Tobias Sylvester
Veteran Nollywood actress, Joke Silva has addressed a controversial comment by her colleague, Pete Edochie, that feminism is the major cause of domestic violence against women in marriage.
Pete Odochie Blame ‘Feminists’ For Domestic Violence
KanyiDaily recalls that last year during an interview with BBC Igbo, Pete Edochie had blamed women for the prevalence of domestic violence and breakups in marriages.
He said: “Feminism isn’t something black people are known for. Once a woman leaves her parents to meet her husband and take his surname, she is to be submissive to him. If she wasn’t married, she can do whatever she wants.
“Women walk and show off their behinds, it’s so that men would find them. If you see such a woman and express your marriage interest, then she starts walking properly. Our women now plunge into feminism nowadays.
“They can’t even keep their husbands anymore. Is that a good thing? These women are schooled but a lot of wives now can’t even cook — one thing that a woman should be good in so as to be able to keep her husband.
Today, our wives can’t even cook anymore. Women who can’t cook aren’t supposed to call themselves women. And feminism is what causes women to be beaten up in marriages. You complain to a woman and she retorts.
“It becomes unbearable, so you stretch your arm and deal her a slap. Domestic violence starts. I don’t like seeing women crying because it hurts me deeply. But it is the fault of the woman herself a lot of times.”
Joke Siver Addresses Pete Edochie On Feminism
Reacting to the controversial statement during a virtual session set up by friends and colleagues to celebrate Edochie’s 75th birthday, Silva said that such a statement would make one wonder if he grew up with abusive parents or was also an abusive person.
The 60-year-old actress, however, commended Edochie for clarifying that he was neither raised in an abusive home nor endorsed domestic violence.
Joke said feminism entails creating an equal society where men and women are given the same treatment. She cited the biblical story of the adulterous woman who was brought to Jesus for condemnation.
The film star described Jesus as “one of the greatest feminists”, claiming that his handling of the matter was in support of feminism.
She said, “A statement like that leads us to ask the question, what is feminism and what is gender-based violence? Because both have been introduced in that statement,” she said.
“Feminism for me in simplest form means to be treated equally, to treat each person equally, to treat each gender equally, to treat a man and a woman equally.”
“If we look at Christ, for instance, I always say one of the greatest feminists is Christ and I’ll cite examples from the Bible. The first one is the woman caught indulging in adultery,” she added.
“According to Jewish law, that woman should have been stoned but Jesus said let anyone who hasn’t committed a sin be the first to throw a stone at her. This is because it takes a man and a woman to commit adultery, the woman didn’t do that alone.”
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KanyiDaily recalls that Pete Edochie had recently advised married women on how to handle their cheating husband. He also kicked against Nigerian women leaving their marriages on the ground of infidelity.
