There Is No Food In The House: Gender Masculinity And Human Security In Nigeria.

Abstract

There is no food in the house is a phraseology that is commonly directed to the man in the house. The phrase is used here to capture the inescapable roles and responsibilities that the society expects the male gender to perform in the growth and development of the society. The Nigerian society is a patriarchal society where the men are perceived and expected to be responsible for the growth and development of the society under any circumstance. The male gender is conditioned to cater for the other weaker sex and children in the society based on gender perception that the men are the stronger sex. This paper is of the view that gender is not synonymous with sex and an attempt to impress the inadequacies of the growth and development of the society on the male is gender biased. The paper further argues that the penchant for the female gender to put the burden of development and family expansion on the male gender by appealing to feminism is an escapist approach that could lead to human insecurity. Gender mainstreaming involves both sexes and the growth and development of the society should be encompassing. The paper concluded by looking at the challenges faced by the male gender in order to maintain a balance in the society and strategies were proffered to tackle these challenges so as to improve on the human security network in Nigeria.

IFE PsychologIA Vol. 16 (2) 2008: pp. 78-90