The best definition of the word “Feminism” would be a woman’s right and freedom of choice to access all opportunities available to men. There are many misconceptions on what feminism truly means, which is very clear that our specific views on these issues are rooted deeply in our personal experiences rather than research.
Nigeria is highly a patriarchal society. The average Nigerian man has conceived several reasons to hate on feminists. They believe that feminist do not get married or cannot stay married. An average Nigerian man sees a feminist as a “rogue” who has lost all sense of affection for the male folks and cannot take care of the home. News flash! Many Feminists cook at home, being aware that cooking is not an entitlement to their partners but a non-gender choice to make their homes functional. Feminists might not stay married to men who are controlling in nature, or threatened by a woman’s success and needs to prove his manhood through physical and emotional abuse.
Feminists are seen as rude and arrogant by the average Nigerian man. When a woman has an alternative viewpoint she is considered rude and arrogant, but when a man has a different view he is regarded as a good thinker. Yes, it is possible to meet women who are rude and arrogant, but this has nothing to do with feminism. Just as we have men who are rude and arrogant, so do we have women who are rude and arrogant.
Feminists are conceived to be against culture and tradition. The truth of the matter is that feminsts are only against cultures and traditions which are dehumanizing and no longer serve any purpose rather than to hurt women and girls.Nigeria is one of the worst places to be a woman in the world because of practices like female genital mutilation, degrading widowhood rates, child marriage, misogynistic laws, political exclusion, denying females inheritance, these are things from the past which have to go. Chimmamanda Ngozi Adichie said, “Just because your culture says something doesn’t mean that it is right, people create culture and are responsible for making things right.”
There’s absolutely no reason to hate on the concept of Feminism. As feminists do not hate men, but only hate systems which have served as a roadblock to women accessing opportunities available to men.
