Men at work keep-off: male roles and household chores in Nigeria

Abstract

Many extant studies and popular narratives have accounted for female mainstreaming in domestic roles. This has indeed become common rhetoric to the extent that literature documents the reality in most traditional African households and a few western ones. What is lacking however is the need to capture emerging issues in the same heavily traditional contexts. Hence, more works are needed in the area of objective women/men roles in the domestic realm. What then is the emerging scenario and even the old yet unaccounted for in gender relations in the traditional contexts of household chores? This article explores mainly Nigerian men’s views of the division of household labour. Using qualitative data from a sample of married Nigerian men, we examine men’s participation in housework, their attitudes towards the spousal roles, their attitudes toward men who share housework and sustainability of change. The role of background factors such as socio-economic status and level of education was also considered. This article is on an important topic and the findings could expose and teach processes of change in social norms particularly in the contexts of family.

Keywords: Gender, Masculinity, Domestic Roles, Ibadan, Nigeria