Pete Edochie fingers feminism as root of domestic violence

VETERAN actor and broadcaster, Pete Edochie has blamed feminism for the rise in domestic violence and broken marriages, especially in Africa, and in particular, Nigeria.

Speaking to BBC Igbo, the veteran actor stated that feminism is alien to Africans. He added that when a woman leaves her parents and follows her husband, she’s to do whatever her husband wants her to do.

He claimed that in most cases of domestic violence, women are to blame because they are no longer submissive.

Most women today, according to him, don’t know how to do basic things like cooking to keep their husbands happy, despite getting a formal education.

He said his mother didn’t get a formal education, yet she cooked a variety of dishes very well in a way that’s pleasing to his father.

“Any woman who cannot cook cannot call herself a woman, no,” he said.

He continued: “This thing called feminism, that’s what leads to women getting beaten in marriages.

“When you talk to a woman, she will respond to you. When she responds to you, you won’t be able to bear it so you’ll stretch out your hand and beat her up.”

Edochie said he doesn’t like seeing women cry because it touches him deeply but women are the ones who do things that lead to the beating.

He said in Igbo: “It is not everything they explain to you that you people understand. For the record, women’s understanding is limited, let me tell you the truth.

“I don’t hate them but I’ve had dealings with them a lot, including those at work where I’m the head. Their understanding is limited to a large extent, do you understand?”

He also insisted that the African culture doesn’t worship women like they do in western countries.

“White people worship women. If you notice in the western countries, three or four women could arise and say a man touched them inappropriately at work and the man will resign for that reason. Such a thing can’t happen in our land.

“In our culture, if as a woman, no man tells you how good looking you are, you’ll stay in a place, crying, and asking yourself if you’re not good enough to look at. This is how our culture is.”

He reiterated that he’s a man who adheres strongly to our culture and traditions.

For the African men, he said a number of them now practice modern trends that are not African, like kneeling to propose to a woman. He went on to condemn this practice.

“Kneeling down to give a woman a ring because you want to marry her is not our culture as Igbo people.

“Any man who kneels in front of the woman he wants to marry, what that means is that he has taken the headship of his family and handed it over to the woman, that’s what it means”.