Abstract
This article analyses how female identity is shaped by patriarchies and manifests differently according to cultural norms. In the United Kingdom (UK), maternal mortality of non-natives is considerably higher than natives. Nigeria has one of the worst maternal indices in the world, hence the imperative to explore the relationship between Nigerian cultural values and reproductive decision-making including uptake of birth control services. This research involves in-depth interviews with five heterosexual women of Nigerian heritage living in the north of England in Leeds, UK. The data collected is analysed using Critical Feminist Theory and manifests a number of nuanced, complex relationships centring on power, culture and gender which together serve to sustain and institutionalise certain cultural practices that impact negatively on the reproductive rights of Nigerian women. This research shows that Nigeria by contrast, has a dynamic web of cultural norms where men have the power to make these decisions which would normally predominantly reside with females in the UK. Thus, despite acculturation to a more liberal and equal society through migration, women of Nigerian origin who are permanent residents in the UK still have to negotiate traditional patriarchal expectations which continue to dominate decision-making processes from choosing a life partner to raising a family. Widespread cultural acceptance of male superiority; male child preference and the custom of paying bride price remain persistent practices which continue to create a strictly gendered hierarchical social order which diminishes the reproductive rights of Nigerian women in the UK.
Highlights
Central to Cultural Studies is the focus on constructions and contestations of various categories of identity, including sexuality, abilities and race (King, 2016)
The concept of culture plays a significant role in influencing reproductive rights of Nigerian women living in Nigeria and more precisely in the decision making around birth control, where the outcomes of pregnancy shapes a woman’s life trajectory (Iyanda and Nwankwo, 2018; Atchison et al, 2019)
We wanted to ask two primary questions: 1. Are there specific cultural norms, expectations, practices and beliefs that influence the reproductive rights of United Kingdom (UK)-based Nigerian women? 2
Summary
Central to Cultural Studies is the focus on constructions and contestations of various categories of identity, including sexuality, abilities and race (King, 2016). Dewar (2006) is of the opinion that the radical ideas of sexual freedom, rights and women’s empowerment associated with birth control movements of the 19th century was downplayed under colonialism to gain acceptance in conservative countries like Nigeria In these countries, birth control was reframed as ‘family planning’, a term which promotes the social and health benefits of birth control such as the alleviation of poverty and reduction in maternal mortality without threatening male superiority and dominance (Gupta, 2000). With the advent of the second wave of feminism, many left Christianity and joined other forms of religiosity which either subverted the hierarchy between genders or thrived on theories based on primal matriarchy (Woodhead, 2001) This led Giorgi (2016: 58) to assert that the relationship between religion and women’s rights including reproductive rights is best understood as ‘a historical contingency than an irreconcilable difference’. It is considered an invasion of Africans’ historical sensitivity to life and families (Ekeocha, 2018)
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