Essay About Sex.The Feminist Movements And Gender Talk

What Is This Gender Talk All About After All?
What Is This Gender Talk All About After All?
ABSTRACT Gender discourse is very influential everywhere, calling to attention the
unwarranted discrepancy between the locations of men and women in the state and society
in almost every facet of life. It places particular emphasis on the oppression and marginalisation
of women at all levels. The feminist movements have for years continued to advocate
for gender balance especially through affirmative action. Yet, only marginal progress has
been made. Drawing insights from contemporary Nigeria, this paper argues that if the gender
discourse will ever be productive, it would have to be reoriented and situated within the
framework of power politics.
Key Words: Gender; Power; Politics; Women; Culture; Affirmative action; Nigeria.
INTRODUCTION
Gender talk, or the discourse on gender, is very influential everywhere.
Following the declaration of 1975 as the International Womens Year by
the United Nations, the attention accorded to gender issues has been on the
increase. This concern climaxed with the Fourth World Conference on Women
in 1995 held in Beijing, China, with the theme “Equality, Development and
Peace”, the aim of which was to review and appraise the achievements of the
UN Decade for Women from 1975 to 1985 (Akinboye, 2004). The increasing
attempt to mainstream gender issues not only into academic discourses, but also
advocacy and public policy domains is understandable. For one, women constitute
half of the worlds population and have contributed to human development.
Their contributions manifest in five key roles, namely, mother, producer,
home manager, community organiser and social, cultural and political activists
(Anifowose, 2004; Oyekanmi, 2004; Dauda, 2004). By so being, women have
been generally seen as positive agents of social change (Olurode, 1990). However,
despite the centrality of women to development, given their demographic
strength and roles, they are today, as ever, still being treated as the “weaker”
sex.The feminist movements, drawn from across academia, civil society/nongovernmental
organisations (NGOs) and public policy decision making domains,
feed on this discrepancy. The thrust of their talk/advocacy is that there is an
unwarranted discrimination in the locations of men and women in the state and
society in every facet of life. They place particular emphasis on the oppression
and marginalisation of women at all levels, politically, economically, and
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socio-culturally. Recent studies explore the issues of the feminization of poverty
and domestic violence against women (Davies, 1994; Wallace, 1996; World
Health Organisation, 1996; Moore, 1979; Therborn, 2004). The rising magnitude
of domestic violence against women, or what Tenuche (2003) referred
to as “the burden of marital vows”, with its attendant negative implications
for the reproductive capacity and mental health of women, among others,
represents a crucial dimension of the feminization of violence (Taylor &
Stewart, 1991; Tenuche, 2003). These developments have been imputed largely
to the door steps of certain cultural practices that relegate women to the background
and the low responsiveness of government to these issues.
The struggles to integrate and mainstream gender issues into national politics
and policies have been the pivot of