PREFACE

The present collection of chapters is an integral part of both gender and feminist studies that took inspiration from the “International Gender Conference (IGC 2012) on the Theme “Gender and Development: Issues and Challenges” at the Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies, Universiti Teknologi Mara, Malaysia 2012. No fewer than three contributors to this book were at the conference. Generally, gender and feminist studies writers have been products of the same moods and touch on similar questions and challenges of the female sex. There are differences between the two terms though. In gender, professional writers have concentrated on what the society has merely created and therefore, a misfit to be allowed to exist on the personage of the (fe)male sex. Both sexes have been wrongly assigned duties and responsibilities by their societies. Deliberate efforts, such as what the writers here have done, must be encouraged to achieve conscientisation so that all attempts that dissuade communities from realities of (fe)male life can be remedied.

In checking the realities of the (fe)male life, there is the need to recognise that the female has not only been sinned against, but she too has been a sinner and this represents a notable advancement in the process of self-examination. The female has truly been invaded, and it is continually being strafed with cultural missiles from society. Is it not for the female to invent cultural missiles, and anti-missiles too, as a measure of self-defence? It is "commitment" for gender feminists which is the unifying theme of the book, which we have entitled Excursions into Gender and Sexuality.

The concept of feminist studies, on the other hand, has been argued to harp on total freedom of the female sex from the clutches of the male sex that has usurped her space and time. Sex regeneration is always the casual discussion among gatherings of feminist purists in creatively advancing the same news in different stances from gender studies. The feminist class fights back to redeem its image often to antagonise the male class for the damages done to the female sex. Revenge syndrome is born here, and excessively so.

Three top scoring points for this book we might here explain: first, the chapters, in this collection, are particularly from Nigeria and Malaysia. There is also rich information on Tunisia, Turkey, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Iran. Many books are not usually fortunate to have the pull of resources from more than one country. Each chapter interrogates issues that are peculiar to its continent and negotiates ease of livelihood for the feminine gender. The relationship between the ‘superior’ and ‘inferior’ sexes cannot be ignored, especially in Africa and Malaysia, where the gap has grown against the gory background of marginalisation and the blind acceptance of the pitiable position of the female sex. Gender and feminist discourses have discussed three sets of female sex: first, man-haters, second, those who feebly accept their downgraded lot, and third, those who mediate between the two extremes.

For over the last two decades, gender and feminist studies have developed against the same stunting, dwarfing background in every place and space of Nigeria and Malaysia. Feminist gender has been contending a rejection of the sense of an inferior class of the female and a strive for reputable recognition. It seeks to give the female a sense of self as an effectual, rational, worthy, and impacting human being (Alkali, 2014; Chukwuma, 1994, ix). No area of the lives of man and woman is yet to be touched by the religious, political, social, expansionist and/or unrepentant needs of patriarchy: from that of the docile woman, driven by patriarchal enslavement to obey her man at all times without question. But these can be reconciled.

The second significance of this book lies in its stress on a new difference between the two terms (gender and feminism). They have always been problematic and mixed up. When asked specifically about feminism on why it has stagnated, the famous radical Trigiani, who is a feminist, responded that she was considering her next paper, From Gender Vertigo to Gender Peace (not ‘From Feminist Vertigo to Feminist Peace’). In any case, this contradiction(?) doubly suggests reverse gear from excessive opposition to a peaceful approach, presupposing every need to read gender and feminism differently from rascality. The world must understand that feminism, particularly, is now not all about radicalism.

This book, therefore, de-emphasises gender and feminist studies as “chilly politeness” or “persistent antagonism” (to use Lennox’s words) to achieve more results. As the “vigorous debate” rages on, Baym underscores the fact that even liberal feminism a perspective should see women as humans who, simply, should not be treated for second-class fiddle. Gender and feminism are not some hair-splitting logical exactness. The world must look for what causes disharmony between the sexes.

For centuries, the feminist world has known patriarchal torment that included being forcibly stripped, punched and kicked, shaved, violated, enduring second-class patronage, spat upon, hateful psychological defeat in barrenness sometimes with many twists shackling woman’s integrity, watching womanhood being dragged to the mud, and something more, women have no choice but to believe that they have been under attack and have to necessarily reclaim their integrity, and rightly too. The sex is strained and has formed opposition. Sex war is declared in the postcolonial materials in fiction! In consequence, female writings and activities have unsurprisingly excessively lashed out at the male class.

Presently, the world has no problem admitting that patriarchy is the religion of the planet. The world too, has no problem accepting that finger-pointing from the female class is self-defence, especially against pornography of violence (i.e., rape). Thus, a new path for succeeding female writers, critics, and teachers has been provided so that female writers, critics, and teachers together, with their repetitions, modifications, and individual signatures will redefine the relationship between the sexes as espoused in the chapters of this book.

The chapters speak for themselves on a variety of related social issues, so there is no need for an elaborate introduction. The chapters on gender and feminism range in time over the last ten years and interestingly over the faces of Nigeria and Malaysia.

Gender and feminism have now achieved significant audiences in Nigeria and Malaysia, and even beyond. It is for this reason of myriad audiences that the chapters included here are not arranged based on any scheme. It might be possible to arrange them under such subject headings as ‘political comment’, ‘literary comment’, or simply under such subject headings as ‘understanding gender and feminism’, ‘gender and economy’, ‘gender and society’. But such ordering is arbitrary and not particularly helpful, since the remarks one chapter makes about, for example, ‘literature’ or ‘gender’ may not necessarily follow in another chapter’s argument because there are country variations.

This country variation brings us to the third scoring point for this book. The symbiosis between Nigeria and Malaysia is made possible because of the intervention of a sponsoring agency in Nigeria, the then Education Tax Fund (ETF), now Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund). Because of this, many Nigerians are studying abroad, especially in Malaysia. Two Nigerian contributors here (Ibrahim Abdullahi from Isa Kaita College of Education, Dutsinma, Katsina State and Muhammad Alkali from Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Niger State) owe their success to TETFund scholarship.

As academics, the two have always looked forward to any opportunity to interact with colleagues in their fields. The TETFund offered them that opportunity. They are pleased to say that the TETFund scholarship is one of the best things that happened to their lives in their academic careers. While Muhammad Alkali completed his PhD programme in 2014, Ibrahim Abdullahi completed his Master’s programme in 2020. The scholarship particularly offered them wonderful opportunities to deeply understand the concepts of gender and feminism toward peace between the sexes. The TETFund marked an unforgettable milestone in their academic trajectory.

Specifically, Muhammad Alkali’s TETFund-supported thesis, “Interrogating Nego-feminism in Six Nigerian Novels” mediates conflicting areas between the sexes in a way that is usually overlooked. It provides techniques for reconciling the sexes, particularly the female sex which for centuries has been debased, used and abused. Nego-feminism knows how to negotiate between the sexes to detonate patriarchal mines. It chooses its steps carefully. Obioma Nnaemeka, who coined the term Nego-feminism, speaks to the tensions and aspirations of the female sex. She speaks of this as the feminism of compromise, which “knows when, where, and how to detonate patriarchal land mines; it also knows when, where, and how to go around patriarchal land mines” (378). Working within the framework of Nego-feminism Theory, the thesis analysed the relationships between gender, feminism, culture, conflict, and violence in such a way as Hoelzer (2022) “(takes) it beyond compassion and pity/to the awful real” to achieve affect\empathy in the fragmented environments of the world. Hoelzer mainly discusses the concept of trauma as equally evident in Nego-feminism discussions. He stresses that trauma is an unimaginable, excessive extreme that goes beyond the capacity to imagine it. It provides for the imagination of those not experiencing it” (LaCapra 133 qt. in Hoelzer 2022).

In addition to giving Alkali an excellent opportunity to acquire knowledge and enhance his research techniques, the TETFund scholarship presented training prospects to refine his analytical abilities and instilled the confidence necessary for him to excel as a prominent global scholar. presently, he has improved his writing style and is capable of expressing himself with greater brevity and precision. Moreover, the scholarship allowed him to familiarise himself with literature on peace-building and stay updated on the latest developments in academic writing. This has led to his winning another scholarship, the TETFund Bookmanuscript Development. It has led to the birth of this book, Excursions into Gender and Sexuality.

We are grateful to TETFund.