Our White Fathers: Patriarchy and Shifting Gender Roles in Colonial Nigeria, 1900-1961 Senior Thesis...
-
Upload
wilfrid-mason -
Category
Documents
-
view
214 -
download
1
Transcript of Our White Fathers: Patriarchy and Shifting Gender Roles in Colonial Nigeria, 1900-1961 Senior Thesis...
Our White Fathers:Patriarchy and Shifting Gender Rolesin Colonial Nigeria, 1900-1961Senior Thesis Presented to Dr. Li on December 2nd, 2014
What, When, & Why★Frame &
TerminologyConstructs
● Gender, Patriarchy Narrative
● Colonial, Post-Colonial
★Thesis
★Three Societies● Black Women● Black Men● White Women
★Connection● Disconnect
★Conclusion
The White Man’s Burden“Take up the White Man's burden, The savage wars of peace--Fill full the mouth of Famine And bid the sickness cease;And when your goal is nearest The end for others sought,Watch sloth and heathen Folly Bring all your hopes to nought.”
Some Definitions
Construct: “an idea or theory containing various conceptual elements, typically one considered to be subjective and not based on empirical evidence.”
• A vehicle to maintain Imperial validity
Imperial Constructs
Colony - “Dual Mandate”● Mutually Beneficial
Empire - “White Man’s Burden”● Bring Modernity
Patriarchy - “Metaphor of the Family”● Father as Civilizer
Imperial Constructs
Gender:● European Binary -- Separate, not Equal
o Public/Private, Political/Domestic
● “the range of characteristics pertaining to, and differentiating between, masculinity and femininity”
Nigerian Gender Roles
How We Remember
Narrative:● Human beings tend to understand events when
organized as a coherent story or “narrative” explaining how we believe the event was generated.
o Historiography is an analysis of our “historical narrative”
● (e.g. How & why colonialism happened)
Colonial Narratives
Colonial - Bringing Civilization
Post-Colonial - Africa Under-developed
Gender & Colonialism - Women, Agency
So What?Even though Nigerian men and women had unique gender norms before the colonial era, ● they were altered by their contact with British
colonialism.
However, Nigerian gender norms are not alone ● European women experienced the constraints of
white patriarchy alongside them.
And How?
Through outlining these three societies, we find they share many similarities,● their agency despite the limitations of
patriarchy
● their dissimilarity to the common narrative
Prevailing NarrativeBlack Women -
● Hyper Sexualized● Victimized● Tokenized● “Doubly
Colonized”
Sources -
● Literature● Film● Memoirs● Historiography
● Pre-Colonialo Politics & Market
● Colonialo Uprisings, Strikes
● Post-Colonialo Loss of Power
Nigerian WomenSources● Chuku
● Jeffries-Johnson
● Johnson-Odim
Feminine Power
Prevailing NarrativeBlack Men - ● Objectified
● Commodified
● Feminized
Sources - ● Colonial Histories● Science● Film & Literature● Anti-Colonial Text
o Fanon, Memmi
Nigerian Men● Pre-Colonial
o Power Shared● Colonial
o Solidify Power● Post-
Independenceo New Patriarchy
Sources - ● Amadiume
o Gender Roles● Lindsay
o “Breadwinner”o Nationalism
Masculinity Cemented
Prevailing NarrativeWhite Women -● Idle, Lazy,
Exploitiveo White Reserves
● Miscegenationo Risk of Assault
● “Mother” Figure
Sources -● Literature
o Colonialo & Anti-Colonial
● Film● Colonial Histories
British Women in NigeriaIn England -● “White Woman’s
Burden”● Path to SuffrageIn Nigeria -● Hospitals● Schools
Sources - ● Callaway
o Active Participants● Memoirs
o Fear of “Drunken White Men,” not Africans
Essential & Influential
Connecting the Framework
Nigerian Men, Nigerian Women, & British Women Intersect● Defined by Framework
of Patriarchal Authority● Lived within “White Man’s World”
of Colonial Nigeria
Disconnecting the Narrative● Nigerian Women
o Public, Economic, & Political Agents● Nigerian Men
o Strengthened & Consolidated● British Women in Nigeria
o Essential & Influential
Conclusions
● Despite interest in “Gender & Colonialism” o Academia perpetuates narrative of
difference● Three societies connected
o Limitations of Patriarchyo Agency despite those limitations
Thank You!