Prejudice Nation: Hypersexualization and Abuse in Jude Dibia’s Unbridled

Chinenye Amonyeze,Stella Okoye-Ugwu

doi:10.1177/21582440211032661

Abstract

With the global #Metoo movement yet to arrive in Nigeria, Jude Dibia’s Unbridled reflects an emblematic moment for the underrepresented to occupy their stories and make their voices heard. The study analyzes patriarchy’s complicated relationship with the Nigerian girl child, significantly reviewing the inherent prejudices in patriarchy’s power hierarchies and how radical narratives explore taboo topics like incest and sexual violence. Contextualizing the concepts of hypersexualization and implicit bias to put in perspective how women, expected to be the gatekeepers of sex, are forced to navigate competing allegiances while remaining submissive and voiceless, the article probes the struggles of sexual victims and how hierarchies in a patriarchal society exacerbate their affliction through a culture of silence. Arguing that Dibia’s Unbridled confronts the narrative of silence in Nigerian fiction, the article explores ways the author empowers gender by challenging social values and traditional gender roles, underscoring gender dynamics and the problematic nature of prevalent bias against the feminine gender in Nigeria.

Highlights

There is an intense scene in Jude Dibia’s (2005a, p. 162) Unbridled when Bessie, Erika’s Ghanaian friend, pleads with her to break from the clutches of abusive men whose unbridled ambition is unquestionably to destroy women
Dibia’s artful dialogue between both women captures the emotional essence of the most vulnerable gender in Nigeria’s misogynistic space and cues the way sexual violence is trivialized in that society. hooks (2001) notes that abused female children have been taught that love can coexist with abuse, in essence framing a “brutal culture where men are taught to worry more about sexual satisfaction and performance” (p. 176)
Sexual abuse is about power, and in Nigeria, the right to say no remains a luxury for most women

Summary

Introduction

There is an intense scene in Jude Dibia’s (2005a, p. 162) Unbridled when Bessie, Erika’s Ghanaian friend, pleads with her to break from the clutches of abusive men whose unbridled ambition is unquestionably to destroy women. In analyzing patriarchy’s complicated relationship with the Nigerian girl child, Jude Dibia’s Unbridled confronts the inherent ignorance in a suffocating culture by innovatively analyzing the omission of facts in patriarchy’s power politics while establishing radical narratives that articulate taboo topics of incest and sexual violence. Sexual abuse is about power, and in Nigeria, the right to say no remains a luxury for most women.

Results

Conclusion