Title:
WOMEN AND CULTURE IN CONTEMPORARY NIGERIA

Authors:
KENNETH UBANI

Volume:3 Issue: 6

Keywords:
Women, Contemporary Feminism, Cultural, Challenges, Nigeria

Abstract:
Women still face cultural challenges that tend to deter their hope and determination to protect their role and folks in the face of the social change of the contemporary era. Who is a contemporary woman? One may ask. Is she the woman who do not respect or regard culture; the woman who prefer foreign culture which she feels is superior or the woman who despite her respect for culture do not resist change but sees it as a space for improvement. However, there are certain aspects of culture that keeps the Nigerian woman behind the scene in the scheme of events, for example circumcision, religion, woodcarving, ironsmith, widowhood, job selection, child marriage or indirect betrothal. It will be frowned at for a woman to cut palm fruit or tap palm wine or climb a tree. Also such women cannot accept change perhaps because they felt that to accept change is to fight nature, to exhibit weakness which they are often accused of, or to deny the faith which they strongly profess. To such women, the subject of feminism, or the declaration of women's Human Right, is a misnomer and an abuse of tradition, culture or nature. This papers discourse is on some of these issues. It presents suggestions that can help change such myths or negative assumptions about contemporary feminism by Nigerian women.