Ijeoma Ebirim
Dr. Milstein
HLTH 200
MWF 9:00am
What Has My Culture Taught Me About Sex And Sexuality? Nigeria, which popularly is identified as the giant of Africa, was a colonized nation. British Colonialists, who cared little about our various cultural differences and homogeneity, created the boundaries. Thus, several groups of people from diverse works of life were pooled together to form Nigeria. The largest population of people are the Hausas in the north, The Yorubas in the west, and the Igbos in the east. These three major ethnic groups have their fervent religious affiliations that correlates highly with the culture and lifestyle of the region. The Hausas of the northern region are mostly Muslim. The Yorubas are divided between Islam, …show more content…
The term “patriarchy” has been around even before the women’s movement and the introduction of women’s studies. However, the concept has been recreated in the past two decades to address and analyze the issue of men’s oppression over women. As a result of the society I grew up in, I wasn’t only taught, but I had a first hand experience of a patriarchal society. There were clearly stated roles, while some were even taboos to ensure a thorough conformity to the specified gender roles. Traditionally, men should not participate in domestic chores and child rearing- these were responsibilities performed exclusively by women. This role has majorly impacted, or better still, influenced my experiences among Nigerians. My father though, was not a conformist to these societal roles. I remember clearly when my mother had been queried on several occasions for leaving certain responsibilities for my father. The first was when she was travelling to the United States for the first time in 2005, she was attending her niece’s wedding and would be spending three weeks. Everyone, especially my grandmother was like, how would she (my …show more content…
Rather, they do so in the society and culture they are brought up in. As mentioned earlier, the societal definition of masculinity and femininity often begins at home through the aid of socialization practices, norms and beliefs that enable males act superior to females. A study conducted by Ejikeme Gray Goziem, a clinical psychologist and social worker, reports that a male child is in most cases the preferred and more favored child in many Nigerian homes. In the rural areas and villages where traditional worship is practiced, most couples in their quest for a male child, can go to the extent of consulting oracles. A multi-ethnic study conducted in 1999 found out that 85% of unmarried Nigerian adolescents would want to have a male child as their first born. Yet 45% of the same sample would want both their first and second children to be both males. When given a choice between having children who are males and children who were females, all respondents chose the former. Two percent of the study sample went further to note that they prefer being childless than having all female children. Although we can say that the study is an ancient one and the percentage of people who think this way has reduced with the fast changing times, there are still some educated people in Nigeria that think this way. A family in Nigeria is more likely to send their first child that is a male abroad for further education,
Dr. Milstein
HLTH 200
MWF 9:00am
What Has My Culture Taught Me About Sex And Sexuality? Nigeria, which popularly is identified as the giant of Africa, was a colonized nation. British Colonialists, who cared little about our various cultural differences and homogeneity, created the boundaries. Thus, several groups of people from diverse works of life were pooled together to form Nigeria. The largest population of people are the Hausas in the north, The Yorubas in the west, and the Igbos in the east. These three major ethnic groups have their fervent religious affiliations that correlates highly with the culture and lifestyle of the region. The Hausas of the northern region are mostly Muslim. The Yorubas are divided between Islam, …show more content…
The term “patriarchy” has been around even before the women’s movement and the introduction of women’s studies. However, the concept has been recreated in the past two decades to address and analyze the issue of men’s oppression over women. As a result of the society I grew up in, I wasn’t only taught, but I had a first hand experience of a patriarchal society. There were clearly stated roles, while some were even taboos to ensure a thorough conformity to the specified gender roles. Traditionally, men should not participate in domestic chores and child rearing- these were responsibilities performed exclusively by women. This role has majorly impacted, or better still, influenced my experiences among Nigerians. My father though, was not a conformist to these societal roles. I remember clearly when my mother had been queried on several occasions for leaving certain responsibilities for my father. The first was when she was travelling to the United States for the first time in 2005, she was attending her niece’s wedding and would be spending three weeks. Everyone, especially my grandmother was like, how would she (my …show more content…
Rather, they do so in the society and culture they are brought up in. As mentioned earlier, the societal definition of masculinity and femininity often begins at home through the aid of socialization practices, norms and beliefs that enable males act superior to females. A study conducted by Ejikeme Gray Goziem, a clinical psychologist and social worker, reports that a male child is in most cases the preferred and more favored child in many Nigerian homes. In the rural areas and villages where traditional worship is practiced, most couples in their quest for a male child, can go to the extent of consulting oracles. A multi-ethnic study conducted in 1999 found out that 85% of unmarried Nigerian adolescents would want to have a male child as their first born. Yet 45% of the same sample would want both their first and second children to be both males. When given a choice between having children who are males and children who were females, all respondents chose the former. Two percent of the study sample went further to note that they prefer being childless than having all female children. Although we can say that the study is an ancient one and the percentage of people who think this way has reduced with the fast changing times, there are still some educated people in Nigeria that think this way. A family in Nigeria is more likely to send their first child that is a male abroad for further education,