Gender Culture And Social Rights: A Comparison Between Nigeria And China

Although culture and gender studies have received considerable scholarly attention world-wide, there is no known study that has attempted to compare the impact of power relations on gender culture in China and Nigeria. This comparative approach provides a detailed discussion and analysis of the interplay of gender-defined roles and power relations in these two countries. In this connection, issues such as marriage culture and gender roles, gender culture and political power distributions, and burial cultures and gender structures are studied in this research.Although the marriage institution has been an indispensable aspect of culture, the intricacies involved in its operation have reflected the nature of power relations between the male and female gender. The relationship varies from one culture to another. In both China and Nigeria, the male gender apparently occupied a higher status than the female gender. However, in two of the case studies examined in this research, it was discovered that there were exceptions to this phenomenon. Using the examples of the walking marriage institution of the Mosuo people inChina and the female husband institution among the Igbo and some other groups in Nigeria, it was discovered that the marriage institution in these areas provided more accommodation for the female gender than its male counterpart. In the case of the Mosuo, for instance, men were simply biological fathers, while the highly regarded status of social father was occupied by women. In contrast, the female husband institution in Igbo land was more or less an improvisation of male role, but it nevertheless gave women the advantage to negotiate their position in the power equation of their community. Other areas of marriage culture examined included child marriage, the role of bride price and dowries in the marriage culture and other related issues.Drawing from the examples of the impact of gender on the marriage institution, the research looks at elements of power distribution in the two societies. The work discovered that power relations in both the Chinese and Nigerian communities were largely dictated by hierarchical elements and other socio-cultural stratification in favour of the male gender. Of course, during the traditional period there were other elements of cultural stratification based on male-female dichotomy, which appeared discriminatory against females, but were supervised by females themselves. In the case of Nigeria, for instance, the practice of female circumcision was done with the hope of controlling the sexual behavior of the female gender. The custom involved the cutting or tearing off of parts or all of the female genital. While the male gender usually approved of the custom, women supervised and encouraged the practice.In the case of traditional Chinese culture, a major custom that involved the physical body of females was foot-binding. Like the custom of female circumcision, foot-binding played a slightly similar role in female sexuality. Foot-binding was intended to make females have slimmer foot or feet and be more sexually appealing to their husbands or men. It was that slimmer feet would help to enhance the female genital composition. However, a major difference between female circumcision and foot-binding is that the former was intended to control or prevent promiscuity in women, while the latter was intended to make the woman more sexually appealing to her husband. This research has shown that both female circumcision and foot-binding are to please the men-folk.Respect for elders was a major component of power relations in both China and Nigeria. While, it seems that respect for elders was more of a cultural element in many communities in Nigeria. Similarly, in both cultures children were under obligation to care for their parents, while parents were under obligation to provide for their children.The other area, which has connections with gender culture and power in traditional Chinese and Nigerian societies, was the ceremony of burial and funeral. For instance, while the culture of mourning was common to both cultures, the extent of their observances and the mode of operation of the different elements of mourning differed remarkably. In the case of Nigerian communities, for instance, widowhood rites were more elaborate, whereas they were less elaborate in the traditional Chinese society. Similarly, while both cultures practiced the culture of second burial in the past, the reasons for it and the methods were largely different. However, this study indicates that the original conception of the practice was informed by time exigencies, among other considerations.