Nowadays, I have come to realize that one cannot have a reasonable discussion or a peaceful argument with a Nigerian man without him referring to the feminist factor. They are always quick to say “don’t bring feminism into this discussion”. This always left me confused as couldn’t ascertain what they meant. So, I decided to do a little research.
You all remember a popular story in the media of the lawyer who murdered her husband, which gave rise to series of reactions across social media; some fair, some acrimonious, and some sacrilegious. Yes, I call it sacrilegious because I see the height of sacrilege when you justify a gruesome murder under the cloak of sacred feminism. I remember a colleague of mine; an acclaimed feminist who expressed how happy she gets when she hears such news or stories about women beating up their husbands. To her, it shows that women are finally standing up for themselves. She also expressed how well she admires such women. How did we get here?
Let’s trace it back to how it all started. The simple and central idea of feminism began with a movement for political rights; to vote and other civic rights. It advanced to movement for economic and social equality, then, education and to movement against marginalisation in general, in order to build independence and confidence and to free women from all ridiculous cultural constraints of the patriarchal society.
Could this have given birth to the new wave of feminism in Nigeria most especially on social media? A study of this new wave reveals that it is tailored on the premise of “I can’t be a slave to any man”. Of course, I also don’t want to be a slave to any man but are you supposed to make him a slave too? It also reveals that it is tailored towards feminine supremacy and insolence; “he should know that I am a woman, he shouldn’t be angry because I’m a woman, he should give me that opportunity just because ‘I’m a woman’”, all under the veil of feminism. Are these in tandem with the central idea of feminism?