chicken as we did after the last New Yam feast” (Achebe, 1974, p. 6).

Role of Women as Breadwinners To analyse the role of women as breadwinners in the chosen novels, the subjective Reader-Response Theory is employed. According to Lois Tyson (1999), “readers do not passively consume the meaning presented to them by an objective literary text; rather they actively make the meaning they find in literature” (p. 154). In other words, if a text says that a man loves his wife because he buys her the best things of life but abuses her physically and psychologically, it is not what the text says that matters but the meaning the reader extracts from the actions of the man towards his wife. Therefore, it is correct to say that “a written text is not an object, despite its physical existence, but an event that occurs within the reader, whose response is of primary importance in creating the text” (p. 157). Also, for subjective reader-response critics like David Bleich, there is a difference between real objects and symbolic objects (pp.  162–163). Real objects are the physical things we see; while the symbolic objects are the pictures those physical objects create in our mental eyes when we read them. That determines the interpretation we give to what we read.

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Despite the prime position occupied by men in the traditional Igbo society (i.e., the Igbo world before colonialism), a deeper analysis of the relationship between married couples would reveal that the breadwinners of traditional Igbo societies, as depicted in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God, are women rather than men as assumed. The relationship between the man and his wives in the traditional Igbo society in matters of feeding and protection is a replication of what obtains in the African jungle between the lion and members of his pride. Like the lionesses, women provide the food for the family, while the men, like the lions, provide security for their family and community against all forms of external aggression. In the African savannah, a strong lion may have a pride with as many as 20 members. The hunting is done mainly by the lionesses, but once they bring down a prey, the lion comes along to feed first before the actual hunters. Because of their smaller size (120–180 kg) compared to that of lions (170–230 kg), the lionesses have more speed to chase animals. They usually have cubs that need to be fed. Therefore, they have a more pressing need that pushes them to go hunting. They work together to kill their prey. The only time the lion joins in the hunt is when the game is huge— buffalo, giraffe and elephant. At such a time, the lion’s strength is needed to bring down the prey (Kays, 2018, “Lion”). The key responsibility of the lion is the protection of his pride and territory. He periodically patrols his territory, especially at night, roaring and scent-marking it, to warn and ward off potential interlopers. Occasionally, another lion or a group of lions invades his pride to overthrow him. If he is able to defeat the lion or lions, he continues to keep his pride. But the day he is defeated, he is chased into exile. Once away from his pride with no lionesses to feed him by hunting for him, he finds it hard to survive. He becomes a scavenger and a thief, feeding on leftovers or stealing the kill of other smaller predators. Such a lone lion, especially if injured on any of his four legs during the fight with the lion that defeated him, usually dies fast because of his inability to feed himself, because he can no longer run fast to kill prey. It is a testimony that the so-called king of the jungle sustains his status by the efforts of the lionesses in his pride (Kays, 2018, “Lion”). Compare this with the portrayal of the Igbo women in Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God. A similar scenario plays out. Men marry as many wives as possible. The women engage in farming to feed themselves, their children, as well as their husbands. The only key food item which their

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husband provides for them is yam, which women are forbidden to plant. We see this in the conversation between Ekwefi and Ezinma: “Go and see if your father has brought out yams for the afternoon.” “He has. Nwoye’s mother is already cooking.” “Go and bring our own then”. (Achebe, 2008, p. 34)

After his seven-year exile in Mbanta, his motherland, Okonkwo hosts his maternal relatives lavishly as a sign of his appreciation. But this is how Achebe captures the contributions towards that feast: “It was therefore understood that Ekwefi would provide cassava for the feast. Nwoye’s mother and Ojiugo would provide the other things like smoked fish, palm-oil and pepper for the soup. Okonkwo would take care of the meat and yams” (p. 131). Okonkwo would also provide the palm-wine (p. 133). Note that for the soup to be prepared, ingredients like cocoyam, salt, spices, vegetable, water and the like would be added to the fish, palm-oil and pepper mentioned above. It is not as if the man would give his wives money to buy these items. It is just that the women would provide the items either from their farm or from the market or from their stock. If they decide to add another dish for the sake of variety, it is entirely up to them to provide the items needed for the dish. Yam is idealised and idolised as the “king of crops” (pp. 18 & 27) with a huge festival (pp. 29–41) that dwarfs all other festivals. Consequently, it is seen as the prime meal. Anybody who does not eat it feels a deep sense of deprivation. Since yam can only be planted by men, a woman can only get it through her father or her husband. No wonder, Achebe notes that “the wife who had seen the emptiness of life had cried: Let my husband hate me as long as he provides yams for me every afternoon” (Achebe, 1974, p. 175). That is what the effect of the positioning of yam in the mind of people has done to the psyche of women. Even though they can adequately feed themselves and their children with the food they produce, they still feel a deep sense of lack if denied yam, which only men can provide. Chimdi Maduagwu (2013) explains that “in several traditional Igbo societies, yam becomes the yardstick for measuring male (ness). It is also a mark of respect. The nature, quality and quantity of yams a man could boast of places him on a definite station in the hierarchy of masculinities” (p. 95). Like yam, kola nut is also seen as a sacred crop that women cannot plant or harvest. They cannot perform the ritual of breaking it in a gathering of

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men and women. Yet, they are expected to buy a lot of kola nuts and keep at home to be brought out and given to their husbands whenever their husbands have guests. When Ezeulu pays his friend, Akuebue, a visit, Akuebue says to his son, Obielue: “Tell your mother that Ezeulu is greeting her, if she has kola-nut let her bring it” (Achebe, 1974, p.  110). Similarly, during Akuebue’s visit to Ezeulu, the following conversation occurs between Ezeulu and his son: “Go and ask your mother to bring me kolanut, Nwafo.” “She was saying this morning that her kolanuts were finished.” “Go and ask Matefi then”. (p. 94)

When Obierika’s in-laws arrive for the marriage rites of his daughter, he says to his son: “Ask Akueke’s mother to send us some kola nuts” (Achebe, 2008, p. 55). There is another important food item men collect from their wives. During Akuebue’s visit to Ezeulu at the Okperi detention room, Akuebue explains the cause of the quarrel between his daughter and her husband. His daughter’s anger is that every time her husband needs a cock for sacrifice, he takes her cock instead of that of his other wife. Ezeulu’s advice is merely on the procedure for getting the cock. According to Ezeulu, when he needs a cock, he tells one of his wives to provide it instead of taking it himself, even though he knows he can take the cock himself directly (Achebe, 1974, p.  172). The bottom line is that the women rear the chickens, which are used to feed the family or used for sacrifice by man or woman, whenever needed. However, whenever her chicken is needed, the woman is expected to release it as an obedient and loving wife without any complaint! If she grumbles, she is seen as a bad wife. However, there is one task assigned to women that is most curious. On the day of the marriage of Obierika’s daughter in Things Fall Apart, while the women are taking care of the cooking, an alarm is raised about a stray cow. Achebe tells the story thus: Five women stayed behind to look after the cooking-pots, and all the rest rushed away to see the cow that had been let loose. When they saw it they drove it back to its owner, who at once paid the heavy fine which the village imposed on anyone whose cow was let loose on his neighbour’s crops. When the women had exacted the penalty they checked among themselves

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to see if any woman had failed to come out when the cry had been raised. (Achebe, 2008, p. 91)

The curious or strange thing in this is why a male-dominated society would assign the role of ensuring that cows do not destroy the crops of members of the community to mothers. Cows are the biggest domestic animals kept by the traditional Igbo people. They are usually kept and fed in enclosed areas. If the society permits them to be taken out, only men take them out to graze—in places far from people’s farms. Because of its size, horns and hooves, the cow can kill a human being. The women are seen as the weaker vessels in the traditional Igbo society. One would understand if the fathers in the community were not assigned the role of keeping the cows away, because it would be seen as infra dignitatem. However, given the existence of male age groups (Achebe, 1974, p. 76), one wonders why the young men are not assigned this role. When a cow is being chased out of a farm by many people, it may feel threatened and charge at one of them in fear and in self-defence, which may prove fatal. Interestingly, when a cow is slaughtered for the big family known as umunna or the village, only the men gather to share the meat. Of all the groups in the society, why then are the married women assigned this dangerous task? This could be rationalised as an acknowledgement that the women have a stronger association and a better way of enforcing laws. Nobody would like to disobey them or have a problem with them. As individuals, women could be looked down upon, but as a group, men would not want to have any misunderstanding with women. That is soft power. It is, therefore, a tacit acknowledgement by men that the Igbo women possess some power beyond even the men, because they are mothers of all. Just as the Earth Goddess (Ani or Ala or Ana, according to dialects) is placed at the crest of the Igbo pantheon because of her reproductive capabilities, so are the women also rated highly as the source through which the human race is replenished. In his ‘Political Culture and Political Stability in Traditional Igbo Society’, Michael Olisa (1971) explains why Ala is so important as a goddess in Igbo cosmology: “The Igbo hold most sacred the Earth on which they tread and from which they draw vital resources for life—food and other crops, water, multitudes of other plant resources for tools, herbal healing, magic herbs and roots for charms against evil forces and for good fortunes; above all, it is to the earth that the individual returns on death” (p. 19).

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Furthermore, the role played by women at the Feast of the Pumpkin Leaves is instructive. Here, each of the women of Umuaro prays for the cleansing of her family before throwing her pumpkin leaves at Ezeulu, the Chief Priest of Ulu, to bear the sins of her family. When the cleansing ritual performed by the Chief Priest of Ulu is over, all the women of Umuaro march out in unison, village by village, to stamp the pumpkin leaves into the earth, as a ritual to destroy all the sins and abominations and evils that have been committed in the land in the past one year (Achebe, 1974, pp. 65–73). Finally, the role of the women under the banner of umuada or umuokpu needs to be mentioned. Even though women are placed below the men, the umuada are the most feared group in the traditional Igbo society. The umuada are daughters of the large family unit (called umunna) married outside the family. Each umunna has its own umuada, just as the bigger village and town have their umuada as well. The umuada usually attend events in their fatherland and exert huge influence there. Most importantly, they wash the corpses of dead relatives in their fatherland. When men have tried their best to solve an intractable problem and failed, the umuada step in. They return home from their matrimonial homes to solve the problem. Once they resolve a matter or impose a fine, no man or woman would like to disobey them. They exert enormous pressure on offenders through protests, taunting songs, and boycott of events. Nobody wants to face the embarrassment from the umuada. But their strongest weapon is the refusal to wash the corpse of a dead relative. “As no Igbo could afford not to be given a proper funeral at death, he cannot also afford not to carry out the penalties imposed by his umuada” (Olisa, 1971, p. 25). The umuada are held so highly that when they die and their body is  being taken back home, that body must not touch the ground until it enters her father’s compound. Men would line up to take turns to carry the body of a nwaada (singular), so as to ensure that a nwaada is not disrespected by letting her body touch any other ground, except the ground of her father’s home. And once her body enters her father’s compound, it is welcomed with eulogy.

Conclusion In summary, in the traditional Igbo society, as represented by Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God, the women provide the food and nourishment that sustain their families. The food items provided by the

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men are few, and they include items women are forbidden to produce like yam, palm wine and occasionally meat (from cow and goat—both of which are reared by men alone). Like lions guarding their pride, the men in return protect the women and children from external aggression and intimidation. Who then is the breadwinner: the man or the woman? The answer is obvious.

References Achebe, C. (1974). Arrow of God. Heinemann. Achebe, C. (1988). Hopes and impediments. Anchor. Achebe, C. (2008). Things fall apart. Pearson. Gikandi, S. (2001). Chinua Achebe and the invention of African culture. Research in African Literatures, 32(3), 3–8. Irele, F. A. (2000). The crisis of cultural memory in Chinua Achebe’s Things fall apart. African Studies Quarterly, 4(3), 1–40. Kays, R.  W. (2018). Lion. In Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved October 20, 2018, from https://www.britannica.com/animal/lion Maduagwu, C. (2013). Dominant masculinities in the Igbo settings of Achebe’s Arrow of god and No longer at ease. Journal of African Humanities, 1(2), 90–103. Nance, C. (1971). Cosmology in the novels of Chinua Achebe. The Conch (Igbo Traditional Life, Culture and Literature), 3(2), 121–136. Okonkwo, J. I. (1971). Adam and Eve: Igbo marriage in the Nigerian novel. The Conch (Igbo Traditional Life, Culture and Literature), 3(2), 136–151. Olisa, M. S. O. (1971). Political culture and political stability in traditional Igbo society. The Conch (Igbo Traditional Life, Culture and Literature), 3(2), 16–29. Tyson, L. (1999). Critical theory today – A user-friendly guide. Garland Publishing. Williams, A. (2001). The autumn of the literary patriarch: Chinua Achebe and the politics of remembering. Research in African literatures, 32(3), 8–21.

CHAPTER 4

Women as Agents of Change in Some Dance Traditions of Orogun People of Delta State Omoru Joy Aruoture

Introduction Among the Orogun people of Delta State in South Southern Nigeria, it appears that the general notion of male chauvinism and patriarchal ideologies are, to a large extent, non-pervasive as women are conferred with leadership roles which are very crucial for a holistic sustenance of the community. Seasonally, the Orogun people embark on a quest to realize a better world order in which gender and interpersonal relations are improved, menaces such as sicknesses, infertility, deficiencies, and untimely death are transformed respectively to health, fruitfulness, prosperity, and longevity, and ‘sinners’ are translated to saints. These menaces are believed to be orchestrated by evil forces in the Orogun world; whereas, good occurrences are the handiwork of the gods and benevolent spirits in their

O. J. Aruoture (*) Anchor University, Lagos, Nigeria e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 M. Sotunsa, A. M. Yakubu (eds.), Nigerian Women in Cultural, Political and Public Spaces, Gender and Cultural Studies in Africa and the Diaspora, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40582-2_4

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cosmos. These spirits (good and bad) and the gods occupy the spirit realm, which impacts greatly on the people’s earthly realties. This idea hinges on the belief that Orogun world is made up of two spheres: the realm of the living and of the dead. That the mortals who occupy the realm of the living do not watch with folded arms while the ethereal beings dictate the occurrences in their world. Thus, they resort to negotiating effectively with benign spirits and gods to launch a counter attack on the menacing forces in their world. There is thus the existence of conflict in the Orogun cosmos, between the earthly and ethereal, and between the benevolent and malevolent forces. This is resolved through the various dance traditions that are a vital part of their annual festival, the Erosefe Traditional Festival. In this festival, the ‘battle’ opens and concludes with dances performed by women. Dance, within the context of the festival, is thus a power wielding art for the women. Consequently, the study’s aim is to reconstruct, through the study of dance in Erosefe festival celebrated by the Orogun people, the narrative of female subjugation to birth a new narrative of female empowerment. This translates to two major objectives: examination of forms of power wielded by women in Orogun community, and to explore the patterns of change the women help the society achieve. The study examines major dances which are performed by women, and other dances performed by both men and women, through drawing upon materials derived from fieldwork investigation.

Background of the Orogun People The Orogun people are an Urhobo-speaking group located in Ughelli-­ North Local Government of Delta State in Southern Nigeria. The Orogun community comprises five sub-clans composed of twenty four (24) villages, with Otorho acting as its communal headquarters. The main shrines for the community, through which the people dialogue with the gods and other spirit beings, are located at Otorho. Thus, each sub-clan heads for the communal headquarters seasonally to engage in a duel realized by art and dexterity. The main dances which must take place in the seasonal celebration are seven. They are: Eya Udjọ dance, Imodje Wane dance, Ukere dance, Ighovwo dance, Igbe Inotu (Elders’ Dance), Akpevwe Ese Emo (Thanking the Ancestors), and Purification Dance. Two of the dances, Eya Udjo dance and Purification dance, are exclusively performed by women, two by both sexes, and three by men. The two dances by women open and close the festival, respectively. The study therefore focuses on the

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women’s dances, especially the Eya Udjo dance which opens the festival. Using the Eya Udjo dance performance as its pivot, the study touches on Ukere, Ighovwo, and purification dances which are co-performed by the sexes. These dances hold a prominent place in the festival as they demonstrate the balance in gender relations captured in the cosmogonic narrative of the people. In the narrative explication of the coming to being of Orogun community, it is believed that Oliarah, the wife of Efe and the mother of Orogun, discovered the community’s deity. It is Oliarha to whom the Erosefe deity first appeared when she was in the farm. She heard a voice from the ground where she was toiling and was afraid and ran to her husband. The husband came with her to the spot and there they met a monitor lizard (ogborigbo), which crawled into the bush as they came. As the monitor lizard crawled away, the same voice came again from the ground. The couple left immediately and reported their experience to other members of the community. Subsequently, as Orogun grew to become a dexterous warrior, he had enemies who were jealous of his great success. They plotted against him and convinced the king and elders of the community where they sojourned  to give him an ultimatum of seven days to leave their community, Abor. The only path to their destination was a river, but all Abor canoes were withdrawn from the river. So, being desperate for survival, Orogun put a foot into the water and stepped on a hard surface. This hard ground became  a bridge for him, his wives and children to escape from Abor at the expiration of the ultimatum. After their escape from Abor, Orogun examined the hard surface to decipher what it was. The monitor lizard came to the surface of the water and swum away. Again, the monitor lizard appeared to one of the sons of Orogun, Umusu, a hunter, to direct them to their present location. The deity is therefore regarded as Edjo Oliarah (the god of Oliarah) and Erosefe. Thus, as a mark of respect for her and her husband, the Ukọmọ (Chief Priest) of the deity must be someone whose father hails from Emonu (Oliarah’s birth place) and his mother from Umusu (Efe’s birth place). The woman, being the first and prototype of Orogun women, is ascribed with the power of access to the deity which is conceived of as a god of war, peace, protection, prosperity, and fruitfulness. It is believed that whenever an Orogun son or daughter finds himself/herself in any trouble or dilemma, Erosefe appears in form of a man (old or young), cloud, or a pillar with a white garment to take him/her out of that

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predicament. The community therefore values the contribution of women in the festival performance that heralds good fortune for the entire populace.

Women’s Dance(s) in Erosefe Festival in Orogun The dance traditions examined in this study are those in which women are active participants. In Erosefe festival celebration, there are a total of four out of seven dance forms that fit into this criterion. These are Eya Udjọ dance, Ukere dance, Ighovwo dance, and purification dance. Two of the dance traditions (Eya Udjọ and purification dance) commence and conclude the festival and are performed by women, as mentioned earlier. The other two dances are performed by both genders. The dances are presented in the following order: the opening dance as dance I, the dances by both genders as dance II and III, and the purification dance as dance IV. Dance I: Eya Udjọ Dance This is a dance by a group of women known as Eya Udjọ. They are composed of all the married women in the community. The dance is staged to inform the community that the date declared for the festival has been accepted by the Erosefe deity. They recount and re-enact the moral codes that guide the performances in the festival and the relationship of the deity to mortals. The women chant these codes before embarking on their dance round the community. The chanting of the rules is aimed at reminding the community on the code of proper conduct when the hero-god comes into the midst of the people to combat the villain forces. The women come out dressed like men. This signifies the fusion of both sexes, reminiscence of the oneness between Efe and Oliarah, and typifying the anticipated balance between the sexes in the society. They dance with their walking sticks or machetes lifted in the air, with dexterous movements, and jubilation, representing a war. Once this dance is over, other performances commence in earnest. Dance II: Ukere Dance The Ukere is a special dance by warriors. Although it is dominated by male performers, women also play lead roles in the dance, side by side their male counterparts, and this performance is quite public. The entire

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community anticipates the performance, because it is symbolic of the climax of the battle wielded against the community’s unseen antagonists. The warriors comprise people who defend the community in physical war against enemy incursion. In most cases, they have beheaded the enemy in the course of defending their people. In this dance, cutlasses and sticks are brazenly displayed and brandished. It is collectively held that those who perform the dance are immune to machete cuts. This is because anti-­ machete and gun charms are inserted into their bodies, by cutting the body and rubbing the charm on the bleeding surface. Some aspects of the charm are also ingested. The dance commences at each clan and ends at the Erosefe shrine, with a mock duel and then at the place of the Okpara-­ Ukwu (King) of the community. Dance III: Ighovwo Dance Performance The Ighovwo dance performance is a dance of conflict among the sexes. It has three broad types: the general Ighovwo, the Emete Erose performance, and the early morning dance. The performers are young boys and girls, men and women. They organize themselves into rival groups according to sex. At other times, both genders can come together to make a performance group. The subject of the dance is the conflict of sexual relations. The penis and vagina are the objects of the songs. Detailed description of the male and female sex organs is made using the qualities of size, colour, strength, virility, and satisfaction. The performers even go as far as using sticks or bottles to represent the penis. With this, they dramatize the sex act. The dance is geared at checking promiscuity, marginalization, and infertility. The people believe that the dance has the efficacy to cure women of barrenness, and men of impotence and/or sterility. Dance IV: Purification Dance/Rites for the Community The purification dance takes place on the eighth day after the Ukere and associated performances. On this day, all the women in the community pay homage to the shrine and palace to mark the end of the festival. The women from each village that make up the clans of Unukpo, Imoje, Emonu, Ogwala, and Umusu take turns to visit the Erosefe shrine every four days (market day) for the purification of their communities. The Umusu group of villages, being the eldest, is the last to visit the shrine. Once the last village in Umusu visits the shrine, the festival is closed till the next season.

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The women go with white chalk, water, food, local gin, and kola nuts to the shrine. Some of the chalk is dissolved in water and used to mark their foreheads and bless them. They return to their respective villages with some mounds of chalk and other items given to them by the Ukomo-Uku (Chief Priest).

Literature Review There is a way in which scholarly readings of African, Nigerian, and Orogun (Urhobo) oral traditions tend to echo the notion of female marginalization while downplaying the empowerment of women. Chinweizu ascribes this situation to the fact that most criticism of the feminist inclination seek for female empowerment in “public structures of political, economic and cultural power, and show that these are almost exclusively occupied by men”, whereas “there are indeed other modes and centres of power which women monopolize” (1990, p. 11). He contends that such powers include: motherpower, bridepower, and wifepower, and are driven by five pillars: the womb, kitchen, cradle, psychological maturity, and the excited penis. In essence, under-representation of women in public structures does not imply that women are less powerful than men. Chinweizu’s view, which is tenable in the Orogun dance traditions in Erosefe festival, is hardly acceptable with masculine and gender-based literature such as those of I. E. Nwosu (2012), A. E. Agbogu and Ben Igbokwe (2015), Chinyere Stella Okunna (2018), Tanure Ojaide (2010), and G. G. Darah (2005). Nwosu in his ‘Gender Role Perception and the Changing Role of Women’ is of the view that although Nigerian women are being represented in political and economic structures in recent times, there is still a large lacuna to be filled. He notes that “historically, women are not only perceived as inferior to men, but are denied opportunities as the men and women are treated as ‘lower gender’ ‘weaker sex’” (2012, p.  1240). Agbogu and Igbokwe attribute this situation to the culture, folklore, and language of the people “which from cradle has rendered the woman subservient to the man” (2015, p. 1). This implies that societies nurture the notion of female subjugation naturally and through its creative and cultural configurations. Okunna extends the list of societal apparatus that facilitate the suppression of women to include: “poverty, illiteracy, religion, cultural prejudices, male chauvinistic tendencies manifested in diverse patrilineal practices against women” (2018, p. 21). In the context of Orogun community, Okunna’s assertions are very likely to find no

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footing. For instance, in a largely oral society, where the male gender, like the female, is non-literate and the literate must conform to the conventions of verbal composition and oral transmission of information and artistic creations, illiteracy does not portend gender inequality. Furthermore, though the dance traditions in the Erosefe festival are religiously foregrounded and culturally propelled, the festival cannot open or close without the women’s dance. The first dance ushers the warrior god into the symbolic battle embarked upon by the community, while the second dance takes possession of the profit of the war, distributes it round the community, and celebrates the superhuman hero (Erosefe deity) that has helped the community conquer their superhuman foes. This quality of women to play a key role at the heart of a war is not in tandem with Ojaide’s view that “war is often a masculine art in which physical prowess is displayed to assert the twin manly qualities of courage and power” (2010, p. 68). In the dance traditions in Erosefe festival, the women demonstrate enough courage in acting as the forerunners of the hero-god in the war against villain forces in their cosmos, physical competence and dexterity in their art, and wield a form of power which only the women can wield as collectively envisaged by the community. The notion of the existence of forms of power that only women can wield to change the fortunes of a society from bad to good is captured by Enajite Ojaruega when she draws from Ojaide’s poetry the story of a woman “who cast her lot with the victims [of oppression] and rid the world of a plaguing spouse” (2015, p. 145) and is today praised as a liberator of the people. The tale captures a woman who is married to a despot (King Eseze of Okpe Kingdom), but is collectively approached by the victims of her husband’s tyranny to act in order to change their condition. The people’s quest for freedom is realized when the woman makes her husband fall into a pit covered with a mat. This results in the death of the king and the end of his brutish rule. This story corroborates Chinweizu’s contention as does this study that the search for female power only in public structures is insufficient to pronounce women powerless, subjugated, and marginalized. The ‘cliché’ therefore must be reconstructed to birth a new narrative of various forms of female power that exists in societies and their modes of operation. This view forms the focus of this work’s inquiry, using the Orogun community and the dance traditions in its festival celebration, Erosefe. Dance as the object of this study constitutes an aspect of folklore and culture which embodies and expresses the ideals, norms and values of a people. It therefore promises to yield materials to validate the scholarly

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perspective that women are not entirely a marginalized group, but a gender that wields uncommon powers to the benefit of society. However, scholarly discourse on dance, such as those of C.  I. Nwaru (2014), D.  A. Odunaike (2016), M.  A. Ozah (2015), I.  Chiluwa (2009), F.  O. Omipidan (2019), O.  Okpu (2015), T.  Ojaide (2001), and G. G. Darah (2005), tend to focus on the status and or rights of dancers, the purpose of dance, its aesthetics and interplay with other elements of performance to make a holistic art, and the need to decode aspects of the culture of the people who create the dance, rather than explore them for their articulation of female power. Nwaru, in his ‘Synergism of Dance Theory and Practice’, states that dancers are without regard in Nigeria and other African societies because no formal schooling is needed to acquire the art,  making the door open for non-members of the performance troupe to participate in any performance occasion. This view, he contends, has resulted in two schools of thought on dance: the theorists who postulate about dance, and the pragmatists who hold that talent and practice are necessary to perform in every occasion. He therefore advocates a synergy between theory and practice for an effective growth and development of dance. Nwaru’s approach to dance is informed by academic and theatrical interest in dance which is geared at the development of the art. This study, however, approaches dance as a developed cultural art that is informed by indigenous postulations that are communally shared and aesthetically recreated through practice. Hence, in Orogun culture, theory and practice are already synergized. Consequently, the art may not just be performed by anyone, even though audience participation is allowed, and it elevates performers, especially women, to warrior and heroic heights. Odunaike, on her part, draws attention to warrior women in dance and festival performances, not as performers (the performers are mostly males), but as characters being represented. She cites Moremi and her heroic act of offering her son to a goddess to free the people of Ile-Ife from Igbo warriors. This is re-enacted annually through dance and other events in Ede festival. This offering may be considered a form of power driven by sacrifice and directed against a communal enemy. While the performers and characters in Odunaike’s work are separate, in the Orogun dance form, the women are both performers and characters in the battle being symbolically fought through the festival in which the dances take place. Omipidan, in his study of Nigerian dances, presents five dances: Ekombi dance of the Efik people of Calabar; the Nkwa-Umu-Agbogho Dance of Ebonyi people of Eastern Nigeria; the Bata Dance of the Yoruba people of

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Western Nigeria; the Kosoro Dance of the Fulani and Kano people of Northern Nigeria; and the Swange Dance of the Tiv people of Benue State. While the first two dances are performed by maidens, the Bata and Swange are performed by both gender, and Kosoro by men. The dances are performed to showcase potential brides, as in the cases of Ekombi and Agbogho dances, and/or for entertainment. The dances may therefore be classed in the category of dances that give the performers no recognition, as postulated by the theorists in Nwaru’s discourse. In the Moninkim dance of Ejagham people examined by Ozah, dance is used to showcase women as ‘commodities’. She argues that the maiden dance, which is a rite of passage to womanhood, demonstrates the interplay of dance, ritual and music to construct a holistic art, besides x-raying the cultural values of the community. The work, however, fails to inquire into the nature of change that the passage rites engender in the society or what forms of power the women wield. Chiluwa is in consonance with Ozah on the idea that dance embodies cultural values. He maintains that dance exhibits traditional patterns of behaviours and worldview. They enact some culturally conferred gender roles as opposed to Western advocacy of gender equality. Masculinity and femininity in this context are perceived as divine and unchanging, and women affirm, defend, and perpetrate these ideals which promote traditional womanhood. He thus adopts dance as a research object to validate the notion of subjugation of women. This is in contrast to this study’s task, which is to use dance to invalidate the idea of women as a marginalized and weak gender. The element of masculinity features in the studies of Okpu, Ojaide and Darah on dance. The three scholars explore dance traditions among the Isoko and Urhobo people in Nigeria. Ojaide and Darah study Udje dance performance in which the main performers are men. They both agree that it is a masculine dance demanding lots of stamina. Consequently, women play peripheral roles in the performance. Okpu examines the costume and body adornment of dance forms in Abame festival, which is a rite of passage for men. She focuses on the influence of costume and adornment on the style and body movement of dance. The aesthetics of the dance are in essence her research interest. In this study, aesthetics are important only to unravel the ways in which women are useful to help society realize their desired end. So far, the review reveals that most dance performances in Nigeria exist within the context of festival performances and that dance not only performs certain purposes, but embodies the culture, values and worldviews

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of the people. The various dance forms in Nigeria have been explored for various research purposes but very little study has been done to reveal how these dances articulate the notion that women wield specific powers in their societies which men cannot. These powers are communally conferred and affirmed, although they may not be realized in public structures.

Critical Context To investigate the issue of women wielding power to cause positive change in the Orogun society rather than being the weaker marginalized gender, the study adopts the myth/archetypal critical approach to trace patterns of female power that are manifest through the dance traditions under consideration. The myth/archetypal critical approach read texts, in this case the dance traditions in Orogun’s Erosefe traditional festival, by paying attention to archetypes understood as recurring patterns in texts. Patterns are models or prototypes of narratives, characters, images and symbols in texts. In this study, narrative refers to a sequence of events telling the tale of women as useful and powerful beings in society, acted out through the dance performances. The women that perform the dance are characters that express an overall image of the woman as agents of positive change in society. The dance steps, costumes, songs, and performance props are symbols that facilitate the narrative of female power expressed through the dances. Image as a pattern refers to the collective experience of the Orogun people, their innate disposition to those experiences, their notion of basic human behaviour, and the acceptable procedure for social change and advancement. These images, according to Carl Jung, are primordial and collectively shared because they are stored in the collective unconscious of the community. In essence, the experience and understanding of the relationship between individuals, say, mother-child, father-child, brother-­ sister, male-female, are controlled by corresponding archetypes. In the same vein, the archetypes of birth, death, continuity, power, good, evil, failure, and success, which are collectively held by the Orogun community, are controlled by archetypes. The ability of the people to creatively draw upon the archetypes to configure their arts such as songs, dance, and costume is what Okpewho terms aesthetics (1982). To him, aesthetics are the mythical patterns that foreground the piece of art, in this case, the dance traditions of the Orogun found in the Erosefe festival. The process of creating the dances is thus a “dialogue …of cultural images existing in the memory of both the artist [women] and audience [community]”

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(O. R. Dathorne x–xi). In essence, the image of the woman as a wielder of societal changing power, resides in collective memory of the community. The dance forms being examined are means by which the community revive and give form to the images in a manner that the images become models to be emulated communally and beyond. Jung’s concept of myth and archetypes as primordial images and Okpewho’s notion of myth as aesthetics connect to help the study explicate how the Orogun people draw from their collective experience, ideas, and behaviour, and artistically refashion them in a manner that empowers women in the community.

Methodology The mode of gathering the data for the study depends largely on fieldwork: observation, interview, and audio-visual documentation of aspects of the dance performances in Erosefe festival of Orogun. The performances documented are presented descriptively and textually. The texts are analysed using myth/archetypal criticism. The dances selected for the study are those performed by women, and those performed by both genders in which women are major performers. The method of the study is largely qualitative. Analysis I: Forms of Female Power in the Dances in Erosefe Festival This section of the study draws upon song texts of each dance explained above to determine the forms of female power that are aesthetically woven into the dance performances. It examines the texts for narratives, images, symbols, and character types that are collectively understood by the community to empower the women. In the lyrics below drawn from Eya Udjọ dance, Chant: 1 E vwo bre ̣de ̣ ore ̣ na    As the date for the feast has been fixed 2 Oma vwera avwaren    We are very happy 3 Mamo, oboba      In an extreme measure 4 Ma kpoghi ikebe      We shake our buttocks 5 Orho rue emu      The community is on a quest 6 Ẹwe eya rovwerhe      The married women give their consent 7 Avwaren dọ ọko     We did not buy a parcel

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8 Vwo rie emure       To conceal anything here 9 Ọ ro rie oborigbo       The one that eats the monitor lizard 10 Erose yoro!        Let him be Erose’s culprit 11 Ore rie’rakon      The one that eats a dog, 12 Erosefe yoro!     Let him be Erose’s culprit 13 Otewe o!       No one is exempted o! 14 Ẹweya rovwere o!    The married women give their consent!

the women make use of the following archetypal images: buttocks, culprit, quest, community, birth, deliverance, and date. These evoke the idea of opposites resulting in a shift from one state to another. The image of culprit in lines 10 and 12 evokes the notion of the existence of an offender and the offended. The offended is the Erosefe deity and the offender is the indigene that has eaten or killed the monitor lizard and/or dog. This relates a narrative of conflict between a supernatural entity and a human. This causes spiritual estrangement marked by physical ailment and ‘torture’ for the individual concerned. Through rites of purification, the offender is transformed to a saint, restored to health and peace, which results in joy. The change captured here is holistic, covering the spiritual, physical, and relational wellbeing of the individual. Quest in the chant connotes a need which is realized in the set period represented by the image of date (lines 1 and 5). Furthermore, the chant reveals archetypal images of deliverance, Orogun born, and married women which correspond with the concepts of motherpower and wifepower. The motherpower thrives where the child is helpless and/or the father is not readily available. The deity is a deliverer of the Orogun born, just as it delivered their progenitor, Orogun, when he left Abor. In addition, the appearance of the deity first to Oliarah, the mother of Orogun, facilitated Orogun’s deliverance. So, the mother and deliverer images are intertwined. This is foregrounded by the historical narrative that while the son (Orogun) was still helpless, his mother had bridged the gap between him and the deity. Additionally, the reference to married women and birth depicts wifepower, which is aimed at catering for the need of procreation and continuity in the society. Thus, the women declare through the chant and song that “the married women give their consent” (lines 6 and 14) to protection, judgement of offenders, realization of goals, and more. The wifepower in this sense is the greatest power; the gate to motherpower and the community’s anticipated change to a new lease of life. This form of power is thus exclusive and absolute.

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In Ukere dance, the dancers use the following lyrics: Songs: Ukwani    Urhobo      English I 1 Merieze     meruvie       I will enjoy 2 Merieze   meruvie      I will enjoy 3 Ukere    Ukere       Warriors 4 Isi karuka  Oru’yọvwi roye tore   It is the one that has length of days 5 Merieze   Oyi yiuvie         That enjoys life II 1 Ogu ọ, ogu ọ!!    Ọ fọvwi ọ, ọfọvwi ọ!          War! War! 2 Gidigidi Kayijinedje;   Avware rha gidigidi;           We are going forth with fury; 3 Udo kayijiena!     Ufuoma avware vwo hirecha!   With peace we will return! 4 Mare ghano wane;   Wo yaji’vwiọni we rhe ọ;      Do not leave your brother alone; 5 No’gu ọ!        Vwọ’fọvwi ọ!         In the war! Urhobo         English III 1 Urhe vwire’whenri,      Even if the branches break as the monkey jumps in the wood, 2 Jọ kpọ , jọ kpọ!       It keeps leaping, and going on! 3 Jọ kpọ, jọ kpọ, jọ kpọ,    It keeps going, going, and going, 4 Urhe vwire’whenri,     The trees are breaking under the monkey, 5 Jọ kpọ, jọ kpọ!      Yet it keeps leaping home! IV 1 Ọ hwọrokairishavwọ,    Who takes hold of the okra to grate it? 2 Owhọrie, whọrie!     It is slippery, very slippery! 3 Owhọrie, whọrie!      It is slippery, very slippery!

The first song is a pre-war chant with which the warriors assure themselves of victory and the benefits of not losing a battle. The second song depicts the war and the tempo with which the warriors approach it. The third and fourth songs project the image of a people that are indestructible, using the metaphor of the monkey and okra respectively. The animal and plants in the Orogun environment therefore offers images which the

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people adopt to express their strength in combat. The songs can therefore be classed into three thematic categories: pre-war theme (Song I); war theme (Song II); and post-war theme (Songs III and IV). The dance is a mock confrontation of malevolent forces, and is symbolic of the deity’s fight against those forces on behalf of the people. In song II, the term gidigidi denotes trouble which is being taken to the enemy and/or fury. It thus depicts the manner (fury) with which the war is fought and the anticipated outcome of the war, which is peace for the community. The pre-war and post-war themes narrate the benefits of the peaceful regime realized through the performance. The benefits of the performance, as spelt out in the first song, are length of days and enjoyment to go with it. Song III describes the victorious Orogun people with the metaphor of a monkey that leaps to safety in spite of the falling of the tress on which it leaps. This is a metaphor of survival and safety, in spite of the enemy and in whatever circumstances they find themselves. It is thus believed that the Orogun man cannot be easily destroyed once the festival has been successfully performed. In song IV, it is the metaphor of the okra crop that is used to represent the triumphant Orogun man. He is slippery to his adversaries and spells frustration to the enemy. By these archetypes, the Ukere dance represents a change of the Orogun people from an earthly state of vulnerability to one of being superhuman and unconquerable. The image of brother is used in line 4 of Song II to represent unity and communality among the people. ‘Brother’ is used in a generic sense to represent both male and female, therefore establishing a gender neutral order. The form of power expressed here does not fit into the wifepower, motherpower, or bridepower. Since the archetype of the brother from a neutral stance is employed alongside the images of war and peace, the form of power represented by the Ukere dance can be termed teampower or complementary power, in which both gender work together to realize a communal goal. In Ighovwo dance, two dance forms were presented earlier: the general Ighovwo dance and the Emete Erose (Secular) dance. In the general Ighovwo dance, sexual challenges are openly discussed between the sexes as portrayed in the song combat below. The issues raised in the songs are often too sacred for women and some men to discuss outside the period of the festival. The dance thus accords the performance an occasion for expression of emotions that have been bottled over the last season.

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Songs Men: Urhobo          English 1  Ọ họrọ tene yọ        The vagina is as wide as this o 2  Ọ họrọ tene      The vagina is as wide as this 3  Gegerege!      Extensively! 4  Asovoroye       There is a part to it 5  Iyee!O yes! 6  Oyena ko okpagha   That is the harvest bowl 7  Iye!O yes! 8  Okpagha ro’horo!   The vagina that is bowl! 9  Iye!O yes! 10 Asovo ro ye      There is a part to it 11 Iye!O yes! 12 Oyena ko ku’gbone   That is the flight 13 Iye!O yes! 14 Ugbone ro’ohoro    The vagina that shrinks 15 Iye!O yes! 16 Asovoroye o      There is a part to it 17 Oyenakibiedi      That is the palm fruit 18 Iye!O yes! 19 Ibiedi ro’horo      The palm fruit vagina 20 Iye!O yes! 21 Ohor vwara yo      The vagina is so red o 22 Ohoro vwara       The vagina is so red 23 Potoko o!      All over! Women: Song I 1 Ọ shọ tene yọ,      The penis is as long as this o, 2 Ọ shọ tene,       The penis is as long as this, 3 Gbọgbọrọgbọ!       Heavily! 4 Asọvwo ro ye;       There is a part to it; 5 Iye!O yes! 6 Asọvwo ro  ye;     There is a part to it; 7 Iye!O yes! 8 Ọ yena ke m’egbo;    That is the animal part; 9 Iye!O yes! 10 Eme gbo r’oshọ;      The animal of a penis; 11 Iye!O yes! 12 Asọvwo ro ye;      There is also a part to it; 13 Iye!O yes!

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14 Ọ yena kobere ̣;     That is the basket part; 15 Iye!O yes! 16 Obere r’oshọ;     The basket penis; 17 Iye! O yes! 18 Asọvw ro ye;        There is another part to it; 19 Iye! O yes! 20 Ọ yena kọvwavwa;    That is the restless part; 21 Iye!O yes! 22 Ọ vwavwa r’oshọ;     The restlessness of the penis; 23 Iye!O yes! 24 Ọ shọ tene yọ;      The penis is big as this o; 25 Ọ shọ tene,        The penis is this big, 26 Iye!O yes! Song II 1 Ọ sho rọ’chibe rọ ghuru;    The penis of the eunuch that is dead; 2 Ȩkẹkẹvwiyo jọshe;       You try to force it in and it is falling off; 3 Ayere vwiyo jo ghọriewhan.   You press it in desperately and it rolls over.

Some of the issues raised in the songs by the men and women centre on expanded vagina; believed not to effectively hold the penis to properly reach its state of orgasm, the vagina that is in flight and shrinks (tires easily and not easily aroused), the impotent and sterile penis, the insatiable or uncontrolled penis, and that which suffers from premature ejaculation. This is described with the image of the basket that holds no water. The insatiable or uncontrolled penis is illustrated with the image of restlessness. In Song II of the women’s response to the men’s song, the women describe the frustration encountered with a man who suffers a weak erection. As these problems are discussed and dramatized through dance, men and women take heed to them and work on resolving same in their marriages. Sex-related conflicts are thus transformed to a state of bliss, peace and marital commitment. This ensures that divorce is minimized in the society. The reference to the sexual organs and men’s insatiable sexual urge correspond with the archetypal images of female power and its pillar of the excited penis. This is a manifestation of the bridepower and wifepower. These forms of power make the woman more powerful than the man as his mind “goes on French leave” when he gets an erection.

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In the Emete Erose (Secular) dance, the women express the community’s need for protection of their children, prosperity of the community, health, happiness and goodness in the following dialogues:   Dialogue I            Urhobo              English 1 Spectator I:    Emete Erose mini wado!             Daughters of Erose I greet you! 2 Emete Erose:    Ei!                    We hear you! 3 Spectator I:      Emete Erose mini wado!             Daughters of Erose I greet you! 4 Emete Erose:    Ei!                    We hear you! 5 Spectator I:   Erose we ̣ phowa o!              Erose fits you well! 6 Ȩmẹte Erose:    Ei!                    We agree! 7 Spectator I:   Ọ ji wẹ phavware o!            It also fits us o! 8 Ȩmẹte Erose:    Ei!                   It is so! 9 Spectator I:   Ọ yọvwi vwo kọwa o!          May it be well with you o! 10 Ȩmẹte Erose:  Ei!                    Yes! 11 Spectator I:  Wa nabẹ serọ ẹmọ na gwa!          Please take good care of the children o! 12 Ȩmẹte Erose:   Ei!                   We will! 13 Spectator I:  Iri’ghuru na wa nabe ̣ yọrayẹ  gwa o!  Hold those that are dead very well o! 14 Ȩmẹte Erose:   Ei!                   Yes! 15 Spectator I:   Sene aikwerokufia o!            So that they will look away o! 16 Ȩmẹte Erose:   Ei!                   Yes! 17 Spectator I:   Ȩme ̣te Erose miniwadọ!           Daughters of Erose I greet you! 18 Ȩmẹte Erose:   Ei!                   Yes! 19 Spectator I:  Wadọ! Wadọ!! Wadọ!!!             I greet you! I greet you!! I greet you! 20 Ȩmẹte Erose:   Ei!                   Yes!

Dialogue II              Urhobo            English 1 Spectator II:    Ȩmẹte Erose mani wadọ!        Daughters of Erose, I greet you! 2 Ȩmẹte Erose:  Ei!              Yes! 3 Spectator II:    Ȩyere kpopkpo!            A new lease of life o! 4 Ȩmẹte Erose:  Ei!              Yes! 5 Spectator II:    Ọ makpọkpọ!           Health o! 6 Ȩmẹte Erose:  Ei!              Yes! 7 Spectator II:    Ovọmavwe ̣rọvwe            With happiness o!

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8 Ȩmẹte Erose:     Ei! Yes! 9 Spectator II:    Uwere Kpọkpọ            A new phase of progress! 10 Ȩmẹte Erose:  Ei!                 Yes! 11 Spectator II:    Eruvwu re Erose o!          The goodness of Erose! 12 Ȩmẹte Erose:    Ọ miruakpo!           Let it spread into the world! 13 Spectator II:    Eruvwu rọ Orogun!          The good of Orogun! 14 Ȩmẹte Erose:    Oyi ma vwo rhe!         That is what we will bring!

The narrative in dialogue I open with pleasantries from lines 1 to 10. The exchange of pleasantries is in three stages: greetings (lines 1–4), courteous remarks (lines 5–8), and prayer (lines 9 and 10). This is then followed by requests in lines 11–16. The member of the community addressing the performers alludes to the existence of dead children that threaten the existence of the living. Consequently, she requests that the dead children be tamed through the performance, to enable the living children have length of days. The dialogue concludes with greetings (lines 17–20). The members of the community consider the performers as emissaries representing the community on a quest; hence their request is made to the performers with a friendly and imperative tone. Likewise in lines 13 and 14 of dialogue II, the women affirm that they are on a mission to bring good to the entire community and are positive that the mission will be accomplished. This protective tendency in the dance performance tends towards the motherpower that manifests in the ability to protect the helpless child. The form of change depicted here is one of a new lease of life (dialogue II, line 3). The motif in dance IV (Purification dance/rites for the community) is similar to that in the Eya Udjọ dance. Both dances are distinguished only by the costume. The women do not adorn themselves in masculine costume, but in feminine clothing. From the Eya Udjo dance to purification dance, there is a pattern of gender representation and power dynamics. There is the symbolic fusion of the sexes in Eya Udjo dance typified by cross dressing, then complementarity of the sexes in Ukere and Ighovwo dances. But in the purification dance, the stage is left for the women, giving exclusive power to the women. The dance affirms all the positive changes that have symbolically been made to the various spheres, structures, and institutions of the community. It also seals the new system

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emerging from the old so that it is sustained till a quest for yet a better order is made in the next season. The dance is thus an affirmation of renewal for the people and removal of any debris of the old system still left in the community. Since the performers are married women, the wifepower is also wielded here. It excludes men and non-married women, yet these groups of people accept the status quo willingly and cheerfully. They believe in the goodness of the community which the dance promises. This form of power tends towards absolute power, one that monopolizes power over other groups in the community and dictates the conditions of association between the earthly and ethereal beings, and among mortals. The form of change observed in the purification dance is renewal, attracting with it a sense of newness, of putting off the old ‘garment’, and adorning a hopeful disposition toward things, people, and life in general. Analysis II: Patterns of Change in the Dance Traditions in Erosefe Festival As the women wield their powers against spiritual and social enemies of the community through dance, there are certain changes believed to take place in the community. These changes range from spiritual renewal, superhuman change, renewal, marital restoration and maintenance, restoration of unity, brotherhood, gender equality, and communality, to change from war to peace. For the purpose of this study, these changes are classified under the following groups: holistic and ecstatic change to novel and security changes. These classificatory labels are derived from the implication of the derived change on the individual and/or community, as observed in Analysis I. These changes in the Orogun society are in tandem with three of those proposed by D.  F. Aberle (2019). In his cultural anthropological studies, Aberle identifies four types of social change: alternative, redemptive, reformative and revolutionary (A3R). The changes realized in the community through the dances under consideration are not revolutionary in tendency as they do not anticipate a fundamental restructuring of the society. In the ideology of the people, there is in existence a structure that empowers women in a manner that the entire community depends on them for continuity, peace and progress. The element of female subjugation is therefore non-existent in their worldview. However, the alternative, redemptive, and reformative types of change have their variant in the dances. In Eya Udjo dance performance, the

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anticipated change is holistic. This is a form of change that touches all spheres of the individual’s life. It is both redemptive and alternative in tendency as it aims at changing the individual within and behaviourally. By transforming the individual from sinner to saint and from illness to health, it becomes redemptive, whereas it is alternative in its promotion obedience to the communal instructions not to kill and or eat the deity’s avatars. In the two Ighovwo dances, the quest for blissful marital relationships and protection of children and adults respectively, brings ecstatic and security changes in that order. The ecstatic and security changes are reformative kinds of change. In as much as they aim at a form of change that on a broad scale moves to enable the majority of the community’s members obtain their marital rights and right to safety and longevity, they are reformative. These types of change are crucial to a sense of satisfaction and wellbeing in any community. Changes that result in a new lease of life have been termed in this study as novel changes. Annually, the Orogun people anticipate a new lease of life, a new order where they confront and conquer challenges and adversaries without being vanquished. This is what the Ukere dance is earmarked for. This is why the warrior-dancers chant, “It is the one who survives that enjoys”. Enjoyment comes with advancement and attainment of new heights. The desire of the Orogun people for change as in societies world over, coupled with the belief that the Erosefe festival and the sequence of dance events in the festival can bring about this change, offers the women in the community the opportunity to wield the bride, wife, mother, team and complementary powers over the community’s populace. This potency of the dances to change individuals, families, and the entire community lies in its potency to control the spiritual and physical realm of the people’s lives.

Summary of Findings The study in examining the dance traditions in Orogun community focused on four dance forms, namely: Eya Udjo dance, Ukere dance, Ighovwo dance performance, and the purification dance. It examined these festivals with the aim of determining the forms of power wielded by women in the festival, the nature of change they facilitated by their performance and the factors that facilitates the possession of power by women in the community. The study revealed that the forms of power women

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wielded in Orogun community within the concept of their traditional festival, Erosefe, included wifepower, motherpower, bridepower, teampower, and/or complementary power, and that the wifepower was the most potent power wielded by women. It came out strongly as an absolute or exclusive power acting as the gate to other forms of power in the community and the doorway to the goodness, progress and continuity, which the community seeks to establish through the annual staging of the festival. It also observed that the forms of change effected in the community through the women’s dance role in the festival bothered on holistic transformation, superhuman change, renewal, marital restoration and maintenance, restoration of unity, brotherhood, gender equality, and communality, and a change from war to peace. The study summed these changes under the following classes: holistic, ecstatic, novel, and security changes. These changes are in consonance with the alternative, redemptive, and reformative social changes advocated by Aberle.

Conclusion In the Orogun community then, the functionality of the entire system and public structures depends largely on the dance performance of the women. In other words, no man holding a political, cultural, economic, or religious power can do so successfully if the women do not affirm the success. It is therefore true, as argued by Chinweizu, that women do have power over men, but their methods of wielding power differs from those of men. The study therefore concludes that contrary to popular notions that women are marginalized world over, there are societies and situations in which women wield power over men, and that the mode in which female power appears in societies vary, so also the mode of operating such power. The study therefore recommends that examination of female empowerment or marginalization should be examined in spaces other than public structures.

References Aberle, D. F. (2019). What are types of social change? In Reference. https://www. reference.com/science/types-­social-­change-­e086f03acdd51413 Agbogu, A. E., & Igbokwe, B. (2015). Gender profiling in Nigeria: The case of the Igbos of Southern Nigeria. International Journal of African Society Cultures

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and Traditions, 2(2): 1–10. European Centre for Research Training and Development. www.eajournals.org Chiluwa, I. (2009). Ethno-pragmatics of Onunwa performance of the Igbo of Nigeria. Journal of Multicultural Discourses, 4(3). www.eprints.covenantuniversity.edu.ng/849/1/chiluwa%2020092cJMD.pdf Chinweizu. (1990). Anatomy of female power: A masculinist dissection of matriarchy. Pero Press. Darah, G. G. (2005). Battles of songs: Udje tradition of the Urhobo. Malthouse Press. Nwaru, C. I. (2014). Synergism of dance theory and practice: The requisite for dance development in Nigeria. In Art and Design Review. Scientific Research Publishing Inc.. http://www.scrip.org Nwosu, I. E. (2012). Gender role perception and the changing role of women in Nigeria. International Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development. SAAT FUTO. Odunaike, D.  A. (2016). Performers’ rights and evolution of performance in Nigeria. Journal of Law, Policy and Globalisation, 53. www.iiste.org/journals/ index.php/… Ojaide, T. (2001). Poetry, performance, and art: Udje dance songs of Nigeria’s Urhobo people. Research in African Literatures, 32(2). Indiana University Press. www.muse.jhu.edu/article/29584 Ojaide, T. (2010). Deploying masculinity in African oral poetic performance: The man in Udje. In A. Kalu & S. Gikandi (Eds.), Masculinities in African literary and cultural texts (pp. 66–79). Ayeba Clarke Publishing. Ojaruega, O. E. (2015). The place of Urhobo Folklore in Tanure Ojaide’s poetry. Tydskrif vir Letterkunde. www.researgate.net Okpewho, I. (1982). Myth in Africa: A study of its aesthetic and cultural relevance. Cambridge University Press. Okpu, O. (2015). Costume and body adornment in dance: A case study of Abame Festival in Igbide: Isoko local government area of delta state, Nigeria. International Journal of Arts, 5(1), 21–31. Scientific and Academic Publishing. www.muse.jhu.edu/book/9181 Okunna, C.S. (2018). Portrayal of women in Nigerian home video films: Empowerment or subjugation. In African e-journals Project. Michigan State University Libraries. http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/aficanjournals Omipidan, F.  O. (2019). Top five traditional dances in Nigeria. In OldNiaja. www.oldniaja.com Ozah, M.  A. (2015). Moninkim: A symbiotic performance of ritual, music, and dance by the Ejagham People of Nigeria and Cameroon. Ethnomusicology, 59(3), 421–449. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/ ethnomusicology.59.3.0421

CHAPTER 5

The Dynamics of Traditional Power Structure: Women, Culture and Leadership in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart Daniel Ibrahim

Introduction This chapter is an examination of women’s access to power and leadership position in a traditional African society. It is a review of gender, culture and power relations in pre-colonial Africa, as depicted in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (TFA). Falola (2018:  525) attributes the current denial of women’s access to political power and leadership positions in many countries of Africa to culture. Certain aspects of African culture, in his opinion, have made the enthronement of sustainable democracy and genuine democratic culture in Africa difficult. Despite routine elections, many African countries are not democratic. Democracy in Africa is equated with periodic elections which are often characterized by elites’ manipulation of the electoral process, violence, horse trading and rigging, Maathai (2009).

D. Ibrahim (*) Department of English, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Nigeria © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 M. Sotunsa, A. M. Yakubu (eds.), Nigerian Women in Cultural, Political and Public Spaces, Gender and Cultural Studies in Africa and the Diaspora, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40582-2_5

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Things Fall Apart (1958) is an apt description of Igbo culture and the marginal position of women in it. The novel revolves around the experiences of its folk hero, Okonkwo, a warrior, traditionalist and anti-­ colonialist. The novel recounts the tragic contact between Okonkwo’s clan, Umuofia, and the forces of colonialism. The contact led to attrition and the subsequent destruction of Umuofia’s cultural values. The clan is divided between the adherents of the new values brought by British colonialists and those opposed to these values. This dealt a serious blow to the unity of the clan. The clan became divided and could no longer speak or act as one and things gradually fell apart. Larson (28) describes Things Fall Apart as “an archetypal African novel”. Nnolim (149) sees it as “a situational novel which presents a group felt experience”. Things Fall Apart is canonized and has become part of the classic literature of the world. Its impact and social relevance go beyond Africa. The novel speaks to every part of the world, especially to the unfortunate victims of colonialism in Asia, Europe and Latin America. Despite its manifest anti-colonial texture and focus, Things Fall Apart is also an exploration into the power relations between men and women in its social environment. It deconstructs carefully the open/hidden tensions between the various groups in Umuofia, especially in the exercise of power and access to social privileges. The conflict between Okonkwo and his wives is reflective of the hidden tension between the men and women of Umuofia. The novel is full of many ironies. For instance, Okonkwo loves Ezinma, but will not hesitate to beat her mother. In the process of saving his clan, Okonkwo loses his life. Instead of bringing happiness and light to Africa, colonialism inflicts serious moral and psychological pains on the continent. The constant visits to the masked masquerades to adjudicate in marital conflicts are also a subtle challenge to the hegemonic position of men in Umuofia.

Mimetic Theory Mimetic theory is postulated by Aristotle (384–322) in Poetics, published in 330 BC. In the Poetics, Aristotle postulated that literature is the imitation of human action (Angel 10). Literature, according to Aristotle, could imitate man from three perspectives: ‘it could represent him better than he is, worse than he is or as he is’. The imitation could be done through poetry (Verse), prose (Narrative), or play (Drama). In Mimetic theory, emphasis is on the relationship between the text and the social world it

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represents. Mimetic theory expects a close fidelity between the fictional representation of people in literature and real life. As a result of this, literature is seen as conveying ‘historical and social truths’ (Wellek and Warren 95). Osuji (2017: 42), describes literature as a mirror of its time. In Africa, “the artist has always functioned as the record of the mores and experiences of his society and as the voice of vision in his own time” (Mutiso, 1974, p. 12). The culture of every people is embedded in their literature. There is a close link between literature and the culture of its social environment. Literature is a depiction of social reality. Culture is part of every social reality. Things Fall Apart is a fictional representation of Igbo culture and social values. Although a work of fiction, “the characters in it are normal people and their events are real human events” (Achebe, 2008, p. 126). Its depiction of women in traditional Igbo society, their lack of access to power, leadership and political positions, is real. This chapter revolves around three important concepts—women, culture and leadership. In order to avoid conceptual ambiguity, how these concepts are conceived and deployed is briefly explained below.

Woman In many law courts and judicial institutions, the statute of a woman (blindfolded) holding a sword in one hand and a scale in another is often used as a symbol of justice. Women are symbols of justice. Yet, they are the worst victims of social injustice in many countries of the world. The social injustice against women is universal. What differs among cultures and between nations is its degree and intensity. In many parts of the world, women are forced to wear clothes which are against their taste or desire. In sporting competitions, the physical appearance of female athletes is subjected to more scrutiny than that of their male counterparts. Using the experience of the international tennis star, Serena Williams, Deidre Clemente, a dress historian, in an article titled ‘Serena Williams’ Cat Suit Controversy Evokes the Battle over Women Wearing Shorts’ (The Conversation, Sept. 5, 2018) critiqued the discriminatory attitude of society to dressing between men and women. Williams was criticized for wearing a customized black cat suit. To her defenders, “her criticism is indicative of how female athletes face more scrutiny and are held to outdated dress standards by society”. During social protests, young girls and women are deliberately subjected to physical abuse. During the protest against Mubarak at the Tahir Square, women were subjected to virginity test

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(virginity test on protesters, CNN May 31, 2011). In many cultures, including Afghanistan, from birth to death, the identity of women is concealed from the public. In an article titled ‘Where Is My Name?’ (July 25, 2020) Mahjooba Nowruz, BBC Afghan Service draws attention to the deliberate concealment of women’s identity by the Afghan society. According to Nowruz: “The problem starts early. When a girl is born, it takes a long time for her to be given a name. Then when a woman is married, her name does not appear on her invitations. When she is ill, her name does not appear on her prescription, and when she dies, her name does not appear on her death certificate or headstone”. A distinction should be made between a woman as a biological being and a woman as a social being. Humm (1990, p. 238), argues in Deuxeme sexe (1949) or The Second Sex (1953) “that no one is born a woman, one becomes a woman”. She argues that women are born females but are culturally conditioned by society to become women. It is the society and its cultural structures that create a woman (Ogundipe 13). Therefore, feminine features such as calmness, coyness and obscurity, often associated with women, are not natural but cultural. ‘Woman-ness’, a specific mode of behaviour expected of every woman, is a cultural construct imposed on women by society. This cultural construct excludes women from important cultural and political institutions of the society. Women are consigned to taking care of the home and to procreation, which would prevent the human race from going into extinction. There are conflicting opinions on the factors responsible for the discrimination or second-class status of women in many cultures of the world. Sociobiology, “the systematic study of the biological basis of all social behaviours” (Bleier, 1984, p. 15), has attributed the differences between men and women in upward mobility to genetic encoding. In the opinion of Bleier (1984, p. 82), a prominent sociobiologist, the social environment has little contribution in role determination and socialization. According to Bleier (1984, p. 82), “human biology precludes the possibility of a human social system whose authority structure is not dominated by males and in which male aggression is not manifested in dominance and attainment of status and power”. Bleier (1984), attributes the differences between men and women to genetic factors, and not social environment. According to Bleier (1984, p. 9): “We insist not only that genetic inheritance determines inequality—not social environment—but

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that social organization and behaviour themselves are essentially the product of our biological evolution”. However, many scholars such as Virginia Woolf, Richard Dawkins, Mary Medley, Ruth Bleier, and Ruth Hubbard have challenged the theory of bio-determinism. Science, in their opinion, is not neutral. It is part of the cultural superstructure used to justify the oppression and exploitation of women. It is infected by a patriarchal worldview which sees the exclusion of women from power and leadership as natural and normal. According to Virginia Woolf, as cited in Bleier (1984, p. 15), “Science is not sexless; she is a man, a father and infected too”. In the opinion of Bleier (1984, p. 23): “Sociobiology is an anachronism …it incorporates in its methodology the naïve ethnocentric, androcentric and anthropocentric fallacies discarded at least a decade or two ago by most competent and aware anthropologists and primatologists”. Ruth Hubbard, in Gagnier (1990), rejects the notion of an all-­ encompassing biological theory adequate enough to provide a universal explanation for women in different cultures and different geographical zones of the world. Such a theory, in her opinion, should be critiqued and challenged. According to her, as cited in Gagnier (1990, p.  24), “the notion of a prototypical woman in different geographical, economic, political and social settings who can be described using a single theory should be challenged and rejected”. To many scholars, the discrimination against women is cultural and has nothing to do with their biology. Judith Shapiro, as cited in Yanagisako and Collier (1990, p. 139), made a distinction between sex and gender. Sex, according to Shapiro, is “the biological differences between males and females, while gender is the social, cultural and psychological constructs that are imposed upon these biological differences by society”. A woman in this chapter refers to all female characters (whether young or old) in Things Fall Apart. Their experiences and isolation from power and leadership are comparable to those of women in many parts of the world.

Culture The Encarta Dictionary, divides culture into three broad segments— sophistication, civilization and ethos. Sophistication refers to a people’s level of refinement; civilization refers to their patterns of life, customs and traditions; and ethos encompasses their philosophy, values and principles.

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Maathai (160) defines culture as the means by which a people express itself. This could be through their peculiar ways of doing things or social interaction. Culture includes a people’s language, music, politics, religion, festivals and symbols. Ladan (110) conceives culture as partly human, partly spiritual and partly materialistic. Sotunsa (13) defines culture as the beliefs and norms that are peculiar to a people. These norms and beliefs govern their interpersonal relationships. They also influence the way they relate to people outside their culture. In the context of this chapter, culture refers to the judicial, political, religious, economic and cultural organization of pre-colonial Igbo society, as depicted in Things Fall Apart and the place of women in it. Emphasis will be on the non-active participation of women in the judicial, religious, and political institutions of pre-colonial Igbo society. Among the Igbo of Onitsha, few kilometres from Ogidi, Achebe’s birth place, women are not allowed to occupy any important political position or assume any position of leadership, except in women’s clubs and associations. Political power is exercised through the Obi in council. The council, chaired by the Obi, is composed of all adult males. According to Otakpo (2009, pp.  51–16), apart from the Omu (the king’s mother), who is a member by the virtue of her position, women are excluded from the council.

Leadership “Leadership is the most critical determinant of progress in any human organization or institution” (Obasanjo, 2014, p.  304). Without proper leadership, no human society can make any meaningful development. Adenugba (105), defines leadership as “the exercise of (legitimate) power over others”. To Achebe, “the trouble with Nigeria is leadership”. In Achebe’s opinion, leadership is a sacred trust, as such no one should get into it lightly or inadvisably. According to Maathai (2009, p. 111), “good leadership should provide the enabling environment for citizens to be creative, productive and build wealth”. Contemporary Africa is suffering from chronic leadership deficit (Maathai 123). The inherited colonial political institutions in Africa have made it possible for people with money to grab leadership positions and impose themselves on their poor countries. The colonial political structures have led to the emergence of a new crop of elites in Africa described in Maathai (2009, p. 123) as the wabenzi family, or people of the Mercedes Benz. The worst affected in this defective political arrangement are

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women. Inherited political structures and a defective socio-cultural system have denied women access to power and leadership position in many countries of Africa. In the context of this chapter, leadership is viewed from the perspective of gender. The focus is on women’s access to power and leadership in a traditional African setting. In Umuofia, powerful socio-political institutions such as the Ndichie (council of elders) and the Egwugwu cult are dominated by men.

Women, Culture and Leadership in Things Fall Apart Things Fall Apart revolves around the culture, tradition and custom of the Igbo people in pre-colonial Nigeria. The worldview of the Igbo is conditioned by their natural environment and their daily experiences. Ancestor worship and routine sacrifices to different gods and goddesses are common features of Igbo culture. In Igbo culture, dexterity in the use of language is highly regarded and respected. Every speech act is considered important. Personal opinions are supported and illustrated with appropriate metaphors and proverbs. In verbal contests and negotiations, the party with the best oratorical skills will carry the day. Segregation is another important feature of Igbo society. The social space of Umuofia in Things Fall Apart is segregated. The segregation could be on the basis of age, status (personal achievements), birth or gender. Most of the tasks and responsibilities in Things Fall Apart are assigned on the basis of gender. Men are the warriors, the head of their families, and the emissaries between Umuofia and other clans. Important decisions are taken by men. Women take care of the home and children. They provide emotional support to their husbands. They are more visible in social events and ceremonies than in leadership positions. However, this should not be misconstrued that women are not highly regarded in Igbo culture. In Umuofia, the girl-child is given the name Nneka. It means mother is supreme (TFA 106, 107). When Okonkwo is banished from his clan for committing a female crime, it is to Mbanta, his mother’s birth place, he goes to seek refuge. While welcoming him, his uncle, Uchendu, tells him that “when there is sorrow and pain, a mother offers comfort and protection” (TFA 107). In Umuofia, domestic violence, especially physical assault on women, is not tolerated. Uzowulu is seriously reprimanded for beating his wife. The nine masquerades tell him clearly that “it is not bravery when a man fights

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with a woman” (TFA 75). Similarly, Okonkwo is also reprimanded for beating his wife during the Week of Peace. The priest of Ani, the Ezeani, orders him to bring to the shrine of Ani one she goat, one hen, a length of cloth, and a hundred cowries (TFA 24). Umuofia is never defeated in any war with other clans. This is because of the protective war charm prepared for it by an old woman known as agadi—Nwayi. Umuofia is feared by all its neighbours. It is powerful in war and magic, “the active principle in that medicine had been an old woman with one leg” (TFA 10). Paradoxically, despite the honour and respect accorded women, the culture of Umuofia discriminates against them and denies them access to political and leadership positions. The foundation and basis for the discrimination against women is structured into the myth of origin of Umuofia. According to the myth, the nine villages of Umuofia had grown out of the nine sons of the first father of the clan (TFA 71). His daughters (if any) did not make any significant contribution to the founding of Umuofia. Judicial institutions are important in the maintenance of law and order. In Umuofia, the administration of justice is done by the nine masquerades, none of whom is a woman. Women are allowed to watch the masquerades, especially during funeral processions or ceremonial functions. However, women are prohibited from talking directly to them. Again, during the adjudication of the case between Mgbafo and her husband, Uzowulu, she is not allowed to address directly Evil Forest, the leader of the masquerades. Her brother, Odukwe, narrates her version of events to Evil Forest (TFA 72–75). Similarly, in traditional Kikuyu society, a woman is not allowed to take an oath. Her husband, brother or uncle, takes the oath on her behalf (Kenyatta, 1961, p. 225). In the same vein, women are also denied entry into the shrine of the masquerades. They are denied access to the chambers of justice by the society. They paint the walls of the shrine but are never allowed to see the inside. “These women never saw the inside of the hut. No woman ever did” (TFA 71). The culture of Umuofia also prohibits them from talking about the cult. They are culturally not expected to ask questions about the cult: “No woman ever asked questions about the most powerful and the most secret cult in the clan” (TFA 71). Agriculture is an important activity in most traditional African societies. In some African societies, as exemplified by Umuofia, women are not allowed to grow certain crops. In Things Fall Apart, women are not allowed to plant yam, the most important economic crop of the society.

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Instead, they are encouraged to grow women’s crops such as cocoyam and beans. “Yam the king of crops was a man’s crop” (TFA 18). “Yam stood for manliness” (TFA 26). Similarly, among the Kikuyu of Kenya, farm activities are divided on the basis of gender (Kenyatta, 1961). Men are encouraged to move further into the fields to create farms, while women are encouraged to have gardens around the homesteads. Ironically, in Umuofia, it is women who keep the yam farms tidy and protected from being overgrown by weeds. Women weeded the yam fields three times before harvest (TFA 27). In the cultural psychology of Umuofia, the definition of a woman is not fixed. Depending on the prevailing circumstances, a man could be described as a woman and a woman as a man. A man who dominates and has absolute control over his family, especially his wives, in the culture of Umuofia, is a man. Any man who fails to have absolute control over his family, especially his wives, no matter how rich or brave, is seen as a woman. “No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women), he was not really a man” (TFA 42). Similarly, a man without a title is seen as a woman. During a clan meeting, Okonkwo bluntly tells Osugu that the meeting is for men (TFA 21). He calls Osugu a woman because he has no title. Okonkwo, despite his impressive achievements in war and wrestling, describes himself as a woman. He considers his feeling of remorse over his killing of Ikemefuna as womanish. It is women who are expected to be remorseful in this type of situation. Okonkwo says to himself “you have become a woman indeed” (TFA 51). Moreso, Okonkwo compares the entire clan of Umuofia to a woman. To him, the clan has become womanish for refusing to resist foreign (colonial) intrusion, symbolized by the uninvited presence of the court messengers at the meeting of Umuofia. Okonkwo, as a man, singlehandedly resists this desecration of Umuofia cultural values by the representatives and symbols of colonialism, the court messengers. He beheads one of them. Reflecting on the inaction of his clan, Okonkwo concludes that “Umuofia has become a womanly clan” (TFA 127). Again, disappointed with the behaviour of his first child, Nwoye, Okonkwo calls his other children together and warns them not to become a woman like Nwoye. He says to his children, “I will only have a son who is a man, who will hold his head up among my people. If any one of you prefers to be a woman, let him follow Nwoye now” (TFA 138). Like many African societies, in Umuofia, a male child is more preferred to a female

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child. Okonkwo had wished several times that Ezinma is a boy, “she should have been born a boy” (TFA 50), he soliloquizes. His close friend, Obiereka, shares the same androcentric attitude in the cultural preference for a male child. During the wedding of one of his daughters, Obiereka prays that “she will bear nine sons like the mother of our town” (TFA 93). In the social sphere, folktales told by women, despite their social significance, are described as silly. Okonkwo recalls the story told to him by his mother about mosquitoes. But to him, “it was silly like all women’s stories” (TFA 60). Moreover, in the culture of Umuofia, men are free to sit as they desire. However, women are conditioned to sit in a particular manner. In one scene, Okonkwo orders Ezinma to “sit like a woman” (TFA 35). The girl-child is culturally isolated from the political space. When Ezinma, despite her heavy domestic chores, offers to take Okonkwo’s chair to the ilo, the village square, where important political decisions are taken, Okonkwo rejects her offer saying, “No, that is a boy’s job” (TFA 36). Thus, right from childhood, the female sex is denied access to the ilo, the political arena where important decisions about her and the clan are taken. From the foregoing, it is obvious that the dynamics of traditional power is not in favour of women in the text analysed.

Contemporary Realities More than 60 years after the publication of Things Fall Apart, women in Igbo society have made significant gains. There is general improvement in their social status. Their social mobility and access to certain privileges have also increased. Some degrading aspects of Igbo culture such as the Osu caste system and the killing of twins have stopped or are considerably minimized. Also, certain discriminatory aspects of Igbo culture have been successfully challenged by women. In a landmark judgement on April 14, 2014, the Supreme Court of Nigeria ruled that female disinheritance, which is a significant aspect of Igbo culture, is wrong and unconstitutional. In Igbo land, neither a daughter nor a wife can inherit any property from her father or husband (Chikezie, 2011, p. 10). The court was of the opinion that a girl/daughter is entitled to her father’s estate, like a boy or son. It also ruled that a wife is entitled to the estate of her deceased husband. This judgement is a victory for not only Igbo women but also women in every part of Nigeria.

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However, despite this remarkable gain, the narrative has not changed much in some aspects. Women are still largely victims of exploitation and oppression in Igbo society, as in other parts of Nigeria/Africa and the world. This is foregrounded with women of high social visibility and women occupying important positions in government (Iweala, 2018, p.  110). In some instances, such women are ridiculed and subjected to serious press attacks. They are perceived as consorts to their bosses. In some literary texts, women are still not presented favourably. In Half of a Yellow Sun (Adichie, 2014), Olanna is described by a fellow woman as a witch (124). As if she is speaking for patriarchy in Nigeria and Africa, Mama declares that “too much schooling ruins a woman. Everyone knows that it gives a woman a big head and she start to insult her husband” (Half of a Yellow Sun, 126). Ezinma and her sisters in Things Fall Apart are lucky. They are not victims of mass abduction and sex slavery, which have become the new trend in parts of Africa (Chibok, Dapchi, Darfur, Kigali, Bamenda, etc.). Mass abductions of schoolgirls as sex slaves and carriers of improvised explosive devices have become another trend in Africa. Women in Nigeria/Africa are still victims of domestic violence and abuse. At the slightest provocation, they are beaten, as done by Okonkwo and Uzowulu in Things Fall Apart. In Nigeria, a serving senator recently assaulted and beat up a sales girl in a sex store. In another instance, a widow was beaten up and stripped naked in the full glare of the public by another lawmaker (also from Nigeria) on suspicion of theft. According to the victim, in a story entitled Lawmaker allegedly beats woman, forces her to walk naked (Premium Times electronic, Saturday, August 10, 2019) the victim, Ms. Essen, narrates her ordeal as follows: “I was beaten and forced to walk stark naked in the village hall; they removed my dress, my bra and my pant”.

Conclusion Since the discrimination against women in Africa has its roots in culture, it can be changed. The political and social space in Africa is wide enough to accommodate both men and women. This is illustrated in a Yoruba metaphoric expression ‘oju orun to eye fo’ (Sotunsa, 2018, p.  23). It means the sky is wide enough for all birds to fly. This is similar to the Igbo metaphoric expression which says, “The eagle and the kite must perch together on the same tree. Anyone stopping the other would have

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its wings broken” (Otakpo, 2009, p. 40). By implication, we affirm that the social space in Africa is wide enough for men and women to have a harmonious relationship, a relationship devoid of exploitation and oppression. A relationship anchored on equity, trust, and fair play. Humanity should not behave like see the trickster Yoruba god who after devouring huge quantities of food offered to him by his mother ate his mother too (Washington, 1985, p. 315). Tomorrow, who will cook for esu? What Africa deserves today is a pluralistic socio-cultural and political space in which men and women would contribute meaningfully to the political and social development of the continent. This is well illustrated in a Yoruba metaphor by Animasaun Oluwatoyin in an article titled Rome was built by men and women (The Nation, electronic, October 11, 2018) Ọmọdé gbọ́n, àgbà gbọ́n, la fi dá, ilẹ̀ Ifẹ̀. It means: “We should build a world where males and females have equal rights. It will make the world the best place to live in”. The situation of women in Africa is not beyond remediation. As observed by Reverend Hassan Kukah a social critic, “The portals of justice are never permanently shut and the future belongs to those with hope not those with power” (Kukah, 2011, p.  380). Women have hope and the necessity of creating a humane society in which men and women will be treated with equity is a question of time. Justice can be delayed, but it cannot be denied. A just socio-political arrangement is in the best interest of men and women. In an interview with Kane, titled Monica will not give up control of her own narrative, Monica Lewinsky implores women everywhere in the world to stand up for their rights. According to her, “women must stand up for themselves and not allow others to control their narrative” (Punch, Nigeria, electronic, Sept. 4, 2018). It is important that women should be in the vanguard of their own liberation. They should not wait for men and other sympathetic observers to speak for them. They should take up the gauntlet and confront the forces of oppression and exploitation disguised as custom and tradition.

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References Achebe, C. (2008). Things fall apart. Pearson Education Limited. Adichie, C. N. (2014). Half of a Yellow Sun. Kachifo Limited. Bleier, R. (1984). Science and gender. Pergamon Press. Chikezie, N. M. J. (2011). African women sentenced by tradition. A. A. Nwokebi and Company. Falola, T. (2018). The Toyin Falola reader on African culture, nationalism, development and epistemologies. Pan African University, Press. Gagnier, R. (1990). Feminist postmodernism: The end of feminism or the end of theory? In D.  L. Rhode (Ed.), Theoretical perspectives on sexual difference (pp. 21–32). University Press. Humm, M. (1990). The dictionary of feminist theory. State University Press. Iweala, N. O. (2018). Fighting corruption is dangerous. MIT Press. Kenyatta, J. (1961). Facing Mount Kenya. Mercury Books. Kukah, M. H. (2011). Witness to justice. Book craft. Maathai, M. W. (2009). The challenge for Africa. Anchor Books. Mutiso, G. C. M. (1974). Socio–political thought in African literature. Macmillan Press Ltd. Obasanjo, O. (2014). My watch (Vol. 3). Prestige Publishers. Osuji, C. (2017). Toxic fathers: Portraits of fatherhood in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and John Munoye’s Oil Man of Obange. In E.  M. Sotunsa & O. Y. Haliso (Eds.), Gender, culture and development in Africa (pp. 41–52). Pan African University Press. Otakpo, N. (2009). Justice in Igbo culture. Malthouse Press. Sotunsa, M. E. (2018). Gender matters and the cultural dilemma in African literature. Babcock University Press. Washington, T.  N. (1985). The penis, the pen and the praise: Esu the seminal force in African American life, literature and lyrics. In T.  Falola (Ed.), Esu: Yoruba god, power and the imaginative frontiers (pp. 315–344). Academic Press. Yanagisako, S. J., & Collier, J. F. (1990). The mode of reproduction in anthropology. In D.  L. Rhode (Ed.), Theoretical perspectives on sexual difference (pp. 131–144). University Press.

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Electronic Newspapers

and

Online Sources

Amin, S. Egyptian general admits virginity checks conducted on protesters. CNN May 30, 2011. Accessed May 30, 2011. Clemente, D. Serena Williams cat suit controversy evokes the battle over women wearing shorts. Accessed September 5, 2018. Nowruz, M. Where is my name? bbc.com/news/world-­asia-­53436335. Accessed July 25, 2020. Oluwatoyin, A. Rome was built by men and women. The nation. onlineng.net/ rome-­wasbuilt-­bymen-­and-­women, October 11, 2018. Accessed October 11, 2018. Ukpong, C. Lawmaker allegedly beats woman, forces her to walk naked. Premium times. ng.com/news/headlines/345906-­lawmaker-­allegedly-­beats-­woman-­ forces–her-­to-­walk-­naked.html. Saturday August 10, 2019. Accessed Saturday August 10, 2019. V.kane. Monica Lewinsky will not give up control of her own narrative. Punch Electronic (Nigeria) September 4, 2018. Accessed September 4, 2018.

PART II

Nigerian Women and Media Engagements

CHAPTER 6

Female Engagement and Nollywood in Postmodern Africa Gloria Ifeoma Okolie

Introduction There is no doubt that while technology is increasingly playing a critical role in today’s world, especially in the economic and cultural spheres, an increasing number of women all over the world are taking advantage of technological software and applications to imprint their presence on the twenty-first century. Although much ground remains uncovered and the levels of success differ from country to country, significant progress is certainly being made overall. For obvious historical and cultural reasons, far more advancement has been recorded in the West in comparison to sub-­ Saharan Africa. Wherever there has been progress, it has certainly been the product of advocacy and struggle. In the West, for instance, social progress relating to the social, political and economic advancement of women followed the actions of women movements, social activists and suffragettes who fought

G. I. Okolie (*) Department of English, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 M. Sotunsa, A. M. Yakubu (eds.), Nigerian Women in Cultural, Political and Public Spaces, Gender and Cultural Studies in Africa and the Diaspora, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40582-2_6

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for enfranchisement, equal earning rights and liberation from oppressive male authority. In America, one such movement was the National Organisation for Women inaugurated in 1966 by Betty Friedan following the inability of the American Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to address discrimination against women; in Britain, the British Women’s Liberation Movement of the late 1960s was also an important force. These groups supported the enactment of bills aiming to confer certain rights on women in order to “bring [them] into full participation in the mainstream of American society  now, assuming all the privileges and responsibilities thereof in truly equal partnership with men” (Thornham, 2006). Basically, these feminist groups sought to promote the cause of women by opposing all forms of social, economic and political injustice against women. Rallies and demonstrations against the Miss America Beauty Pageant, the Miss World Competition and the Freedom Trash Can were initiated to protest male dominance in society as well as pressures on women to conform to the male perception of the ideal, sexually desirable female figure. According to Thornham, these contestants epitomised what Robin Morgan (1993) described in a number of ways including apolitical, unoffending, passive, delicate (but delighted by drudgery) things. However, women in sub-Saharan Africa have had a rather different trajectory in the struggle for emancipation, owing to the far more entrenched nature of patriarchy on the continent. While patriarchy is a universal phenomenon, it is more likely to be the case in sub-Saharan Africa that a woman’s social worth and relevance would be measured in terms of male influence. Following the attainment of political independence, however, African women have been advocating the implementation of international policies that will improve their conditions. The results of such struggle include the Universal Primary Education policy, the creation of adult education centres for illiterate women, and the creation of vocational and technical centres which afford women the opportunity to access jobs like their male counterparts. Over the years, there has been a significant increase in the number of females accessing formal education and different vocational courses. However, women’s participation in the political sphere has not seen such progress owing to several socio-cultural, economic and religious factors. Despite their roles as wives, mothers, professionals and entrepreneurs, the participation of women within the political sphere remains a subject of interest for civil groups, non-governmental organisations, women groups and the academia. Yet, women continue to make significant impact within

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their social space, although mostly not acknowledged. This is evident in the distressing portraits of women as presented in the Nollywood industry, which is clearly a major cultural brand and image maker for the country. In a society laden with several complexities and ambiguities characterised by mutable realities, it is expedient to determine the nature of heroism as well as the dynamics which influence the roles of women in the video film, Wives on Strike (2016).

Female Auteurship and Cinematic Culture in Africa Alongside the creative works of African writers is the emerging cinematic culture in Africa, a culture inherited from colonial powers but which has over time been adapted to suit indigenous African taste, both on the continent and in the diaspora. Considering the growing influence of independent film industries such as Nollywood, Kannywood, Ghollywood, Riverwood and Ugawood, films from Africa may be rightly described as the media through which African sociocultural, economic and political realities are projected. They remain a viable agency for the engagement of the popular audience as well as a veritable channel for the articulation of popular voices. For instance, Nigeria’s Nollywood is widely acclaimed to have begun in 1992 with the production of the video, Living in Bondage by Kenneth Nnebue, an electronics merchant who raked in huge profits from the home video due to the novelty of the Video Home System (VHS). The commercial success of Living in Bondage motivated other businessmen (mostly merchants of household electronics) to venture into the movie-making business. But their deficiencies in the art and science of filmmaking were visible throughout the production processes (pre-­ production and post-production) as well as in their thematic focus. As an industry at its infantile phase, the production processes were independently regulated only for commercial value, without appropriate consideration on the verisimilitude of the art with respect to its style, aesthetics and characterisation, particularly the representations of the female characters. These videos were mostly inclined to evaluate female beauty from what Laura Mulvey referred to as the “voyeuristic, pleasure-seeking male gaze”, a concept adopted by feminist theorists in their critique of dominantly male-authored creative works (Mulvey, 1989; Thornham, 2006). A recurring commentary that pervades the views of female auteurs is the desire to alter the misrepresentation of women in male-authored films, since it is believed that no one can tell your story like you can. Male auteurs

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tend to foster the idea that women should feel honoured for projecting the focus of many African feminists, which Lindwe Dovey termed the “natural acceptance of women’s humanity” in all their variants—first as a woman, then wife, mother and professional. Although emphasising the need to apply caution in labelling all male auteurs as sexist and all female auteurs as virtuous in their representation of the filmic female image, she reveals that there is the proclivity for “heterosexual male desires for women” to infiltrate into the collective body of films and the consciousness of the audience, thereby “compromising the progressive representation of women” (Dovey, 2012). Consequently, it is challenging for male auteurs to capture a topical issue that relates to women in the same light as female auteurs. The incongruous representation of female characters in male-auteured films is of serious concern. This is because the film industries in Africa is dominated by male directors, as such, attaining a gendered balanced perspective can be established only when female directors and screenwriters are given equal opportunities devoid of prejudice in expressing their views about Africa. The necessity for a new female image must emerge to give expression to the realities of African women irrespective of their socioeconomic class, considering Novia’s view that they constitute about 80% of Nollywood’s audience. In Nollywood, the significant works of Lola Fani-Kayode, Nigeria’s first female director who directed the series Mirror in the Sun, are known for their high production quality. Fani-Kayode’s works have further inspired the talented and innovative Amaka Igwe acclaimed to be “the most quoted analyst of the industry and a deep thinker of the future” (Haynes, 2017). Other contemporary female Nollywood auteurs are Emem Isong, Joke Silva, Stephanie Okereke-Linus, Uche Jumbo, Omoni Oboli, Kemi Adetiba, Blessing Egbe, Chineze Anyane, Tope Oshin Ogun, Mildred Okwo, Bolanle Austen-Peters, MO Abudu, Peace Fiberisima and Anyiam-Osigwe. Anyiam-Osigwe is known to have initiated the annual and influential African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) in 2005 (Haynes, 2017). Common to African cinema—a culture whose institutional procedures differ from Nollywood—is the preponderance of male-authored films whose representations of Africa are determined by its patriarchal standpoint. Although more women are inclined to take up acting, scripting, video editing and administrative roles within the film industry, few exist as producers and directors. Based on global statistics from a survey carried out between 2007 and 2018, studies reveal that there have been slow but steady

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increases in the number of female personnel who enlist in the art and science of filmmaking and cinematography. This hinges on various socio-cultural, physiological, economic, political and environmental factors ranging from sexism to discrimination, funding, cultural beliefs, limited female experts and role models in the profession (https://womenandhollywood.com/ resources/statistics/2018-­statistics/). Notwithstanding, the art of notable women directors in African cinema like Sarah Maldoror, Safi Faye and Anne Mungai that emerged between the 1970s and 1990s have not only influenced but also necessitated the resurgence of contemporary African/ African diaspora female auteurs in the twenty-first century. They include but are not limited to the following: Hawa Essuman (Kenya), Wanuri Kalu (Kenya), Yaba Badoe (Ghana/UK), Jiha El-Tahri (Egypt), Zina SawoWiwa (Nigeria/UK), Caroline and Agnes Kamya (Uganda), Ariane Astrid Atodji (Cameroon), Minky Schlesinger (South Africa), Khetiwe Ngcobo (South Africa), Peace Anyiam-Fiberesima (Nigeria), Osvalde Lewat (Cameroon/France), Branwen Okpakwo (Nigeria/Germany). Other social media platforms include: “I am African. I’m a Woman. I Make Films,” African Woman in Cinema Vlog, #AfricanWomenInFilmForum, #AWIFF, @BirdsEyeViewFF, @women_direct (Ellerson, 2011; African Women’s Development Fund, 2014; Dovey, 2012). These auteurs and social media platforms are means to counter as well as balance films produced by male auteurs. Although it is believed that the emergence of a postfeminist culture induced the representations of the emancipated woman in popular culture media, these contemporary African auteurs are impelled to gradually align their works with the self-expressive and phenomenal woman who strives for freedom amidst the varied choices that characterise the postfeminist culture permeating the cinematic spaces of independent video industries and the African cinema in Africa. Scholars observe that the post-feminist culture is preoccupied with contradictions which emphasise flagrant sexuality and unrestrained sensual feminine images as redemptive means of liberating the feminine essence from the Second Wave feminist agenda. The predominance of such post-feminist representations is inclined to focus on “superficial appearances thus unwittingly encouraging a culture of anti-intellectualism among younger generation of women” (Dovey 33). Although twenty-first-century Nollywood female auteurs may be influenced by the prevailing post-feminist depictions of strong, assertive and independent female characters in their representations of Nigerian women, it is imperative that these Nollywood female auteurs function within the

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purview of the industry’s prescribed morals and missions. Apparently, these morals are inherently subsumed under the shared African worldview of morality and “organising principle” reinforced in Daniel Etounga-­ Manguella’s assertion: “the diversity—the vast number of subcultures— [in Africa] is undeniable, but there is a foundation of shared values, attitudes and institutions that binds together the nations south of the Sahara, and in many respects those of the north as well” (Etounga-­ Manguella, 2000; Nnaemeka, 2004). Omoni Oboli’s Wives on Strike has been purposively selected for this study due to its focus on underage marriage in relation to the Child Rights Act (CRA) ratified in 2003. Its topicality within the Nigerian polity stems from the renunciation of the Child Right Act by some states governments despite the domestication of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (African Children’s Charter) by the federal government. Moreover, the choice of the video stems from the intent to examine the discourse of underage marriage from the perspective of female auteurship.

Standpoint Theory A standpoint refers to a specific way or the context of investigating or conceptualising a subject matter. Our knowledge of a subject of discourse functions under the notion that one’s view is influenced or regulated by one’s positioning at any given point, thus creating a system of relativity, as individuals are inclined to either promote or refute a stance given the several determinants that typify one’s social position. Sandra Harding (1986) refers to standpoint as a morally and scientifically preferable grounding for interpretation and explanation of nature and social life Dorothy Smith, a feminist standpoint theorist and sociologist, maintains that any knowledge a person acquires or has is often shaped by their social location and knowledge of the world hinged on our experience so that “what we know of the other is conditional upon that location” (Smith, n.d., p. 12). Examining the dynamics of power relation existing in systems of the world, Appelrouth and Edles (2010) observe that akin to the privileged hegemony of the male perspective over the female is the privileging of white upper class male in social relations. Nancy Hartsock’s essay, “The Feminist Standpoint: Developing the Ground for a Specially Feminist Historical Materialism” (2004) reveals that feminists have been preoccupied with the pervasive notion of male

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privileging, evident in all institutions of the world, rather than epistemological truth which stems from a structural difference between men and the lived experiences of women, thus providing justifications for a feminist standpoint. Hartsock’s feminist standpoint theory is grounded in early philosophical postulations by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Karl Marx on power/material relations. Hegel maintained that the existence of unequal power relations between master and servant produces different social positions invariably establishing variant conceptions of realities (Zaytseva, 2010). Standpoint theory proposes that masters and servants are bound to have parallel views about their society. Examining the interaction between the capitalists and proletarians with respect to material relations, Marx maintains that the proletarians, though continuously exploited by the capitalists, assume ideologies imposed by capitalism thus resulting in prolonged exploitation unless drastic measures are taken. Therefore, framing a feminist thought and model as a derivative from Hegel’s power relations and drawing from Marx’s critique which is focused on the life activities of proletarians, Nancy Hartsock maintains that the positioning of women as a marginalised group in patriarchal societies stems from their material and reproductive roles as well as their economic involvements. She further outlines five criteria for a feminist standpoint: the organisation of material life influences our understanding and knowledge (women’s life activities influence social constructions and understanding of social relations); the groups occupying different positions in the structure of material life will have differing worldviews (the existence of partial conceptions of reality which stems from one’s positioning); the power of the dominant group structures the material relations thus emphasising an existing hegemonic system (men’s dominant ideologies influence as well as determine existing social relations with women); the vision of the oppressed group must be contended for (struggle and education facilitate a feminist standpoint); and as an engaged vision, the adoption of a standpoint by the oppressed group enables them not only to gain an understanding but exposes the real relations among human beings (women envisage the possibility of social relations devoid of domination) (Bouchard, 2013; Hartsock, 2004). Situating standpoint theory within a feminist perspective, Hartsock and other feminist scholars emphasise its epistemological relevance by revealing the pervasiveness of oppressive phallocentric ideologies, going beneath dominant patriarchal structures, deconstructing and critiquing them and developing a liberatory vision for social change (Zaytseva, 2010).

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Emphasising the stratagem for subversion, Hartsock (2004) believes that the process through which the vision of the oppressed can be advanced remains that the oppressed must see themselves as united through shared experiences and that the vision for emancipation or liberation is through systematic engagement and education through which change or an upturn of events can be achieved.

Synopsis of the Video: Wives on Strike Amina’s mother is devastated by the news of the intending marriage of her 13-year-old daughter and her three friends infuriated by this news seek remedy to the arranged marriage between Amina and Alhaji. Despite incessant appeal from his wife, Papa Ngozi refuses to meddle with Papa Amina’s decision to carry on with the marriage plans, thus spurring the four friends (Mama Ngozi, Madam 12:30, Iya Bola and Christy) to engage in a strike action (refraining from sex with spouse) initiated by Mama Ngozi. They further protest against this marriage by marching to Mama Amina’s home, the supposed venue of the marriage, to confront the aged man who is to be Amina’s husband, thus attracting the attention of journalists engaged in neighbourhood news reporting for further broadcast. The wife of a senator of the federation, Vera Isong, decides to support these women by making their vision a national prospect focused on ending underage marriages, insisting that the government implement this law. Only when this is done will the strike, which has gained national attention, be suspended.

Analysis The video, Wives on Strike (2016), treats the theme of underage marriage in Nigeria and highlights the ability of women to connect as an oppressed and subjugated group by strategically harnessing the inherent strength which embodies their essence and femininity. This is hinged on accomplishing the unanimous vision that benefits not only them as a collective group but the country as a whole. In a bid to satirise the several institutions of government in executing its delegated responsibilities with respect to addressing the subject of underage marriage (after a former governor and serving senator was criticised for marrying a 13-year-old Egyptian girl in Abuja, the country’s capital), the video adopts the comic genre enhanced by its use of Nigerian Pidgin. Asides the predominant use of this Nigerian

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variant of Pidgin English, Standard English is also used as a communicative tool to identify the various socioeconomic classes of the characters. In order to examine the nature of heroism undertaken in the video as well as the dynamics which propel these women, Nancy Hartsock’s feminist Standpoint Theory is adopted using the following models: the subject of discourse in the video; the gender grouping considered as hegemonic and that classified as oppressed; the perception of each gender grouping towards the subject matter treated in the video; and the modalities adopted by the oppressed group to surmount the ruling class in order to attain their vision. The conflict in the film stems from the planned marriage of Amina to Alhaji and, by extension, the abrogation of underage marriage through ensuring the implementation of the Child Rights Act in all states of the federation. Similar to the Nigerian milieu, the filmic setting is composed of two gendered social positions: male and female. The men belong to the hegemonic class whose ideologies and perspectives define the realities in the society, while the women are classified as the oppressed group, which is continuously subjugated by the patriarchal social system. Mama Ngozi, Mama Amina, Madam 12:30, Iya Bola and Christy are market women who belong to the lowest level of the socioeconomic pyramid, while Vera Isong is an elite. Irrespective of their socioeconomic levels, these women are unanimously suppressed by a society whose institutions invariably function within the tenets of patriarchy. For instance, Papa Amina decides to give Amina out in marriage to an elderly man, despite pleas from his wife to hold off with the marriage plans until Amina is of age and far more mature (at least 18 years old). His refusal to heed the voice of reason from his wife stems from his selfish intent to seek financial support from his proposed in-law. Papa Amina further exerts his authority by denying his wife of her desires to earn a source of income, despite being a certified teacher. He even prevents her from engaging in petty trading to help lessen the financial pressure on him, because he believes her engaging in trading will reflect badly on him as incapable of satisfactorily meeting the needs of his family. This is captured thus: Papa Amina:

Mama Amina, please don’t go there. A woman’s place is in the house. Na so e be for my family, na so e be for your family. Please no vex me today, please. Mama Amina: No vex, my husband. I just dey think am say as you don bend the rule so say we go give out Amina before she

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Papa Amina:

mature, I think say you go just bend the rule so say I go fit go out go hustle small thing. I said I don’t want to hear it. My wife will not take care of this home.

He thus allows his ego to becloud his reasoning, as he insists on continuing the age-old practice of having the woman confined to care for her husband and children. He will therefore prefer to give his daughter out in marriage in order to be perceived as a man as well as an advocate and custodian of the existing sociocultural practice of early marriage. At the top of the social ladder is Vera Isong, the wife of a serving senator, who is also subjugated by patriarchy as she lives in the shadow of her husband, hence accepting the reality her husband creates for her. For instance, she must seek his permission and consent before engaging in any project. Although she is learned and financially buoyant to engage in whatever business she desires, that freedom is strictly confined to the space she is allowed by her husband, especially as he would not want her to taint his political reputation. This is captured in his statement as he reacts to his wife’s desire to project the struggle being led by Mama Ngozi, Madam 12:30, Iya Bola and Christy: Anieta Isong:

Anieta Isong:

Did you stop to think how my party will react to this madness? How could you go on national TV and talk of something as crucial as this without consulting me first? [His phone rings—a call from his party chairman] I will deal with the matter straight away, sir. [Speaking to his wife again] I’m going to say this just once. You will put a stop to this madness. I don’t want to hear about this issue ever again. This is the last time. Put an end to it.

Asides Papa Amina and Senator Isong, Papa Ngozi also feels his reputation is at stake and is angered at the humiliation he must deal with due to his wife’s refusal to disassociate herself from the club and their strike action. Such actions project him as incapable of ruling over the affairs of his household and curbing the excesses (the impunity to initiate of the strike) of his wife. This is referenced in his statement to his wife and that made by his friend, Callistus (the husband of Madam 12:30), whose wife has decided to uphold the planned strike:

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You see am, I don become man wey no fit control him wife. Why you no go fit stop this your yehyeh strike. But that one no mean say Paulo wife go sit down finish go form that wicked club. E no good now. That your I.T.K [I Too Know] wife wey you no fit clip, keep woman for house.

On a larger scale, since men make up the vast majority of elected representatives in the government, they invariably determine the sense of urgency given to social issues such as enforcing the Child Rights Act which bans the marriage of underage girls in the country. For instance, owing to their maternal instincts, women are more inclined to empathise as well as pursue projects which protect children, women and men alike. Anthonia Yakubu (2017) has observed on the essence of motherhood that women’s primary responsibility is to cater to the emotional, physical and spiritual needs of their husbands, children. This is not to say that men do not empathise, but they tend to either trivialise or overlook the magnitude of the girl-child marriage. In the video, men tend to trivialise the subject of underage marriage, which stems from the indifference displayed at any reference to the subject matter. Senator Isong: I mean, you are much more enlightened than these village women you are dragging this child bride issue with, issues that haven’t been specifically addressed in the House. Their approach towards the issue reveals an individualistic tone and style. For instance, Papa Ngozi’s indifference, despite his wife’s pleas to dissuade Papa Amina, is expressed thus: Papa Ngozi:

Mama Ngozi: Papa Ngozi:

I no go fit o! I no go fit do that kain thing o! Because e no concern me. Papa Amina wey wan marry him pikin out at that age get him own reason. I know dey like chuk my mouth for the thing wey no concern me. Pikin wey be 13 years, dem say dey wan carry am go give man make him marry am, na him you say e no concern you? See, Papa Amina na him be the head of him family. Before him go take that decision, he go don tink am well well. Man no dey just carry decide. Mind your own business.

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His individualistic attitude is expressed when he threatens to kill any man who comes to him to marry his daughter who is apparently the same age as Amina. Papa Ngozi:

Man go come tell me say him wan marry Ngozi for that age, him dey craze o! Abi dem no dey kill am?

The self-centred views by the men towards this subject inform their lackadaisical attitude, which invariably affects the community and country. From the stance of the men, the subject of child marriage remains a sociocultural practice sustained by patriarchy which serves as the springboard for female subjectivism. These lawmakers deliberately overlook the section of the constitution which prohibits underage marriages as well as fails to clearly amend the clause which gives room for variant interpretations in order to accommodate their personal fantasies and sexual desires. Their refusal to address this issue is hinged on the need to avoid any form of tumult that may disrupt the status quo in the polity since it does not have an immediate effect on them. It is, therefore, not an urgent or pressing discourse, hence the issue is not resolved. From the perspective of the women (Mama Ngozi, Mama Amina, Madam 12:30, Iya Bola, Christy and Vera), underage marriage is an aberration which stems from men’s selfish desire to assuage their sexual urges and fantasies. For the women, a 13-year-old girl is certainly not ripe for sexual activity, let alone childbearing, since her reproductive organs are not yet well developed. This is why Mama Ngozi appeals to her husband to speak to Papa Amina, since she believes he is in the best position to enlighten Papa Amina on the consequences of his choice. Thus, the women’s motherly instincts spur them to act rather than to lazily wait for their passive husbands. They empathise with Mama Amina because they reckon their own children may also sooner or later be in the same predicament. Consequently, they take the less self-centred path and view Amina’s situation as the responsibility of the community, hence the protest meant to humiliate Alhaji and dissuade him from contracting the marriage: Iya Bola: Mama Ngozi:

This girl na our pikin too. You want to know how many times I baff am. Me sef still dey baff Amina till today. Pikin wey never form finish you say you wan marry.

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Madam 12:30: Oga abeg no make us call area boy for you. Dem no go follow you dey talk this nonsense wey you dey talk. ALL: Ole! Ole! Ole! Egocentrism, they insist, creates rancour and dissension, as already evident in the nation; therefore, Mama Amina’s challenge becomes the challenge of all the women in the community. This informs their desire to take up the cause as a national struggle, further challenging all women in the nation to perceive underage marriage as a deprivation of the freedom and childhood of the girl child, which must be collectively upheld. They leverage on the media and Vera’s socioeconomic privileges in order to make this move a national struggle for all women, irrespective of their socioeconomic, ethnic or academic status. Since child marriage is deemed to be bad for the children of the rich, then it must also be bad for those of the poor. This is demonstrated in the following excerpt: Senator Isong: If early marriage wouldn’t have been good enough for my late daughter, then it is not good enough for any girl child. Enough is enough. I’m going to do what I should have done before I started to kill my conscience slowly. The desire to do what is right within their capacity, which many, especially the elites, consider debasing, evolves into a political movement with the vision of annulling the act of child marriage by insisting that the government mandate all states in the federation to implement the Child Rights Act, a law passed in 2003 which prohibits any marriage below the age of 18. This political movement is composed of all females in the state, irrespective of their social status as they adopt the strategy of maximising the media, a platform provided by Vera Isong, the senator’s wife, to publicise their struggle, project and advance their vision beyond the community, thus making it a subject of global discourse. The women are informed of the implications of underage marriage on the society, ranging from health to psychological, social and political if such acts are not curtailed. Through the women movement and the unanimous “strike” (non-­ engagement in any sexual activity by females, irrespective of their marital status), they gain the support of their grudging husbands to believe in their struggle and call on the government to implement the Child Rights Act in all the states.

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Conclusion It is observed that the women function as a group defined by close-knit values which stem from their motherly inclinations to seek the wellbeing of a child, including meeting her physical, emotional, spiritual and psychological needs. This vision defines their struggle as they adopt a unified strategy which allows them to work collectively rather than being driven by their personal views. More importantly, it reveals the innate power which women embody and their ability to effect changes within their sphere of influence and by extension the nation as a whole. Through cooperation and team spirit, they can subvert self-imposed wills in order to incorporate and promote justice. This can only be achieved when individuals have a sense of belonging and regard one another as indispensable parts of the whole. On this premise is the heroic essence of the women advanced.

References African Women’s Development Fund. (2014). Making Connections: The 2014 Activity Report. Appelrouth, S., & Edles, L. (2010). Feminist and gender theories. In Sociological theory in the contemporary era: Text and readings (2nd ed., pp. 312–380). Sage Publication, Inc. Bouchard, G. (2013). The conditions necessary to present a standpoint: A literature review (pp. 1–14). 9574379. Dovey, L. (2012). New looks: The rise of African women filmmakers. In Feminist Africa Issue 16 (pp. 18–36). https://www.africanfilmny.org/2014/ new-­looks-­the-­rise-­of-­african-­women-­filmmakers/ Ellerson, B. (2011). http://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2011/09/ conversation-­with-­yaba-­badoe.html; https://www.blogger.com/profile/ 01073242158114427457; https://womenandhollywood.com/resources/ statistics/2018-­statistics/ Etounga-Manguella, D. (2000). Does Africa need a cultural adjustment program? In L.  Harrison & S.  Huntington (Eds.), Culture matters: How values shape human progress (pp. 65–77). Basic. Harding, S. (1986). The Science Question in Feminism. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. Hartsock, N. (2004). The feminist standpoint: Developing the ground for a specifically feminist historical materialism. In S. Harding & M. Hintikka (Eds.), Discovering reality: Feminist perspective on epistemology, metaphysics, methodology and philosophy of science (pp. 283–310). Kluwer Academic Publishers. 161.

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Haynes, J. (2017). Nollywood: The creation of Nigerian film genres. Bookcraft. Morgan, R. (1993). The word of a woman: Feminist dispatches (p. 64). W.W. Norton & Co. Inc. Mulvey, L. (1989). Visual pleasure and narrative cinema. Macmillan. Nnaemeka, O. (2004). Nego-feminism: Theorizing, practicing, and pruning Africa’s way. In F. Lionnet, O. Nnaemeka, S. Perry, et al. (Eds.), Development cultures: New environments, new realities, new strategies (pp.  354–385). The University of Chicago Press. 29(2). Smith, D. (n.d.). Women’s perspective as a radical critique of Sociology (pp. 7–13). 44(1). http://home.ku.edu.tr/~mbaker/CSHS503/Smith.pdf Thornham, S. (2006). Second wave feminism. In S. Gamble (Ed.), The Routledge companion to feminism and Postfeminism (pp. 25–35). Taylor & Francis Group. Yakubu, A. (2017). Nollywood representations of mothers in (dis)empowering situations. In M. Sotunsa & O. Yacob-Haliso (Eds.), Gender, culture and development in Africa (pp. 75–87). Pan-African University Press. Zaytseva, O. (2010). Evolving issues and theoretical tensions: a revised standpoint theory for 21st century. Doctoral Seminar, University of New Mexico. h t t p s : / / w w w. s e m a n t i c s c h o l a r. o rg / … E V O LV I N G -­I S S U E S -­A N D THEORETICAL…Zaytsee

Filmography Wives on Strike. Dir. Omoni Oboli. Perfs. Omoni Oboli, Uche Jombo Rodriguez, Chioma Chukwuka Akpotha, Ufuoma McDermott and Kehinde Bankole. English DVD. Nigeria: Dioni Visions Entertainment, 2016.

CHAPTER 7

Gender Issues in the Nigerian Public Relations Profession Omolayo Olusola Jegede, Helen Odunola Adekoya, and Feyishara Olojo

Introduction The gender gap in public relations firms has probably been brought about by under representation of qualified women in leadership positions. In the light of global agitation for gender equality, it becomes imperative to have equal representation of both men and women in leadership positions in Public Relations firms, towards the achievement of peace and development in the profession. In an effort to seek factors affecting leadership opportunities for women in Nigeria’s public relations firms, this study explored the reasons for the invincible obstacles women face specifically in the consultancy practice of public relations in Nigeria and suggested solutions that would enable women advance to top positions. The attributes

O. O. Jegede (*) • H. O. Adekoya • F. Olojo Department of Mass Communication, Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Nigeria e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 M. Sotunsa, A. M. Yakubu (eds.), Nigerian Women in Cultural, Political and Public Spaces, Gender and Cultural Studies in Africa and the Diaspora, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40582-2_7

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and contributions women make that qualify them for top positions were examined. This chapter is anchored on the liberal feminism theory, which is of the assumption that gender should not directly or indirectly influence decisions for choosing leaders, the study adopted the total enumeration technique to select 115 public relations practitioners in consultancy firms in Nigeria. Useful information were gathered using questionnaire and interviews to determine factors affecting leadership opportunities for women. Findings revealed that despite the fact that women possess attributes that should qualify them for leadership positions in Public Relations firms, discrimination, inability to find a balance between family and career, and adjustment to negative stereotypes associated with womanhood constituted barriers to their career advancement. Firms adopting flexible work policies for women, reduction of job segregation, and adjustment of cultural beliefs about women’s work role were solutions proffered. A good public image does not occur fortuitously; it originates as a result of the deliberate communication processes that build mutually beneficial relationships between an organisation and its publics. Achieving a mutually beneficial and friendly relationship is the core responsibility of the public relations practitioner. In contemporary society, women probably make up the majority of public relations practitioners in many countries, with about 70% domination but hold only 30% of the top positions in the industry (Shah, 2015). Consequently, there is a need to understand the gender inequality predominant in the discipline of public relations in Nigeria and how women have contributed to the growth of the field. Although women outnumber men in the public relations profession, men continue to be at the forefront in holding executive or management positions (Geyer, 2008). This could be because of the way women are negatively perceived in a public relations firm in comparison to their male counterparts. There is a tendency to describe female managers as not poised for self-confidence, emotional stability, analytical mind, consistency, and not having excellent leadership abilities as male managers. The belief that women sometimes take negative feedback personally and may run from the room in tears if criticised is interpreted as lacking the necessary drive to succeed in business. This makes some people believe the stereotypes that women are not suitable for executive positions because they lose their self-control easily and are not assertive, which, in turn, is likely to disqualify or portray them as unsuitable for attaining leadership positions (Harris, 2009). Sotunsa (2018, p.  5) posits that “historically,

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women were portrayed and perceived as weak, emotional and dependent beings, thus they were trained to be useful to their husbands, attend to his needs, and take care of the children.” The gendered stereotypes of men being independent, assertive, competitive, and less emotional and having analytic minds, as opposed to women, are attributes that are consistent with the demands of leadership, especially in public relations firms (Okurame, 2006). However, in order to increase their efficiency as leaders and dissipate the notion that women are weak leaders, some women may express dictatorial administrative style. They are expected to imitate men and to adapt to the male norms in the business world (Owen & Todor, 2003). Okurame is averse to discrete female leadership style noting that in contrast to the negative sensitivities about female managers, some junior employees surprisingly benefit from working with women leaders because they are believed to be naturally kind, which makes it hard for them to treat their subordinates with hardship. Gradually, women are becoming a force to be reckoned with in various sectors of the economy (Swethaa Ballakrishnen, Priya Fielding-Singh, & Devon Magliozzi, 2018). Literature shows women’s undeniable contributions to commercial and fiscal activities in their countries. Similar to global trends, women in Nigeria have also taken up top managerial roles in various sectors of the economy and are taking advantage of several business prospects as a means of making money and circumventing the harsh reality and biased practices that characterise today’s corporate sector. Arguably, nothing prevents a woman from attaining leadership cadre; however, women in the public relations profession confront glass ceilings and are prevented by discriminatory impediments that inhibit them from growing beyond mid-career success. This study is anchored on public relations firms registered under the Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria (PRCAN) in Lagos State, Nigeria; PR Redline, BlackHouse Media Group, The Quadrant Company, Blueflower Limited, Sesema PR, Metro Media Communications Limited, Chain Reactions Limited, Mediacraft Associates, and Trucontact Communications. It sought to assess factors affecting leadership opportunities for women in public relations consultancy firms in Nigeria. The study raised pertinent questions: What are the factors limiting women from attaining leadership positions in public relations firms? What are the attributes that women managers possess for top management positions in public relations firms? What contributions do women make that

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qualify them for managerial positions in a public relations firm? And what are the solutions that will enable the women encountering glass ceilings in public relations firms stand a better chance to hold leadership positions? These questions form the basis of the chapter.

The Liberal Feminism Theory The liberal feminism theory provides the theoretical foundation for this study. Liberal feminism theory developed from the works of Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797), John Stuart Mill (1806–1873), and Harriet Taylor Mill (1807–1858), among others. Its thrust is anchored on advocacy for equal rights for both men and women; in the process downplaying the superiority of one gender above the other, that is, men above women. Advocates of this theory emphasised equal intellectual capabilities for all people, irrespective of their gender, hence rendering superior roles assigned to men redundant. Liberal feminism emphasises the biological similarities and differences between men and women; attributing most of the personality and character differences between the sexes to the social construction of gender, and tend to promote a single set of androgynous virtues for both women and men. Affirming this stance, Akokuwebe and Okafor (2015) aver that the major expression of gender inequality theory is liberal feminism, and that gender inequality is the result of a sexist patterning of the division of labour. Also, that gender equality can be produced by transforming the division of labour through the re-patterning of key institutions like law, work, family, education, and media. Generally, negative stereotype about women being less intellectual and capable than men prevails. Liberal feminists fight against these types of stereotypes. Proponents of this theory believe in the doctrine of individualism, which advocates that all men and women are rational individuals who are capable of competing for jobs on an equal footing, assuming that the correct adjustments are made to social structures and gender roles. In relation to this chapter, acknowledgement of equal rationality of the sexes and emphasis on the importance of structuring social, familial, and sexual roles in ways that promote women’s autonomous and self-­fulfilment is expedient. This can serve as a panacea towards the acceptance of women, as well as acknowledgement of their intellectual capabilities and leadership potentials in Public Relations practice.

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Women and Leadership Akokuwebe and Okafor (2015) define leadership as a mobilisation process by individuals with certain motives, values, and access to resources in a context of competition and conflict in the pursuit of goals. A leader is someone who is in the forefront, who pulls followers after him, sharing the way, rather than showing the way. As such, leadership should involve influencing others through the personality or actions of the individual leader. There are dimensions of leadership which also serve as the foundation on which the female and male leadership styles are distinguished. According to Johnson, Murphy, Zewdie, and Reichard (2008), cited by the Caliper Research Department (2014), one factor that could help explain the lack of women in top leadership are the challenges they experience in the workplace, compared to males. For example, society has general expectations of male and female behaviours and personality traits, as well as expectations for the behaviours and personality of leaders. The problem for women leaders arises when gender expectations do not align with social expectations for leadership behaviours, causing negative judgments of women as leaders. The Caliper Research Department (2014) further states that women who have been able to attain leadership positions still face certain inevitable challenges; there are sacrifices that they will have to make, some of which are the challenges of combining career with family and dealing with unfair treatment in the workplace. As a result, successful female leaders develop coping strategies to help overcome some of these challenges. For example, some women leaders have been able to rework their own definitions of success in the roles of both leader and mother. They have learned to make these norms more compatible to their lifestyle than the norms prescribed by the larger society (Caliper Research Department, 2014).

Factors Affecting Leadership Opportunities for Women in Public Relations Hora (2014, p. 2), affirms that “although women constitute two third of the world’s working hours, produce half of the world’s food and above all, bear and rear children, women continue to suffer from all forms of discrimination and from the absence of adequate protection against violence.” This goes to confirm that all round and sustainable development in the work place can only be achieved when level playing ground is made

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available for both male and female workers. This becomes very relevant to the Public Relations professionals who expectedly are to be trouble-shooters. The common axiom among mass communication professionals is that public relations is a management decision. The under representation of women in public offices can also be attributed to their low representation in leadership positions of public relations firms. The National Population Census (2006) shows that women constitute 49% of the total population, yet there is great gender disparity between women and men in leadership positions in public relations firms. Some of the factors attributable to this can be physiological, where men are expected to exercise authority and are more forceful, autonomous, and logical. Their female counterparts, on the other hand, are expected to be developmental, friendly, gentle, and to be in less assertive positions. Also, some social-cultural practices, different among various ethnic groups in Nigeria, impede women from attaining leadership positions in public relations firms. Sotunsa (2018, p. 6) further posits that “culture has been alleged to be a major source of gender inequality and oppression, especially for most women in Africa.” The traditional role of the women and the girl-child in carrying out household chores, which often leaves them with little or no time for formal education and self-development, is also one of the factors responsible for lack of a sufficient number of women in leadership positions. Religion is also an important factor that militates against women in attaining leadership positions; the purdah system common among Muslims and in the northern part of the country and the Biblical injunction found in Ephesians 5 verse 22 that “women submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord,” have been clearly interpreted in favour of men.

Methodology In order to contextualise the chapter, a study was carried out. The population of the study were public relations practitioners in consultancy firms in Lagos State, Nigeria. Adopting descriptive survey research technique, 115 staff from 10 PR firms: (PR Redline, BlackHouse Media Group, The Quadrant Company, Blueflower Limited, Sesema PR, Metro Media Communications Limited, Chain Reactions Limited, Mediacraft Associates and Trucontact Communication) were sampled using total enumeration technique. The sampled PR firms were selected using random sampling technique. The research instruments were questionnaire and interview guide.

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Key Informants Interviewed (KII) Three women were selected for interview because they occupy leadership positions in public relations firms. This strategy made it possible to gather other relevant data that perhaps were not adequately captured through the quantitative instrument. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Respondent 1 is a client service director in the firm she works with, Respondent 2 is a director in the firm she works, while Respondent 3 is an assistant managing director in the PR firm she works.

Presentation and Discussion of Findings Socio-demographic characteristics of respondents: Table 7.1 shows that more than half (64%) of the respondents were female, less than half (36%) were males. This implies that there were more female respondents than males. Table 7.2 shows that lack of understanding of what public relations profession truly entails (39% disagree to the notion, while 30% of respondents agree), lack of interest (45% respondents disagree), lack of required training (46% disagree), and lack of confidence by women to move past mid-career success (47% respondents disagree) are not factors affecting women from attaining leadership positions in public relations. On the other hand, the table shows that factors affecting women from moving past mid-career success in public relations include discrimination against women (strongly agree + agree = 52%), inability to find balance between family and career (strongly agree + agree = 67%), adjustment/adaptability

Table 7.1 Distribution of respondents by gender

Gender

Frequency

Percentage

Female Male Total

64 36 100

64.0 36.0 100.0

Source: Field survey 2016

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Table 7.2  Factors limiting women from attaining leadership positions in public relations firms SD Lack of understanding of what PR profession truly entails Discrimination against women Inability to find balance between family and career Adjustment/adaptability to negative stereotypes attached to womanhood Cultural beliefs that women should always submit to men Lack of interest by women to move past mid-career success Lack of confidence among women

A

UD

SD

D

7(7%) 23(23%) 31(31%) 26(26%) 13(13%) 20(20%) 32(32%) 16(16%) 22(22%) 10(10%) 28(28%) 39(39%) 12(12%) 12(12%) 9(9%) 12(12%) 42(42%) 27(27%) 11(11%)

8(8%)

17(17%) 36(36%) 18(18%) 16(16%) 13(13%) 4(4%) 23(23%) 28(28%) 27(27%) 18(18%) 5(5%) 23(23%) 25(25%) 41(41%)

6(6%)

Source: Field Survey 2016

Table 7.3  Attributes for top management positions in public relations

Good writing, listening and speech skills Assertiveness Critical thinking Leadership qualities Creativity Current on major events Thoroughness Firmness

SD

A

UD

SD

D

37(37%) 25(25%) 30(30%) 30(30%) 33(33%) 33(33%) 33(33%) 29(29%)

55(55%) 61(61%) 53(53%) 40(40%) 44(44%) 39(39%) 43(43%) 51(51%)

7(7%) 12(12%) 12(12%) 23(23%) 19(19%) 14(14%) 13(13%) 15(15%)

0 1(1%) 1(1%) 1(1%) 2(2%) 3(3%) 2(2%) 5(5%) 3(3%) 1(1%) 6(6%) 8(8%) 0 11(11%) 4(4%) 1(1%)

Source: Field Survey 2016

to negative stereotypes attached to womanhood (strongly agree + agree = 54%), and cultural beliefs that women should always submit to men (strongly agree + agree = 53%). Table 7.3 presents the leadership attributes for top management positions in PR. It reveals the respondents’ perception of the attributes possessed by most women managers in PR. Adopting a multi-choice system whereby respondents were allowed to choose more than a single option, the attributes of good writing, listening, and speech skills ranked highest at 92%, followed by assertiveness at 86%, critical thinking at 83%, firmness

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at 80%, creativity at 77%, thoroughness at 76%, current on major issues at 72%, and leadership qualities at 70%. The findings imply that women managers in PR are no doubt skilled for the job, as they possess the essential attributes and qualities required. However, although they score highly at 70% in leadership qualities, the results show that their major area of strength is in the possession of good writing, listening, and speech skills, which ranked highest at 92%, Table 7.4 presents respondents’ perception of contributions that qualify women for managerial positions in PR: 1. Majority of the respondents agree (strongly agree + agree = 85%) to the fact that women in public relations are active listeners. 2. Eighty-four per cent (strongly agree + agree) attests to the fact that women in public relations tend to be more social. 3. Eighty per cent (strongly agree + agree) of the respondents agree to the fact that women in public relations are plugged into current events. 4. Majority of the respondents agree (strongly agree + agree = 71%) to the fact that women in public relations are more effective in group settings; while 22% of the respondents are undecided, 7% disagree. 5. The table shows that majority of the respondents agree (strongly agree + agree = 78%) to the fact that women in public relations are better planners.

Table 7.4  Contributions that qualify women for managerial positions in a PR firm

Women are active listeners Women tend to be more social Women are plugged into current events Women are more effective in group settings Women are more interested in work-life as compared to men Women are better planners Lack of confidence among women Source: Field Survey 2016

SD

A

UD

32(32%) 46(46%) 29(29%) 24(24%)

53(53%) 8(8%) 38(38%) 12(12%) 51(51%) 15(15%) 47(47%) 22(22%)

SD 4(4%) 1(1%) 2(2%) 5(5%)

D 3(3%) 3(3%) 3(3%) 2(2%)

15(15%) 27(27%) 33(33%) 18(18%) 7(7%) 45(45%) 33(33%) 14(14%) 4(4%) 4(4%) 5(5%) 23(23%) 25(25%) 41(41%) 6(6%)

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Table 7.5  Solutions that will enable women encountering glass ceilings in PR firms stand a better chance to hold leadership positions

Firms need to adopt flexible work policies for women Reduction of job segregation Adjusting cultural beliefs about women’s work role Public enlightenment on gender equality Women need to have confidence in themselves Women need to work harder Change of orientation about public relations

SD

A

42(42%)

30(30%)

35(35%) 26(26%)

UD

SD

D

6(6%)

11(11%)

11(11%)

36(36%) 36(36%)

16(16%) 24(24%)

11(11%) 10(10%)

2(2%) 4(4%)

28(28%)

44(44%)

16(16%)

8(8%)

4(4%)

48(48%)

35(35%)

10(10%)

7(7%)

0

26(26%) 28(28%)

34(34%) 37(37%)

3(3%) 22(22%)

25(25%) 9(9%)

8(8%) 4(4%)

Source: Field Survey 2016

Still adopting a multi-choice system whereby respondents were allowed to choose more than a single option, solutions that will enable women encountering glass ceilings in PR firms stand a better chance of attaining leadership positions, as presented in Table 7.5, show adoption of flexible work policies for women in Public Relations Firms ranking 72%, reduction of job segregation as a way of achieving greater gender parity in public relations stands at 71%, adjusting cultural beliefs about women’s work role at 62%, public enlightenment on gender equality as a way of achieving greater gender parity in public relations at 72%, the need for women to have confidence in themselves in order to rise to leadership positions in public relations firms at 83%, need to work harder in order to rise to leadership positions in public relations firms at 60%, while change of orientation about public relations stands at 65%.

Discussion of Major Findings Findings of this study reveal that inability to find a balance between family and career is a factor affecting women from moving past mid-career success in public relations. This corroborates the findings of Aron (2015) and Piterman (2008) that a ‘round the clock’ culture and struggles to accommodate parenthood, impacts on women who have major career responsibility. This view was confirmed by two of the respondents interviewed

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when asked factors responsible for the difficulties women face in advancing to top positions. According to the respondents: There are societal expectations on women (to spend more time attending to family duties) when they are mid-career as there are external pressures on women. (IDI/R1/FEMALE/2018) Pregnancy or family issues and women having to juggle work related goals and family responsibilities. It is like having a dual career. (IDI/R3/ FEMALE/2018)

From this study, 54% of respondents as shown affirmed that adjustment/adaptability to negative stereotypes attached to womanhood is a factor affecting women from moving past mid-career success in public relations. Place (2011) states that female practitioners are actively employing stereotypical gendered discourses to make meaning of their workplace experiences and framing discrimination or work-life balance challenges as personal problems, rather than industry problems. In turn, these practices are further solidifying hegemonic gender/power systems. In the interview with the respondents on factors responsible for the difficulties women face in their places of work, they commented thus: In my opinion, the existing stereotypes and pre-concepts of how women can’t sustain a leadership position is one of the obstacles they encounter when advancing in their companies. (IDI/R3/FEMALE/2018) The general belief people in our society have that a woman is not suitable for a top job because she probably has a lot of family responsibilities to handle is one of the reasons for the invincible barriers we face in this industry. (IDI/R2/FEMALE/2018)

Majority (53%) of the respondents agree that cultural beliefs that women should always submit to men is a factor affecting women from moving past mid-career success in public relations and this agrees with the findings of Shah (2015) that men with stay-at-home wives tend to hold negative views of working women and this dispositions are often brought to the work place. The finding here also corroborates the findings of Piterman (2008) that the business world generally is viewed through a masculine prism, the skills, and traits attributed to the feminine do not align with the business essentials. In addition, the business environment is dominated by a limiting female standard that places women in a cultural ‘straight jacket.’ Furthermore, one of the women interviewed revealed

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part of the reasons for the under representation of women in leadership positions: I would say trend and women being fit for management positions (mid-level positions) and men being traditionally fit for top positions is one of the reasons women are stuck in the firms they work with. (IDI/R2/ FEMALE/2018)

It is imperative to note that lack of interest by women to move past mid-career success is not a factor affecting women from moving past mid-­ career success in public relations, as majority of the respondents disagree (45%). This finding contradicts that of Shah (2015) that many women are opting out of management roles mid-career. Similarly, results also showed that lack of confidence among women is not a factor affecting women from moving past mid-career success in public relations, as majority (47%) of the respondents disagree; while 28% of the respondents agree, and 25% are undecided. Preliminary studies (Shah, 2015; Geyer, 2008; Piterman, 2008; Place, 2011, etc.) reveal a diversion of the result of this study from earlier findings. According to the findings of this research, the factors affecting women from advancing to top positions are: discrimination against women, inability to find a balance between family and career, adjustment/adaptability to negative stereotypes attached to womanhood, and cultural beliefs that women should always submit to men. Other factors affecting leadership opportunities for women according to the interview respondents include: Women in our industry are most times excluded from informal networks which are usually the male dominated social networks of communication and also you find out that the few number of women in top positions have resulted in a low number of role models or mentors for women to follow. (IDI/R3/FEMALE/2018) For this profession there is an inflexibility in defining work schedules probably because no one can tell when the wrong news can come out or a crisis can occur and also having to be on the client’s beck and call. These issues are not encouraging for a woman who has full family responsibilities. (IDI/R2/FEMALE/2018) At the upper level of the career there are a lot of demands on you and sometimes the bosses might feel the woman is not the best option for top positions especially because of some of the late night hangouts, having to

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manage through crisis. Which consequently results in the position of men (leadership positions). (IDI/R1/FEMALE/2018)

Lastly, the study corroborates the findings of Shah (2015) that underscore the need for public relations firms to come up with a plan which will include policies considered crucial to attracting and retaining women; such as flexible work environments, telecommuting, reduction of job segregation, and family leave.

Conclusion This chapter assessed gender issues in public relations practice: the leadership scrimmage. The objectives were to determine the factors limiting women from occupying leadership positions in public relations firms, establish the extent to which women managers possess the attributes for top management positions in public relations firms, determine the contributions women make that qualify them for managerial positions in a public relations firm, and identify possible solutions for women who deserve managerial positions in public relations firms but are encountering glass ceilings. The findings of this chapter revealed that public enlightenment on gender equality is a solution for women having problems advancing in public relations. The major findings were that: discrimination against women, inability to find a balance between family and career, adjustment to negative stereotypes attached to womanhood, and absence of role models were identified factors affecting women from advancing in public relations firms in Nigeria. It was also found out that women possess attributes of leadership in public relations and contribute enough to be promoted to top positions. Some of the solutions for women having difficulties advancing to top positions in public relations were that firms need to adopt flexible work policies for women, reduction of job segregation, public enlightenment on gender equality, and most importantly, women need to have confidence in themselves and work harder in order to advance considering the cultural beliefs prevalent in Nigeria.

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Recommendations Based on the findings of this chapter, the following recommendations were made: government should assist women by enlightening the public more on the importance of gender equality and the reduction of job segregation in many professions. Also, government should ensure that companies adopt flexible work policies for women considering that they have to juggle between families and careers. Moreover, companies need to start to appreciate potential leaders in the same light, and not impose a double standard on women in order to be qualified candidates for top positions. It is important that the society appreciates the hard work women put in and overlook socio-cultural beliefs that allow for gender inequality in any profession or organisation. Additionally, this chapter established that women contribute enough and also possess the attributes for top management, but only few of them attain such enviable positions. Thus, the research recommends that the identified solutions: firms adopting flexible work policies, reduction of job segregation, and adjusting cultural beliefs about women’s work role should be implemented, not only in public relations firms, but also in different organisations. Finally in order to ensure peace and national security, both men and women should be given a level playing ground in public relations firms, as peace at work place would translate to peace at the national level.

References Akokuwebe M., & Okafor, E. (2015). Women and leadership in Nigeria: Challenges and prospects. Retrieved November 12, 2015, from http://www.iiste.org/ Journals/index.php/DCS/article/view/19651/20120 Aron, I. (2015). Why are there so few female leaders in PR?. Retrieved November 16, 2015, from http://www.prweek.com/article/1337610/why-­so-­few-­ female-­leaders-­pr Ballakrishnen, S., Fielding-Singh, P., & Magliozzi, D. (2018). Intentional invisibility: Professional women and the navigation of workplace constraints. Sociological Perspectives, 1–19. Retrieved May 19, 2022, from https://us.sagepub.com/en-­us/journals-­permissions Caliper Research and Development Department. (2014). Women leaders research paper. Prepared by: The Caliper research and development department. Retrieved November 15, 2015, from https://www.calipercorp.com/home-­3/ banner-­women-­leaders-­white-­paper/

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Geyer, V. (2008). Public relations: A role for women? Proceedings of the 66th New  York State. Retrieved October 25, 2015, from http://docs.rwu.edu/ cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1038&context=nyscaproceedings Harris, H. (2009). Women’s role in international management, international human resource management. Sage Publications. Hora, E.  A. (2014). Factors that affect women participation in leadership and decision ‘Making Position’. Asian Journal of Humanity, Art and Literature, 1, 97–117. National Population Commission. (2006). Okurame, D., (2006). Career outcomes of job experience and gender occurrence of mentoring. Ibadan Univ. 4(2): 21. Retrieved October 14, 2015, from http:// ijebcm.brookes.ac.uk/documents/vol06issue2-­paper-­04.pdf Owen, C. & Todor, W., (2003). Attitudes towards women as managers: Still the same few women hold executive positions. Piterman, H. (2008). The Leadership Challenge: Women in Management. Retrieved November 16, 2015, from http://www.dss.gov.au/our-responsibilities/ women/publications-articles/economic-independence/the-leadership-challengewomen-in-management?HTML Place, K. R. (2011). Power and gender at the crossroads: A qualitative examination of the nexus of power and gender in public relations. Retrieved January 8, 2016, from http://www.prismjournal.org/fileadmin/8_1/Place.pdf Shah, A. (2015). Why aren’t there more female CEO’s in PR?. Retrieved October 10, 2015, from http://www.holmesreport.com/long-­reads/article/why-­ aren%27t-­there-­more-­female-­ceos-­in-­pr Sotunsa, M. E. (2018). Gender matters and the cultural dilemma in African literature; 22nd Inaugural Lecture of Babcock University. Thursday 3rd May, 2018.

CHAPTER 8

Influence of Television Viewing on Eating Disorders Among Female Nigerian Undergraduates of Universities of Jos and Lagos Johnson Babafemi Akintayo and Adachukwu Grace Okafo

Introduction The prevalence of dieting among women has become so remarkable that it will not be incorrect to say that many women, especially the educated, are involved in it either consciously or subconsciously. It is an act that stems not necessarily from reasons for wanting to be healthy but from the desire to achieve or maintain the stereotypical idea of the ideal body size. The quest for an ideal body image may come with a price, bringing the individual involved to a number of situations—having to battle with health problems, being underweight as a result of inadequate feeding (picky

J. B. Akintayo (*) • A. G. Okafo Department of Mass Communication, Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Nigeria e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 M. Sotunsa, A. M. Yakubu (eds.), Nigerian Women in Cultural, Political and Public Spaces, Gender and Cultural Studies in Africa and the Diaspora, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40582-2_8

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eaters), or an extreme state where eating disorder is developed over a period of time. Dike (2009), citing Whitaker (1992), attests that eating disorders rank as the third (3rd) most common chronic illness in adolescent females. Eating disorders, which for long were mistaken to be present mainly in Western countries alone due to certain ideologies that stem from outdated beliefs among Nigerians that being weighty was a sign of wealth and good living, are now a common phenomenon and are beginning to raise much concern. Unuhu et  al. (2009) contend that eating disorders are provoked by messages passed across through interpersonal communication, magazines, social media, and television. Eating disorders may also be provoked through a combination of two or more of these channels of communication, which are visually effective and can clearly portray the picture of the message being transmitted. Individuals who frequently consume television (TV) messages over a long period of time not only get familiar with what is presented but perceive such as true or right, as implied by the magic-­ bullet theory and the hypodermic needle effect, which suggests that mass media injects messages into the minds of the audience that soon after may begin to manifest in their decisions and actions. The study of girl’s body satisfaction and self-esteem by Dohnt and Tiggman (2006) for the American Psychological Association illustrates that the media creates a negative influence on girls’ body image and self-­ esteem, particularly in regard to acceptable levels of thinness. Dieting is most often the method resorted to in the pursuit of attaining this said ideal body size presented on TV. Without disputing the fact that individuals have the ability to sieve media messages and decide which is most suitable for them, as theorised in the uses and gratification theory, there is no doubt that the perpetual dissatisfaction of one’s body due to the thin ideal portrayed on TV can be preliminary to the development of eating disorder, thereby provoking decisions and change of behaviour towards feeding habits. In order to achieve the media’s portrayal of the society’s idea of the ideal body size, stringent dieting is often resorted to by the viewers, which in the long run may lead to an eating disorder. The media, essentially TV, is oftentimes used as the determinant for the overweight and right weight range, not primarily for health reasons but as an effort made to be physically compliant with what TV has presented as the ideal. Numerous TV programmes directly or indirectly sell the idea that the thinner a young female is the more attractive and beautiful she

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will be considered, which might not necessarily be true, as the concept of beauty and attractiveness are relative and vary among individuals. TV programmes such as Dr. Phil, DUFF, Skinny Girl in Transit, All About the Base, and Pretty Little Liars use thin models or actresses to promote a product or as the character that is rewarded, while those who are plus-­ sized or above the average standard are not, or much less often, used for promotions and are usually the object of ridicule or stigmatisation in role play. Both strategies give the audience the idea that being thin is more acceptable and appreciated in the society and those above that size are often treated less favourably than they are. Individuals, therefore, adopt the most convenient ways in which dieting is a part to attain their goal. The endeavour to achieve this said ideal image in itself is not bad, but the interminable effort and inability to know when one is approaching or has gotten into a problematic stage, which in this case is an eating disorder and denial of being a victim, is where the problem lies. Consequently, this chapter, among other things, attempted to identify if the problem of eating disorders is provoked or influenced by what is presented and promoted on television. Pertinent objectives that underpin this essay include: determining the frequency of female undergraduates’ exposure to TV programmes that portray thinness as the ideal body image; evaluating the possible level of influence TV programmes that promote thinness as the ideal body image have on the eating habit of female youth; and determining the extent to which symptoms of anorexia are present among female undergraduates due to programmes on TV.

Television Influence, Viewing Culture, and Behaviour Television (TV) is one of the most prominent mass communication media which individuals rely on for information and entertainment. Ownership and viewership of the medium is constantly on the rise because of its appeal to both the sense of sight and sound, convenience, and capacity to drive pleasure. TV, by its programming content, entertains, informs, educates, and persuades the audience and is often very influential. Different categories of TV programmes are targeted at specific groups of the audience according to their needs and interests. It is then little wonder that women, who are known to be most concerned about their physical appearance, are often fed varying content regarding body image and what the ideal

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attractive woman should look like. Their mindset, purchase choice, views on various issues, attitude towards certain things, and behaviour therefore are impacted and influenced. Nwegbu et al. (2011), citing Schafeur (2002), posit that culture is the totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects, and behaviour. TV viewing culture similarly may be said to be the habitual pattern an individual has formed as a result of viewing TV programmes, which may have to do with the preference and frequency of various programmes viewed. However, the behaviour of individuals many times stems from the acquisition of knowledge from experiences, interactions, and media messages encountered through attractive music, visuals, and persuasive speech, but most importantly, through the repetition of such content. Television has been considered a major influencer of its viewer’s worldview on a lot of things, especially in attitudinal and behavioural capacities (Akintayo & Adegoke, 2015). An individual gets acquainted with that which is constantly presented, begins to appreciate and accept the idea over a period of time, and becomes affected by the perception of the messages. Early TV viewing of violent content, for example, has been linked to later aggressive behaviour, just as consistent watching of sexual content on television impacts ultimately the sexual behaviour of viewers (Novak Djokovic Foundation, 2015). Anaeto et al. (2012), citing McGuire (1968) in their discussion of information processing theory, further affirm that an individual, after being exposed to media content, first chooses whether or not to like the content, then progressively begins to accept the message transmitted, internalises it, and begins practising it.

Television Portrayal of the Thin Ideal, Body Image Dissatisfaction, Self-Esteem, and Anorexia Television, in the performance of its basic functions of teaching, informing, entertaining, and persuading, can mislead its viewers, as they may end up on the wrong track, having believed mere illusions. Moran (2011), citing López-Guimerà et al. (2010), contends that society’s perception of true beauty has been habitually shaped by the Mass Media. They argue that media in its portrayal of ‘beauty’ have excluded internal qualities and characters and have reduced it to mere physical look and of a certain body

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type, giving people the impression that being thin is the basic factor for attractiveness and beauty, an idea referred to as the thin ideal: Naturally such content would include portrayals of thinness as a desirable trait in and of itself or at least a trait that accompanies other desirable traits, as when the most beautiful, desirable, and successful protagonists are also thin. Yet, the thin body ideal may be just as effectively communicated by portrayals of fatness as an undesirable trait, one deemed disgusting in and of itself or one that accompanies other undesirable traits. (Harrison, 2000)

The use of the qualifying phrase ‘attractive way’ in Merriam Webster Dictionary’s definition of thinness passes on to individuals, especially female readers, a deep desire to look like those used to promote these ideals on TV, disregarding the implications for wellbeing and the high chance of unattainability. Body image is a ‘multidimensional construct that is influenced by biological, psychological, and social factors’ (Hogan & Strasburger, 2008). The merging of one’s outer appearance with perceptions derived from personal and cultural factors. Unfortunately, the society has crafted the idea of a perfect body image around thinness, presenting it as an ideal picture for attractiveness and beauty, especially among women. Whereas, unknown to many, the images portrayed are often edited or photoshopped. ‘This thin ideal is therefore virtually unattainable for many, which then causes a low self-esteem and body image dissatisfaction’ (Krishen, 2011), corroborating Tiwari’s (Tiwari, 2015) position that more women are likely to be dissatisfied about their bodies than men and that more men tend to have a higher level of self-esteem, especially pertaining to body image, than women. The resultant effect of this is the damage done to an individual’s emotional status, who not only falls victim to low self-esteem but may end up engaging in excessive exercising, abuse of laxative medication, and stringent dieting that in the long run may lead to an eating disorder. Eating disorder is a term used to refer to eating problems such as bulimia, binge eating, and anorexia nervosa (popularly known as anorexia), which are the major and most prominent types. Eating disorders are serious, potentially life-threatening conditions that affect a person’s emotional and physical health. Eating disorders are not just a “fad” or a “phase.” … They are real, complex, and devastating conditions

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that can have serious consequences for health, productivity, and relationships. (National Eating Disorder Association (NEDC), 2012)

Anorexia is an illness that is caused by a multiplicity of variants that may be genetic, metabolic, mental, or other environmental factors. It is characterised by low body weight, fear of gaining weight, minimal eating, restriction from food even when hungry, denial of the presence of this illness, and constant body dissatisfaction. According to Dike (2009), anorexia occurs when victims embark on extreme food restrictions to the point of self-starvation and excessive weight loss. Anorexics usually do not see themselves as being underweight, even when they are clearly emaciating. They are usually in denial and continue to restrict their food intake to the minimum, even when they are hungry, believing they are fat. Anorexics sometimes go as far as consuming just one piece of fruit a day. Dike (2009) submits that anorexia cuts across race and geographical boundaries, a very present reality among Nigerians today, which should no longer be regarded as a foreign ailment. The National Eating Disorder Collaboration (NEDC), 2012, affirms that while it is generally accepted, anorexia is more common in females across ages and only 10% of sufferers are males, implying that one out of every 10 individuals are males and the rest are females. There are currently no drugs or specific treatment options available. But early detection of anorexia nervosa and the effort to seek help can help manage this illness to the state of recovery and prevent relapses. The NEDC gave three symptomatic clues to identify anorexia: physical signs—rapid weight loss and an unstable weight, irregular menstrual cycle in females, fainting, distorted body image, and tiredness; psychological signs—increased food and body weight consciousness, irritability towards food, depression, denial of emaciating body, extreme body dissatisfaction, and low self-esteem; behavioural signs—dieting and avoidance of obvious weight-gaining foods, deliberate misuse of drugs to suppress hunger or flush out food eaten, anti-social behaviour and eating in private, compulsive and excessive exercise, and self-harm. When the body is denied the necessary nutrients, NEDC regards this as self-starvation, and the following results may manifest: increased chances of heart failure due to abnormally slow heart rate and low blood pressure; increased chances of bone diseases as a result of weaker bones; increased chances of kidney failure as a result of dehydration; inability to stay active

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over a short period of time as a result of constant weakness; and dry skin and hair loss. The information processing and the social learning theories make up the theoretical framework of this study.

Information Processing Theory The information processing theory helped to ascertain how much of the influence of television may be linked to the processes of female undergraduates as TV audiences, attending to the messages they receive, comprehending such messages enough to become convinced, yielding to the arguments or suggested ideas of thin body image and perhaps, and even establishing if the acceptance of these messages actually leads to a resolution and action. The study sought to affirm if, in actual fact, TV through the mentioned processes, can cause an individual to strongly believe in thinness as the ideal body image, attaching much importance to this ideal, and causing a reaction to the messages that in the long run may lead to the unintended case of eating disorder.

The Social Learning Theory Anaeto et al. (2012), citing Severin and Tankard (2001), suggest that the social learning theory, as propounded by Bandura, states that many of the effects of the Mass Media might take place through a process of social learning and that much learning takes place through observing the behaviour of others, especially when reinforced with some rewards. Observation and learning take place through watching other people and can affect what guides one’s future behaviour. Social learning is particularly effective through a mass medium such as television, where you get a multiplicative power from a single model transmitting new ways of thinking and behaving to many people in different locations. This study, therefore, sought to ascertain if media characters (models) can influence behaviour simply by being depicted on the screen and if the audience experienced strong emotional reactions, gained new values, and changed the way they behave by observing the performance of actors. Theory helped affirm if the viewers are willing to do whatever it takes to attain the sought reward (thin body image) as a result of social learning and observation.

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Methodology This chapter is based on a research conducted using the quantitative research design. A sample size of 398 was drawn from the total female undergraduate population of 21,030 from the University of Lagos and University of Jos using the Taro Yamane formula (1967). Instrument of data collection was a validated structured questionnaire. The instrument had earlier been face-validated and tested for reliability using test-retest. The simple percentage method was used for the analysis of data gathered from the questionnaires and inferential statistics (regression, correlation, and chi-square) to test the formulated hypotheses. A total of 397 copies of the questionnaire were returned and analysed. Table 8.1 shows the profiles of respondents from both universities and their distribution according to age levels of study and school. Profiles of student respondents according to their age, as revealed in Table 8.1, show that 216 (54.4%) are between 16 and 20  years, while 181 (45.6%) are between 21 and 25  years. Indicating that, although respondents are between 16 and 25 years, more of the respondents are between ages 16 and 20, as depicted by 54.4% of the total. Table 8.1  Students’ demographic characteristics Variables

 Age 16–20 years 21–25 years Total  Level 100 200 300 400 500 600 Total  School University of Lagos University of Jos Total Source: Field survey

Number of respondents = 397 Frequency (N)

Frequency (N)

216 181 397

54.4 45.6 100.0

94 134 94 44 31 0 397

23.7 33.8 23.7 11.1 7.8 0.0 100.0

215 182 397

54.2 45.8 100.0

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Outline of respondents by level revealed that 94 (23.7%) are 100 level, 134 (33.8%) are 200 level, 94 (23.7%) are 300 level, and 44 (11.1%) are 400, while 31 (7.8%) are 500 level. Indicating that more of the respondents are 200 level students, as represented by 33.8% responses. Respondents’ data by school revealed that 182 (45.8%) are from the University of Jos, while 215 (54.2%) are from the University of Lagos due to the distribution derived from the Krejcie and Morgan (1970) formula table for finite population. A 95% confidence level and a 0.05 level of marginal error is assumed for this calculation. Table 8.2 revealed 233 (58.7%) agree that they often come across TV programmes (music videos, movies, commercials, and talk shows) that portray thinness as more acceptable and attractive in the society, 91 (22.9%) disagree, while 73 (18.4%) are undecided. 199 (50.3%) agree that female undergraduates enjoy TV programmes that portray thinness as more acceptable and attractive in society, 130 (32.7%) are undecided, and 68 (17.1%) disagree. Results further reveal that TV programmes portraying thinness as more acceptable and attractive are not many, as 125 (31.5%) respondents agree, 59 (14.9%) disagree, while 213 (53.7%) are undecided. Corroborating Moran (2011), citing López-Guimerà et  al. (2010) assertion that the Table 8.2  Distribution of respondents according to frequency of exposure to TV programmes that portray thinness as the ideal body image S/N Statements

SA

1

103 130 73 47 44 397 (25.9) (32.7) (18.4) (11.8) (11.1) (100.0)

2

3

I often come across TV programmes (music videos, movies, commercials and talk shows) that portray thinness as more acceptable and attractive in the society I enjoy TV programmes that portray thinness as more acceptable and attractive in society TV programmes portraying thinness as more acceptable and attractive are not so many

Source: Field survey

A

U

D

SD

Total

108 91 130 36 32 (27.2) (22.9) (32.7) (8.9) (8.1)

397 (100.0)

93 32 (23.4) (8.1)

397 (100.0)

213 31 (53.7) (7.8)

28 (7.1)

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Table 8.3  Distribution of respondents according to the level of influence TV programmes portraying thinness as the ideal body image have on their feeding habit S/N Statements

SA

A

U

4

130 (32.7)

103 (25.9)

73 52 39 (18.4) (13.1) (9.8)

111 (28.0)

122 (30.7)

84 36 (21.2) (9.1)

44 397 (11.1) (100.0)

22 (5.5)

213 (53.7)

93 32 (23.4) (8.1)

37 (9.3)

102 (25.7)

131 (33.0)

73 47 44 397 (18.4) (11.8) (11.1) (100.0)

93 (23.4)

218 (54.9)

32 (8.1)

5

6

7

12

TV programmes have made me believe that thinness is the ideal body size accepted by the society I believe eating less is necessary to attain or maintain a thin body I am prompted to adopt the feeding pattern of characters whose body images are promoted on TV In the effort to look like characters promoted on TV, I find myself dieting I eat less to achieve the ‘thin body’ goal

D

25 (6.3)

SD

29 (7.3)

Total 397 (100.0)

397 (100.0)

397 (100.0)

Source: Field survey

society’s perception of what constitutes true ‘beauty’ has been habitually shaped by the Mass Media; that in portraying beauty, has excluded internal qualities and characters to merely being physical and of a certain body type; thus, giving TV audience the impression that being thin is the basic factor for attractiveness and beauty. Findings in Table 8.3 revealed 233 (58.7%) respondents agree that TV programmes have made female undergraduates believe that thinness is the ideal body size accepted by the society, 91 (22.9%) disagree, while 73 (18.4%) are undecided. 233 (58.7%) agree that female undergraduates believe that eating less is necessary to attain or maintain a thin body, 80 (20.2%) disagree, while 84 (21.2%) are undecided. Also, 235 (59.2%) respondents agree that they are prompted to adopt the feeding pattern of characters whose body images are promoted on TV, 69 (17.4%) disagree, while 93 (23.4%) are undecided. A total of 233 (58.7%) agree that in an effort to look like characters promoted on TV, female undergraduates find themselves dieting, 91 (22.9%) disagree, while 73 (18.4%) are undecided. Findings further revealed that 309 (77.8%) agree that female undergraduates eat less to achieve the ‘thin body’ goal,

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54 (13.6%) disagree, while 32 (8.1%) are undecided. Indicating truly that the Mass Media impacts its audience through the social learning theory’s postulation that much learning takes place through observing the behaviour of others, especially when reinforced with some rewards, in this case, women believe they will attain the ideal body image they seek. This affirms Morris and Katzman’s (2003) position that young individuals are particularly vulnerable to messages and images conveyed through the Mass Media because they cannot differentiate between what is seen and what is actually real, causing them to set outrageous body goals for themselves. Likewise, Dohnt and Tiggman (2006) assert that the media creates a negative influence on a girl’s body image and self-esteem, particularly with regard to acceptable levels of thinness. This view strikes a similar chord in the postulation of Akintayo and Adegoke (2015) that the behaviour of an individual is not developed in a day or without influence but caused by a developed mindset from the acquisition of knowledge, experiences, interaction, and media messages encountered through attractive music, visuals, persuasive speech, and, most importantly, repetition. Statistics in Table 8.4 revealed 341 (85.9%) respondents attested that TV programmes influence the eating habits of individuals, which in the long run may lead to an eating disorder, while 56 (14.1) disagree. This indicates that respondents were well aware that if they adopted the less eating habits to attain the thin ideal body as suggested by television programs, it may ultimately lead them to eating disorders. Results not only lend credence to the postulation of the information processing theory that when TV audiences watch messages on the thin ideal and internalise these messages, it can also lead them to strongly believe in thinness as the ideal body image. They attach so much importance to this ideal that it triggers their reaction to the messages which, in the long run, leads to the unintended case of an eating disorder. It also affirms the agenda-­setting theory postulation that viewers rely on media (TV) as a reliable source of knowledge and they, in the long run, not only buy what they are exposed to but also adopt what has been viewed repeatedly over time. Table 8.4  Distribution of respondents to ascertain if female undergraduates believe TV programmes will influence their eating habits and ultimately lead to an eating disorder Yes

No

Total

341 (85.9)

56 (14.1)

397 (100.0)

Source: Field survey

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Table 8.5  Distribution of respondents according to the extent the symptoms of anorexia are present among Nigerian female undergraduates as a result of TV programmes S/N Statements

SA

A

U

D

SD

Total

13

195 (49.1)

35 (8.8)

99 (25.1)

36 (8.9)

32 (8.1)

397 (100.0)

103 (25.9)

126 (31.7)

77 (19.4)

47 44 397 (11.8) (11.1) (100.0)

213 (53.7)

25 (6.3)

96 (24.2)

34 (8.6)

47 (11.8)

108 (27.2)

128 (32.2)

70 44 397 (17.6) (11.1) (100.0)

14

15

16

I am more concerned about my body weight/size due to TV programmes In my pursuit of the thin body ideal promoted on TV, I have become strict with my diet I am very often scared of increasing in weight or body size I would rather stay hungry than eat what I believe would cause an increase in my body size

29 (7.3)

397 (100.0)

Source: Field survey

Data shown in Table  8.5 revealed that 230 (57.9%) respondents are more concerned about their body weight/size due to TV programmes that promote the thin ideal, 68 (17.1%) disagree, and 99 (25.1%) are undecided. 229 (57.7%) agree that to attain the thin body promoted on TV, they are strict with their diet, 91 (22.9%) disagree, while 77 (19.4%) are undecided. This affirms the social learning theory’s assumption that females see being thin and attaining a particular size, perhaps looking like a TV model or idol, as the reward they get from not eating. They will, therefore, do anything it takes to become or stay thin. Furthermore, 238 (59.9%) respondents agree that they sometimes feel scared of increasing in weight or body size, 63 (15.9%) disagree, while 96 (24.2%) are undecided. 155 (39.0%) of the respondents agree that they would rather stay hungry than eat what they believe would cause an increase in their body size, 114 (28.7%) disagree with this notion, while 128 (32.2%) are undecided. Dike (2009) cites Fairburn and Harrison (2003) position that eating disorders commonly begin with behaviour that resembles normal dieting but later become a constant and relentless endeavour which, in the long run,

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Table 8.6  Model summary Model

R

R Square

Adjusted R square

Std. error of the estimate

1

.979a

0.958

0.958

0.27291

Predictors: (constant), female undergraduates come across TV programmes that portray thinness as ideal

a

Table 8.7 ANOVAa Model 1

Regression Residual Total

Sum of squares

Df

Mean square

F

Sig.

664.832 29.420 694.252

1 395 396

664.832 0.074

8926.290

.000b

a Dependent variable: Female undergraduates believe that thinness is the ideal body size accepted by the society b

Predictors: (constant), female undergraduates come across TV programmes that portray thinness as ideal

Table 8.8 Coefficientsa Model

Unstandardized Standardized coefficients coefficients

1 (constant) Female undergraduates come across TV programmes that portray thinness as ideal

B

Std. error

0.076 1.001

0.040 0.011

t

Sig.

Beta

0.979

1.929 0.054 94.479 0.000

a Dependent variable: Female undergraduates believe that thinness is the ideal body size accepted by the society

may include perpetual fear of adding the slightest amount of weight, arguing that 58% of female undergraduates are predisposed to eating disorders.

Research Hypotheses The researchers used inferential techniques (regression, correlation, and chi-square) to test the formulated hypotheses as presented below.

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Hypothesis One H0  : Portrayal of the thin ideal on TV does not significantly affect the Nigerian female undergraduate’s body satisfaction. Relevant questionnaire items were subjected to regression analysis in order to determine the extent to which portrayal of the thin ideal on TV affected the Nigerian female undergraduate’s body satisfaction. Note that Thin Ideal on TV = TITV and Female Undergraduate’s Body Satisfaction =FUBS. Interpretation Statistical results in Table  8.9 revealed that coefficient of determination (R2) = 0.958 (95.8%) of female undergraduate’s body satisfaction (FUBS) is influenced by thin ideal on TV (TITV). This implies that, statistically, there are other factors amounting to about 4.2% that influence female undergraduate’s body satisfaction apart from the thin ideal on TV not covered by this model indicating a high explanatory model. The Beta (r) value of 0.979 indicates a strong positive relationship exists between thin ideal on TV and female undergraduate’s body satisfaction. In addition, the p-value of 0.000 < sig. Value of 0.05 and F-test value of 8926.290 (Fcrit (1, 397) = 3.86 < Fobs= 8926.290), specifies that both variables are significantly related, implying that statistically, the independent variable (TITV) can be reliably used to predict the dependent variable (FUBS). Further regression statistical results in Table  8.8 revealed that when there is no TITV, the constant result (i.e. X = 0) is 0.076, that is, statistically, about 76 female undergraduates concerned about their body satisfaction can be predicted due to no influence through thin ideal on TV. But Table 8.9  Summary of evaluation statistics of simple regression analysis between thin ideal on TV and female undergraduate’s body satisfaction Variable

Beta (r)

Coefficient of determination (R2)

Female undergraduates come across 0.979a 0.958 TV programmes that portray thinness as ideal

P-value F-statistics 0.000a

Source: Results extracted from Regression Tables 8.6, 8.7, 8.8 Number of respondents: 397; Level of significance 0.05 (5%); Significant at P < 0.05

8926.290

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the parameter estimate shows that, statistically, for one unit increase in TITV (i.e. if the thin ideal on TV is introduced) will cause a corresponding increase in FUBS by about 1.001  units (i.e. 1001 more female undergraduates concerned about their body satisfaction can be expected for one unit increase in TITV). Therefore, the null hypothesis which states that portrayal of the thin ideal on TV does not significantly affect the Nigerian female undergraduate’s body satisfaction is not accepted while the alternate is accepted. Hypothesis Two H0  : There is no significant relationship between television viewing and the presence of anorexia among Nigerian female undergraduates.  Research questionnaire items Q13 and Q14 in section C were subjected to correlational analysis as presented below. Interpretation Data in the correlation Table 8.10 revealed that Pearson Correlation (r) = 0.902, Probability (p)-value = 0.000 and number of respondents (n) = 397. The figures showed that p-value of 0.000 is less than (