Culture is perceived as the totality of a group of similar individuals, living in any geographical location or niche. Totality may refer to their way of life referencing their general beliefs, food they eat, what they eat, mode of dressing etc.
It is also believed that majority usually carries the vote, but then again, what if the majority is wrong on a common belief or custom?
In the world of medicine, it was french custom years ago to treat injuries (especially those of soldiers) with mecury. Doctors saw it as a right way of doing things and that caused a lot of deaths due to poisoning.
Now, contrary to the popular belief that the crowd can never be wrong, the crowd can in fact be wrong and if you feel that is a lie, ask the countless who died from mecury poisoning
In Africa, we have numerous countries rich in cultural heritage and norms, countries that share cultural beliefs that will make you either feel proud, safe or disturbed and today we dissect some of those customs.
In Nigeria, especially in some parts of the Eastern region, when a woman's husband dies, she is made to shave her hair and compulsorily mourn for a fixed period of time.
That is not all, she is made to marry another of her husband's brother if he so desires, without her input being needed in the matter.
It is common knowledge that most Nigerian customs or cultural beliefs do not favor the women and this is bad. Now if the reverse were to be thee case, the man would just act like nothing happened (unless he truly loved the woman) and move on.
Usually women who marry other men even after a year of their husband's demise are seen as the suspected killers even if the medical reports suggest otherwise. Illiteracy is a major culprit in such scenarios, but on some occasions, we see people who claim to be learned, participating in such beliefs.
Why must the woman shave her hair before people believe she is mourning, must she go into seclusion? Love is a matter of the heart, why should others manipulate and dictate how the woman should mourn a dead spouse?
If a man remarries immediately after losing a spouse in a normal cultural setting, it is believed that he is lonely and needs a mate, but if a woman remarries under similar circumstances, she is often perceived as a whore who killed her husband and is a disgrace.
Another notable case is that of infidelity, in some parts of Edo state and some other states in Nigeria, if a woman is caught having extra marital sex, the husband is not left to deal with the matter privately, instead she is made to dance naked around the market square for young men to feast their eyes on all her private parts without caution. Then we wonder why the men do not go through similar punishment.
Another point is if a loved one dies, the properties can easily be confiscated by the inlaws. I know of so many cases whereby the man died and his family is thrown into the streets to fend for themselves because it was the man who dies. If the woman accumulated the properties and died, the man on the other hand can claim everything with ease. Talk about equality.
In some parts of Nigeria, the female child is considered as persona non-grata because of their gender, It is believed that once she is married, she becomes another man's property.
Although some educated fellas are now changing that mindset and they now have a view that female children are also children too.
As a rite of passage into womanhood, some girls in some parts of Nigeria are made to go topless and dance before eligible bachelors, the king and other town's people.
Further more, the king can randomly point to any maiden he wishes and make her his wife without her opinion.
These are but a few instances of cultural imbalance caused and propagated by the "it's our culture" mentality.
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