Questioning Gender Pay Gap And Sexism In Nigeria’s Work Place -By Ogala Osoka

A friend of mine was part of a team that coordinated an audition recently. Her associates desired to start a TV show and the audition was an attempt to skim through popular veteran presenters to see who would fit into the philosophy of the show. At the end of the auditions, she concluded that the men were older, better at their jobs and more experienced than the women. This is a conclusion that I have come to realize in many industries within Nigeria.

Feminist theory and popular culture have expressed a narrative that women are removed from the workplace and educative settings, and are not given the opportunities that men are given. Some months ago, a company decided to train girls in software programming. The tech industry has always seen a higher number of male than female participants. This has been listed as one of the proofs of gender inequality. In order to bridge the gap, tech industries have created incentives to encourage female participation. This was one of such incentives. One of the girls was given money to buy a laptop when she complained that she did not have any for the work. Instead of getting a laptop as agreed, she got an IPhone 12. When she was confronted, she became defensive. She said the money was a gift, and she could use it however she liked. Yet, let us not be in a haste to generalize, at least not yet.

Studies have shown that when young men and women choose programs to study in tertiary schools, men usually pick the tougher, prospective programs that can make them more money, while women jump at the creative courses that allow more expressions. It is not that men do not like to express themselves; it is because the pressure on men to make money is enormous. A man is valued by what he has, and any man who is interested in building his status within society would have to be heavily invested in building resources, even though it would mean doing the harder, tougher jobs, and most dangerous jobs.

For the woman, it is different. The woman is valued, not because of what resources she has gathered, but due to her sexuality. A woman’s body is her value, and even if she argues it or fights it, she still takes care of her body more than she takes care of anything else. Many would argue that this is a social condition, and it is true. The individual (man and woman) would move to improve the aspects that get the most compliments. It is not that the woman is less innately intelligent than the man, it is just that she has no purpose to improve her intelligence, especially to the detriment of her body. So yes, it is social conditioning, but it is also a result of biological and psychological programming. Yet it does not matter what it is. What matters is that women realize that their bodies are their most prize possessions, and even though few ones like to pretend that intelligence is synonymous to making illogical noises, they all still take care for their bodies, and would express utter sadness and might even plunge into a low self-esteem if no one complimented their physical beauty.

Consequently, this means that men and women have different priorities. Both men and women are objectified. Men are economically objectified, while women are sexually objectified. A close friend of mine, recently, visited a young man she was interested in, and was appalled by the state of his house. She said his house was not just so small, but also, he had no electricity. “He is poor,” she said to me, angry. She had expected him to apologize to her for being poor. He had no right to be poor, especially when she liked him enough to pay him a visit. I agreed with her, even though I imagined what shame this man she had visited would feel. Being rejected by women for situations you cannot control easily plunges a man into sadness for days. It is the exact same feelings a woman has when a man tells her she is ugly, or that Arnold Schwarzenegger has more boobs than she does.

In the workplace, these differences are easily obvious. Women are employed (and promoted), not because they are good at their jobs, but because they look good. Many women in the workplace would put more effort into their appearances than they do at their work, because they realize a woman’s looks would open more doors than their brains will. In real time, there are far less women, on the same career levels, as men, that are as exceptional at their work. It is just as there are few men, within the career space, that are as beautiful as the women. I can rush a few examples.

Richard Mofe Damijo began his acting career in the 80s. Today, he is 59 years old. His acting career has spanned over 30 years. He is one of the few Nollywood actors from the 80s who is still relevant today. Ramsey Nouah is 50 years. He began his career in the 90s, and his female contemporaries are Genevieve Nnaji, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde and maybe Rita Dominic, most of who are hardly seen on screens today. I would say the oldest most relevant actress in the Nigerian scene today is Chioma Chukwuka, who started her career in the early 2000s. In summary, the men who have started way longer in Nollywood are still colleagues with the women who started in the 2000s. Today, Chioma Chukwuka or Omoni Oboli can feature in a role as RMD character’s wife. Back in the 80s, these female actresses would only fit be to play his daughter.

In the music industry, it is the same story. The longest serving women are the ones who can manage to look like 20-year olds as long as they can. It is the only reason Tiwa Savage is still relevant. Tiwa is 40.
Due to this disparity, women base their career off fighting each other rather than actually working. Since they realize their market is indirectly based on how good they look, any other woman who can look better than them is a potential threat. We have many of the ladies in showbiz spending more time in fighting each other than in actually working. For instance, while the popular argument is, between Davido and Wizkid, who is a better artiste, Sheyi Shay, Victoria Kimani and Tiwa Savage slut shame each other and compete with beauty standards.

These systems, although many would argue that are instructed by men, but are really perpetrated by capitalism, have their pros and cons for each gender. First, it means that men have to exhume more effort to break through than women do. The average age for men to succeed is 40s. However for women, it is 20s. Men have all their efforts focused on their hard work (as it takes time to gain mastery in any field); women have their efforts focused on their beauty (make-up and suitable clothes). However, the disadvantage for women is that the bar is low. A woman who can string words together to form a simple sentence, the expectations from the regular primary 4 student, is considered intelligent. I have seen a man commend a woman just because she could recognize the company, Shell’s logo. A lot of times when men compliment women’s intelligence, it is sparklingly inferior to men’s standard. Case study: Chimamanda Adichie.

However, the benefits are worth it. Women get to succeed faster, and that is something to look forward to. They can easily plan their lives, if they have the sense to forget about competing with men. Ngozi Okonji-Iweala had all her kids before she launched into her career. The same with Hillary Clinton. Most women who do this go into fields that they do not need extraordinary beauty to excel, areas where their intelligence and problem-solving skills can easily be recognized. Women who launch into their careers at a young age have to risk their marriage and family getting blown into flames because it is practically impossible to be an involved mother and wife, and be fully involved in their career. This is why we see many women who are successful are single to stupor, without kids. It is more difficult for a successful woman to find a partner, than it is for a man.

All in all, I would recommend that people, both men and women, realize this stiff reality and plan accordingly.