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 Women's 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 world's 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

34 J.S. OMOTOLA

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