Abstract

The trajectory of women in the Nigerian Civil War has been well-represented by female writers in creative literatures, but scholarly works have focused more on the effects of the Civil War rather than the plight of women in defending their femininity. This study investigates the defence and abuse of femininity before and during the Civil War as portrayed by AdaOkere Agbasimalo’s The Forest Dames, with a view to identifying the manifestations, violations of femininity and the situational factors underpining them. The qualitative design is used. The data are purposively selected excerpts from The Forest Dames, that focus on the treatment of the theme of femininity. Data are subjected to analysis using a triangulation of Budig’s Psychoanalytical feminism, Louise Rosenblatt’s Reader Response and Sperber and Wilson’s Relevance theory. Findings show that Situational factors that underscore the treatment of femininity are survival instinct, normative identity traits, absence of breadwinner, and heritage and femininity codes. The protection and violation of femininity are evinced by the themes of survival and adaptation (by the victim), commodification of women (by the soldiers), limitation or withdrawal of women’s rights (institutional, patriarchal and conditional), circumstantial victimisation and forceful subjection to abuse. The study concludes that there are instances of shameful and institutional violations of women’s femininity in war situations that should be called out, criminalised or tagged as heinous. These crimes should be treated as war crimes that should be prosecuted