Our White Fathers: Patriarchy and Shifting Gender Roles in Colonial Nigeria, Senior Thesis Presented to Dr. Li on December 2nd, 2014

What, When, & Why ★ Frame & Terminology Constructs ● 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 Narrative Black Women - ● Hyper Sexualized ● Victimized ● Tokenized ● “Doubly Colonized” Sources - ● Literature ● Film ● Memoirs ● Historiography

● Pre-Colonial o Politics & Market ● Colonial o Uprisings, Strikes ● Post-Colonial o Loss of Power Nigerian Women Sources ● Chuku ● Jeffries-Johnson ● Johnson-Odim

Feminine Power

Prevailing Narrative Black 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-Independence o New Patriarchy Sources - ● Amadiume o Gender Roles ● Lindsay o “Breadwinner” o Nationalism

Masculinity Cemented

Prevailing Narrative White Women - ● Idle, Lazy, Exploitive o White Reserves ● Miscegenation o Risk of Assault ● “Mother” Figure Sources - ● Literature o Colonial o & Anti-Colonial ● Film ● Colonial Histories

British Women in Nigeria In England - ● “White Woman’s Burden” ● Path to Suffrage In 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 Patriarchy o Agency despite those limitations

Thank You!