Pete Edochie: Feminism is the reason women are beaten up in marriage

Pete Edochie, ace Nollywood actor, has attributed the prevalence of domestic violence and breakups in marriages to the practice of feminism in African homes.

The film star spoke in a BBC Igbo interview, where he dwelled on issues he said frustrates men out of marriages.

“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,” he said.

“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 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.

“My mother was not educated but she would cook all sorts of soups, including bitter leaf, oha, ogbono, okro, egusi, ukwa, and what have you. My father would always get back home hurriedly to eat what his wife had cooked.

“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.”

On his late father, Edochie stressed the importance of culinary skills in Igbo marriages. He also partly blamed women for domestic violence cases that arise while citing what he termed “their low understanding” of delicate issues.

“To be honest, the understanding of women is low. I’m not a misogynist but I’ve associated with them a lot, even at work. Feminism has no place in our culture. We don’t worship women as the whites do,” the 74-year-old added.

“In the west, women could join forces and accuse a male colleague of assault. The man resigns. This can’t happen in our culture. As a young woman, if pedestrians don’t admire you, you’d weep for fear of not being beautiful.

“I’m a strong adherent of culture. Kneeling to put a ring on a woman’s hands is not our culture. Any man who does that transfers the headship of his family to that woman. Until my dad died at 96, he never knelt to propose.

“It’s just like kneeling down on entering a church because there’s a higher being to whom you’re paying respect. Men climb trees to tap palm wine. How does it look if women do the same? Today women dictate to men.

“It wasn’t like that in our days. How women talk to men nowadays isn’t how we were raised. My mother was never beaten. My wife and I have been married for 52 years. I never beat. My five married sons don’t beat their wives.”