Gendered dynamics and institutions within Nigerian Mormonism

Abstract

E nwere ihe abuo abuo (“Things exist in duality”) is an Igbo saying highlighting the sense of duality built into the indigenous sense of the cosmos. Whereas contemporary notions of Western gendered identity evoke the sense of the “autonomous self,” indigenous notions of Igbo gendered identity connote complementarity and duality, rendering Latter-day Saint notions of dual gendered identity resonant with local understandings. This chapter argues that the rise of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Nigeria resonated with discourses and institutions infused with indigenous masculine and feminine dynamics. Latter-day Saint theology and institutions reflected localized notions of sexual and gendered dualities. While the Latter-day Saint faith held the trappings of Americana, its gendered theology reflected long-held notions of masculinity and femininity, in the mortal and divine spheres. This sense of gendered duality translates into a generalized support for heteronormativity throughout contemporary Nigeria and within the Church, specifically. Nigeria has a reputation for its opposition to homosexual practices and identities, providing Latter-day Saints a political and cultural climate which gives full support for its heteronormative doctrines. American Latter-day Saint internal conflicts over homosexuality, thus, receive little discussion or validation within Nigerian Latter-day Saint discourse.