Perception of Feminism and Feminist Texts among Nigerian Female Lecturers in Select Rivers State

International Journal of Communication and Media Studies (IJCMS) ISSN (P):2250–0014; ISSN (E): Applied Vol. 10, Issue 3, Jun 2020, 13–22 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.

PERCEPTION OF FEMINISM AND FEMINIST TEXTS AMONG NIGERIAN FEMALE LECTURERS IN SELECT RIVERS STATE UNIVERSITIES CHRIS-BIRIOWU BELEMA THERESA & ENYINDAH CHINYERE STELLA Lecturer, Department of Mass Communication, Rivers State University Port Harcourt, Nigeria ABSTRACT This study sought to investigate female lecturers’ perceptions about feminism in juxtaposition with the various print media descriptions of feminism. The study laid its foundation on the feminist communication theory. The study gathered data from respondents using the survey research design. The population of the study was a cumulative number of female lecturers in the University of Port Harcourt and Rivers State University, which amounted to 567 respondents. A sample size of 10 respondents was drawn from the population by applying the convenience sampling technique and interview sessions were conducted on the respondents. Findings revealed that while Nigerian female lecturers’ perception of feminism correspond with print media texts of feminism. The study concluded that just like the print media descriptions of feminism, female lecturers of select South-South universities to a varying degree, agree that women should be given equal socio-cultural, economic, political and legal rights as their male counterparts, but most importantly, they deserve the textbook print media colorations of feminism that states that the females are being marginalized and measures should be taken to give them the same equal opportunities that their male counterparts enjoy.

KEYWORDS: Feminism, Feminist Texts, Patriarchy, Print Media & Subjugation

Received: Mar 04, 2020; Accepted: Mar 24, 2020; Published: May 05, 2020; Paper Id.: IJCMSJUN20202

Original Article

fairer treatment. Based on the foregoing, the study recommended Women should speak with one voice and converges on

1. INTRODUCTION As women’s consciousness broadened, feminists theorists like Friedman (1963), Firestone (1970), Greer (1970), Wallace (1975), hooks (1984), Walker (1984), Moi, (1988), Mikell (1997), Evans (1997), Beauvoir (1997), Butler (1999), Spronk (2009), and others took increasing interest in feminism, authoring texts on the subject. This led to changes in thought processes in relation to females’ rights and their roles in the society. These changes have brought about more rational discourses about gender, women and feminism. History books explicitly explain the rise, revolution and transformation of women vis-à-vis the patriarchy, and the marginalization and oppression that women were subjected to as the less significant sex in comparison to their male counterparts (Adichie, 2014).

Embedded in literary and scholarly texts are accounts of how women have come from extreme patriarchal systems to the present day.

Understandably, there is an imbalance on the scale with which women’s problems are weighed and the yardstick that measures them. This leads to unavoidable diverse and sometimes, unexpected reactions to feminist texts. Readers are faced with texts that may or may not portray their immediate real life challenges or may be way off in describing the situation. Walters (2005) posits that “different women are oppressed differently: feminism must acknowledge ‘differences of race, class and culture’. In Africa, feminism is heterosexual, prenatal, and concerned with ‘bread, butter and power’ issues” (p. 125). The dynamics of the feminism colorations as contained in texts expose readers to worlds other than their own. “And because all of the feminist perspectives have insight www.tjprc.org

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into the problems of gender inequality, and all have come up with good strategies for remedying these problems, all the feminisms are still very much with us” (Lorber, 1997:7). Feminism remains a subject for authorship and it appears in different print media texts because women, irrespective of nationality and culture still face one form of victimization or another.

2. PROBLEM STATEMENT Women’s movement the world over was fuelled by the marginalization and gender-based inequalities of the patriarchal society. Feminism began as a call to change the situation of women that prevented them from fully enjoying their rights as humans. Feminism has undergone certain unavoidable changes since its start and that has created certain divisions within women’s movements. These discrepancies have also led to disagreements between women and what their individual perception of feminism should be. This study therefore set out to investigate what female lecturers in select South-South universities in Nigeria perceive feminism to be and if their perception of feminism could be linked to the print media vibrations of feminism.

2.1 Research Questions This study was guided by the following research questions: 

What are the points of divergence and convergences between female lecturers’ notions of feminism and print media colorations of feminism?



To what extent are female lecturers’ notions of feminism generic or individualistic?

3. LITERATURE REVIEW 3.1 Feminist Communication Theory Women’s issues as drawn from the structure of the patriarchy, which compels the females into subordinate roles and places them in secondary positions as inferior to men, is what inspired feminist communication theory. Grounded in interdisciplinary feminist studies (Byerly, 2018), feminist communication theory emerged in the 1970s as a brainchild of scholars across disciplines who were consumed with problematizing the causes, consequences and solutions to women’s ancillary status. Feminist theory generally is fluid and in a constant state of flux. Griffin (1997) avers that feminist scholars argued that feminism, unlike other disciplines, cannot fit into the traditional definition of ‘a theory’ which is defined as “an objective body of facts, which must be tested again and again over time in order to be credible” (p. 393). Supporting Griffin’s claims are Foss and Foss (1991), Kramarae (1974) and Spender (1980) who opposed definitively theorizing feminism, claiming that it was positivist, sexist, and patriarchal, and that a theory from a feminist perspective does not require testable facts or objectivity and cannot be broken into finished truth. Feminist communication theory however, is an aggregate of theoretical inputs that links feminism to communication processes. Feminist communication theory when “defined from a feminist perspective, relies on researcher’s subjectivity, collaboration between the researcher and those who participate in the study, and seeing and honouring interconnections, process, and multiple truths” (Griffin, 1997: 393).

This, as a result, has led to varied and even contested fragments of contributions to feminist communication theory which together “provide an overarching explanation for phenomena associated with women and communication that have been observed, researched, and analyzed (Byerly, 2018: 22). In justifying the use of the Feminist Communication Theory, the point of using communicative strategies are to give explanations and provide understanding for the oppressive language

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that are used to victimize women, and those women in turn adopt in their quest for emancipation. The point of refining feminist theories and reading feminist texts is to understand the situations of women in patriarchal societies and ultimately seek out ways women can liberate themselves from sexist oppressive systems.

3.2 First Wave Feminism Feminism, since its inception has evolved from wave to wave, changing with the times. ‘Wave’ is a metaphor that is often used to describe the history and evolution of feminism (Evans, 2003). The rise of feminism, which is known as the ‘first wave’ begun in the 1880s, when a group of women who observed the issues surrounding the living conditions of females at the time, began to speak up. These brave women authored texts that brought to the fore the helpless subordinate role that women were forced to fit into. Mary Wollstonescraft, one of the earliest recorded feminist writers and a first wave feminist, in her A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792), acknowledged that the times in which she lived was one where women from birth were regarded as inferior, oppressed, uneducated and cloistered from the real world. Women existed solely for the gratification of men and their femininity begun, developed and ended in the home. The cruxes of the fight of feminists at that time were women’s inclusion in the public sphere and suffrage. Anxiety, anger and frustration fuelled the women’s movement carried out by feminists of the first wave (Walters, 2005). “This wave crested with the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920, finally winning the right to vote for women in the United States” (Iannello, 2010: 71).

3.3 Second Wave Feminism The ‘second wave’ feminism arguably emerged in the 1960s. More feminist writers surfaced in this era with a different agenda. Betty Freidman’s The Feminine Mystique (1963) described in details the problems that women face within the home as housewives and how their personal issues affect their self-worth. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex, race, colour, religion and national origin, put second wave feminists in better perspective (Walters, 2005: 97). These women in addition to the public sphere demanded emancipation in their private lives as well. With the slogan ‘the personal is political’, feminists argued that the patriarchal system was also a limiting force that subjected women to issues that resulted from the legislations that men put in place to control women’s personal life choices. These issues include sexual abuse, domestic violence, rights to abortion and contraception, childcare, sexuality, relationship and emotions (O’Shaughnessy et. al, 2017). Second wave feminists fought against society’s exploitation of women’s sexuality.

3.4 Third Wave Feminism The 1980s introduced a ‘third wave’ feminism that surfaced with a twist in feminist notions as compared to the first and second wave feminism. These feminists argue that the oppression that women face vary because ‘one size does not fit all’. bell hooks, an African American third wave feminist drastically critiqued the entire feminism movement in her Feminist Theory: From Margin to Centre (1984). To illustrate her claims of double marginalization of women of colour in the society, bell hooks refused to use initial capital letters in the spelling of her name. For the third wave feminists, the first and second wave feminists were mostly white, middle class elite who tackled patriarchy and domination as it affected them and their kind but did not take into account the issues facing women of colour (which are in a lot of ways dissimilar from those of the white women). Third wave feminists claim to be faced with issues of ‘double marginalization’ stemming from both sex and race (hooks, 2017).

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3.5 Fourth Wave Feminism The ‘fourth wave’ feminism, also known as ‘postfeminism’ is a contemporary and controversial wave of feminism because there are contradicting definitions of this wave. On the one hand, some postfeminist scholars claim to be antifeminists who reject the idea of feminism altogether, arguing that there is no need for women’s emancipation because women are no longer being oppressed. On the other hand are postfeminist theorists who claim to be sophisticated ‘postmodern feminists’ that critique earlier approaches to feminism, characterizing them as “extreme, essentialist, caught up in dualisms, or flawed and misguided in other ways” (O’Shaughnessy 2017:318).

Regardless of the wave of feminism, there exist a cumulatively vast range of texts that give diverse colorations to feminism. The enlightenment and revolutionary thoughts that birthed women’s yearnings for emancipation rested upon (and still rests on) contradictory views (Freedman, 2003).

3.6 Success and Backlash of Feminism Women’s liberation movements recorded a great deal of success in the 1970s (Gianoulis, 2015). Feminism gained popularity at an increased rate during this period. Women became actively engaged in the cause and more women joined the force. When male-dominated publishing houses proved to be a threat against the dissemination of feminist writing, and were reluctant to publish women-works, feminists briefly retreated and came back stronger and started their own publishing house among which included“Spinsters, Ink, Kitchen Table Press, and the Feminist Press” (Gianoulis, 2015: 3).

Women also published newspapers like “the Washington, D.C’s off our backs and Denver’s Big Mama Rag” (p.3).

Feminist literature flooded the world and women readers felt bonded and inspired by them. Feminists formed a women’s culture that women drew strength, inspiration and encouragements from.

The explosion of feminism energy and activities did not go unnoticed and as it did, it received a conservative backlash (Braithwaite, 2004). Antifeminists (particularly the males) appeared and trivialized women’s movements “calling feminists humourless and strident, but by the 1980s, conservatives began to treat women’s liberation as a fait accompli” (Gianoulis, 2015: 3). Critiques argued that feminism had become unnecessary because they had been given everything they wanted: rights to education, suffrage, policies that protect them against discrimination, etc. The female contemporary generation refused to be labeled feminists, and if at all, they would rather be called ‘post feminists’.

4. METHODOLGY This study utilized the qualitative research method. The survey research design was used to carry out the study. The population of the study comprised of the cumulative number of female lecturers of Rivers State University (RSU) and University of Port Harcourt (UniPort) which according to the registry of both schools (2019) amount to 567. A total of ten female lecturers were interviewed during the course of the study – four from RSU and six from UniPort. The interviewees were selected using the convenient sampling technique.

5. DATA ANALYSIS This study utilized structured interview questions that were presented to respondents on an interview guide. Thematic analysis was used to identify common themes that emerged during the exploration of interviewees’ responses and which resonate with research questions.

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5.1 Women’s Conditions in Nigeria as Compared to Men The interviewees described the conditions of women in Nigeria in different ways but they basically ascribed women’s plight to one that is unfair. “I would describe the women in Nigeria my country as that of a sacrificial lamb… in order to please society, women tend to sacrifice” (Lecturer 1, RSU). Fairness though, varies from region to region as the women in the North experience harsher conditions than those of the South, East and Western regions. “The conditions of women in Nigeria is unfair, but we wouldn’t generalize that because the way women are seen and treated in the South here, where we come from, is highly different from how women are treated in the North, the middle belt area. There, women are highly marginalized, treated so poorly and very unfairly”(Assistant Lecturer, RSU). In general, women are seen as being marginalized and at their eventual success, become stigmatized with stereotypes that diminish them to agents of moral misconducts – claims that women could only achieve so much if they subject themselves to sexual intercourse with their male bosses/employers. “Usually when women work or when they’ve worked hard for what they achieved, there’s always that stigma of who she has slept with and who she hasn’t slept with to get to where she is”(Assistant Lecturer, RSU). The young ladies are treated poorly and abysmally, deliberately making situations more difficult for them such that they become frustrated and discouraged. The interviewees consented that the conditions of women in Nigeria is not favourable to women. an interview described it in one word – “subdued” (Lecturer 1, UniPort).

5.2 Equal Treatment for Men and Women The interviewees were not unanimous in their responses on whether or not men and women should be treated equally.

Some interviewees asserted that men and women should be treated equally; because it is the sensible thing to do as we are all humans and that “what is good for the goose is good for the gander”. “It wouldn’t be insensible to say men and women to be treated equally. We are all humans and we can be treated equally…it wouldn’t be insensible to suggest that, really” (Assistant Lecturer, RSU). An interviewee stated that sex is biological and beside that, males and females are equally humans. “Yes I think so. The only difference in terms of sex or in terms of gender is purely phenotypic” (Lecturer 1, UniPort). When women and men do the same jobs, they should earn equal wages and be given the same opportunities for their voices to be heard because it is the sensible thing to do. “So I think it is very sensible for men and women to be treated equally – equal pay, equal opportunities. If a man’s voice is heard so also should the woman’s voice be heard; equal remunerations” (Assistant Lecturer, RSU). The equal treatment of men and women is according to the interviewees a step towards a greater society “I think it’s sensible for both genders to be treated equally for the overall increased productivity of the society, to be able to advance the society forward…in Nigeria the population of women is more than men so imagine if you keep pushing these two groups to achieve their maximum potential and not limiting them in any way, it can be said that you’d see a great change in terms of productivity and advancement of the country as a whole” (Lecturer 1, UniPort).

These set of interviewees explained that change begins with the mindsets of individuals of the society so that when people are better open to the notion that males and females are equal humans, the discrimination can be curbed.

5.3 The Cause of Women’s Marginalization The interviewees are divided in their perception of whether women are the real cause of women’s marginalization. On the one hand, a couple of interviewees posited that women are the cause of women’s marginalization because they “allowed” themselves to be marginalized. In the words of an interviewee, “somehow, it’s true. Women accepted marginalization and that is why we are marginalized. Women accepted oppression that is why we are oppressed. Women have to get up and stop allowing culture to blind their eyes” (Lecturer 1, UniPort). Other interviewees proclaimed that some women who have www.tjprc.org

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attained certain socio-economic and political heights are not interested in assisting to raise other women. “Women have a problem of not being united and that could be a reason why the men are ahead. It’s because they are united and they help each other to grow.” (Lecturer 1, RSU). Women instead do so much of backbiting and tearing down of other women.

“Most times it’s our fellow women is the cause of this. Most times we want to bring each other down. I think it’s when we lift each other up that’s when the opposite sex will lift us up” (Assistant Lecturer, RSU). Women are characterized by their envious and jealous nature such that they would rather bring other women down or become unnecessarily competitive because they see other women as threats. “I think women have a strong impact in this marginalization thing. Women know how to make other women feel like they cannot be a certain type of way in the society” (Lecturer 1, UniPort).

5.4 Feminist Texts Consumption Some interviewees admitted that they do read literature on feminism because they believe in the clamour for equal rights and so they read these materials to further understand what the struggle is about. “I do because me I believe in equality” (Assistant Lecturer, Rivers State University).

Some interviewees revealed that they do not read any kind of literature on feminism because of factors that include lack of time and interest. An interviewee interestingly said that she purposively reads only books on feminism authored by feminist scholars and not newspaper articles.

5.5 Perception of Feminism Interviewees reckoned that feminism means different things to them. A few interviewees personalized feminism.

To me, simple language, for my rights to opportunities to be given to me. They say what is good for Greece is good for Uganda. My being female does not stop me from attaining or achieving certain goals in life and suppressing my strength, my ability, simply because I am female is a crime against ME as an individual. So for me, feminism is just a cry for my voice to be heard (Assistant Lecturer, RSU).

This means that being a female ought not to be a limiting factor against achieving all that an individual could achieve. Some interviewees said that feminism means the same as the textbook definitions of feminism, which includes equal rights and opportunities for women. “Feminism is all about just better life, equal opportunities for women that would make them better equipped and more proactive” (Assistant Lecturer, RSU). Women should be given the same political, economical and legal rights that men enjoy and that their rights should be protected in all circumstances without discrimination.

6. DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS Interview sessions also found that female lecturers agree, being a woman is not a limitation and that women are not weaker as compared to men. This is another converging point between print media colorations of feminism and female lecturer’s notions of feminism. This finding is at variance with what is recorded in Olusola (2015) that women are generally considered to be inferior to men and also deemed physically and intellectually weaker and slower than their male counterparts.” The study also debunks Okoye (2009), which insinuates that the reason why women have low credit and are not allowed access to some income opportunities is because they are considered the ‘weaker sex’ as compared to men.

Findings also revealed that on some notions of feminism, female lecturers do not agree. The interview discussions showed that while some lecturers believed that feminism should be supported so that women can be given their rights as Impact Factor (JCC): 3.6252

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humans and enjoy the same cultural, social, political and economic opportunities as the men, other lecturers asserted that men and women cannot be equals and such a feat cannot be achievable. In addition, these lecturers posited that women should be treated fairer and better and that women’s voice should be heard but not as equal to the men because the men are above the women and there are certain things that men can do that women simply cannot. The point of divergence of women on feminism could be a fundamental hindrance to the end of women’s marginalization. This finding is supported

by Okunna (2002) affirmation that women are not aware or have grown complacent to their situation and as long as women do not agree on a general level of what should be rightfully theirs, they can forget expecting men to take them seriously.

Interestingly findings from interview sessions further revealed that women do not unanimously agree on what they perceive to be the real cause of women’s marginalization. Some female lecturers casted the blame on the patriarchy, stating that rape culture, child marriage and all-around victimization and marginalization are not perpetuated by the females. A few interviewees put the blame on women when they stated that women also helped in making and carrying out some of the demeaning acts that reduce women to mere objects of victimizations. They said that rather than being a part of a system that has oppressed women for centuries, women should do away with helplessness and self-pity and form networks that would be geared towards raising women rather than tearing them down. This finding is in line with Adichie (2014) contention that women and men are the problem of Nigeria women’s marginalization and that solution will only emerge when the entire society owns up and says, “yes there is a problem with gender as it is today and we must fix it” (p.17).

This finding is also at variance with Olusola (2015) who posit that women in general are viewed as the weaker sex, inferior to men and perceived to be physically, emotionally and even intellectually weaker and slower than men which justifies their places in playing subordinate roles.

Findings further showed that the notions of feminism of Nigerian female lecturers of South-South universities are to a large extent generic. The extent to which the interviewees responded affirmatively that feminism generally means equal rights and opportunities for women and men shows their generic perception of the term. Item 7 on the questionnaire disclosed that all (209 or 100%) of the respondents acknowledged that women and men should have equal socio-economic and political opportunities. For the most part, interviewees avowed that even though the society is patriarchal, it is sensible to expect men and women to be treated equally. Majority of interviewees believe that women may need to retreat and begin their little changes from their mindsets and then their homes that feminist notion of a better society for women is very necessary in Nigeria and that women are not weaker than men nor is the male child better than the female child.

Findings also showed that female lecturers’ notions of feminism are individualistic to some extent because some interviewees were of the opinion that women cannot be equal to men and that their individual religious beliefs placed the man as the head of the woman and so equality of the sexes is a stretch. These lecturers retorted that women deserved a better life but their individual beliefs, religion and culture placed a defining line on what the female lecturers think is a “better life”. It was made known that women all over Nigeria do not suffer through the same issue because the problem differs according to backgrounds and regions. This finding is supported by the definition of James (1998, p. 61) that “feminism is an umbrella term for a range of views about injustices against women”. This is also in line with Lorber (2009) that different women react to feminism in different ways depending on their backgrounds, their focus and the situations they struggle with.

7. CONCLUSIONS The study further concludes that there is a controversy in feminism as embedded in print media texts, but the universality www.tjprc.org

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of feminism is about achieving better conditions for women, gender equality, legal protection, political uplift, socioeconomic privileges and rights as enjoyed by the men is majorly what feminism is about and female lecturers’ perception of feminism is in line with print media colorations. More importantly, female lecturers all agree that women’s plight in Nigeria needs to be reviewed and bettered both in the public and private sphere.

8. RECOMMENDATIONS 

Women should speak with one voice and converge on the textbook print media colorations of feminism that states that the females are being marginalized and measures should be taken to give them the same equal opportunities that their male counterparts enjoy.



Women should find a common ground to arriving at a solution to their issues and build their way up from there.

Division in the ways they regard women’s issue is only going to prolong the problem’s existence.

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