The study explored the cultural dynamics of construction of sexual intercourse within gender constructions of masculinity and femininity among the Yoruba people of South western Nigeria. The Explanatory Model Interview Catalogue (EMIC/ETIC) framework, a cultural explanatory social analytic framework with guides to looking at the insiders' perspectives, was used as the theoretical base to the study. The study was conducted to broaden understanding of sexual relationships in order to generate culturally relevant programmes that can promote sexual health, control sexual coercion, sexual violence and reduce the transmission and spread of HIV. It explored information about the conceptions of sexual relationships, social dynamics of sexual negotiations in marital and non-marital relationships, the expressions and process of knowledge acquisition as such translates to sexual behaviour by men and women. The prevalence of consensus, coercive and forced sexual intercourse and sexual morbidity were determined. Perceived link of sexual coercion and sexual violence to HIV transmission was also explored. Traditional practices, including regulatory mechanisms for the control of sexual behaviour of men and women in the culture were also explored. Equally focused in the study were differences in the conceptions of sexual relationships among the study population as moderated by sex, age, educational background and marital status, along with experiences of sexual coercion, forced sex, and sexual intercourse related morbidity. Adopting the ethnographic method, qualitative data from historical review of existing information about the Yoruba people, focus group discussions, in-depth individual interviews and observations were complemented by quantitative data generated through a survey in a sample Yoruba community of lIe-Ife. Findings showed the conception of sexual relationships and sexual intercourse built around the conception and social constructions of active masculinity and passive femininity. Conceptions of sexual relationship evolved as a transitional phenomenon that individuals were expected to learn informally instinctually and as they attain sexual biological maturity through language use and observations of practices among older people. Two typologies of masculinity and femininity were discernible in the study population that also give specifications to social and sexual behaviour of men and women. There appeared a changing conception of femininity especially among young people below 30 years, which is also informing sexual behaviour of young women. Relationships were moderated by age, economic status and marriage, which invariably put women in subordinate position to men either in social or sexual relationships. Behaviour of men and women were dictated by social role assignment of leadership through economic provisions for family and control of sexual act by the man. This was within a contractual relationship of older men with younger women with the primary motive of procreation in traditional orientation. Sexual intercourse was seen as a compulsory act for both men and women especially as it results to procreation though the initiation and control were part of the social responsibility of the man. It was socially approved within marriage but pre-marital and extra marital relationships were tolerated more for men. The act was also used "as a prove of self", for economic gains, to demonstrate love, for enjoyment and as a tool of punishment of women by some men. Knowledge acquisition about sexual relationships and sexual intercourse tended to be inadequate throughout the life span. There was never a time when individuals, even after marriage, have access to correct information about sexual intercourse. There was gross assumption of what sexual partners know about sexual intercourse in the population. Within the context of 13 identifiable topical knowledge areas desirable for sexual health, more than 50% of males and females expressed lack of knowledge. There were significant differences in expressed knowledge by male and female respondents of what sexual intercourse is and the motives of sexual intercourse / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

Reducing gender inequalities by enabling women's empowerment is a major focus of the literature and practices of gender and development. The work of this thesis contributes to debates about female empowerment, especially for peasant women in peripheral capitalist economies. The central themes of enquiry are power relations of gender and space in the socio-economic processes in which peasant households and their members are embedded. The focus of investigation is the extent to which commodity exchange outside the household reinforces, or reduces, women's position of power/disempowerment. The central question taken for analysis is whether income earning via trading empowers women, thus reducing their subordination. This hypothesis is widely accepted. Many NGOs (non-governmental organisations) and other development institutions base efforts around the notion that income earning is liberating for women. This hypothesis is investigated for rural Hausa women in Northern Nigeria who are secluded within their homes by the religio-cultural practice of purdah, but who engage in trade, often through the agency of children. The major empirical part of the study develops and applies an original framework for analysis of empowerment that identifies and maps gender divisions of labour and space in the spheres of production, reproduction and circulation in which rural Hausa men and women are embedded. The overall conclusion reached is that gender divisions of work, both inside and outside rural Hausa households, and especially in trade, reflect and sustain the subordination of women and their inferior position relative to men, especially through the control of space. The notion of income earning as universally empowering for women does not hold because rural Hausa women engaged in the market are not significantly empowered by their income earning because of the complex realities of patriarchy whereby women have weak bargaining powers.

The thesis explored the story of the healing of the ten lepers by Jesus in Luke 17:11-19 for its potential to facilitate a conversation between the Jesus context and the Yoruba context, to bring about a new praxis in the attitude of Yoruba Christian to people living with HIV and AIDS. In view of the fact that the context is a major determinant in the interpretations that ecumenical theologians make with the Bible, it calls on the interpreter to re-read the text in the culture of the people. And in a bid for African biblical scholarship to locate itself within the social, political and ecclesiastical context of Africa in the age of globalization and the scourge of HIV and AIDS crisis, a contextual reading of Jesus’ attitude and compassionate response to the wish of the ten lepers as presented in Luke for healing and restoration is not only desirable in this research but an opportunity to reflect on the contribution of contextual exposition of the miracle story to the contemporary attitude of Christians in an HIV and AIDS era. HIV and AIDS is a disease which not only plunders human bodies but also invades the attitude and behaviour of societies generating a kind of social pathology. Hence the definition of social phenomena is culturally determined and therefore the explanation and the attitudes of health and illness is a function of culture. As a result this has great implications for the attitude and behaviour of people towards sick people especially people living with HIV and AIDS in this era. Drawing insights from the model of the body as social map by Mary Douglas in which the concern and fight around social boundaries are linked with purity rules and taboo; and the labeling/deviancy theory of Becker, this research reads the Gospel of Luke with a social-scientific lens selected texts in Luke’s Gospel depicting the attitude of Jesus to outcasts (lepers). It also raises the question, whether being a Christian, having the Bible as a resource in the Yoruba context does or can make a difference to the way Yoruba people respond to sick people in an HIV and AIDS era. The empirical study was carried out in the Yoruba community of Ijebu Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria employed research methods which include the Tripolar exegetical method, an ethnographic study through focus group discussions, non-participatory observation and the contextual Bible study method. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

The study set out to explore the complexities of the socio-cultural constructions of gender roles and psychological wellbeing in farm-families of Ogun state Nigeria. The intention of the study was to gain insight and understanding of the farmers' life experiences since farm-families are gendered institutions with peculiar needs, problems and aspirations. The study was motivated by a dearth of research on the constructions and determinants of psychological wellbeing and gender roles in farm-families. This thesis is therefore an attempt to fill the identified gap in knowledge, by generating empirical data on the socio-cultural constructions of psychological wellbeing and gender roles in farm-families. The thesis is essentially interdisciplinary in nature, drawing from and contributing to the bodies of knowledge in gender-based research, social psychology, family studies, developmental research, and agricultural extension. The inclusion of men's and women's views and perceptions, as opposed to a polarized view of men exclusively as the oppressors and perpetrators of female subordination is a poststructural feminist approach toward de-emphasizing gender dichotomies. In addition, the incorporation of children's perspectivesis due to recognition of family factors as determinants of children's gender identity construction, life outcomes, and the psychological wellbeing of the entire family. Research participants included forty adults (17 men and 23 women) and thirty-one children (17 boys and 14 girls), drawn from five farming communities in Ogun state Nigeria. These include: Kango, Ogijan, Boodo-Sanyaolu, Obafemi, and Ilewo-Orile. Adopting a qualitative research methodology, multiple methods of data collection were employed. These include life history methodology, in-depth interviews, focus group interviews, and interactive observation techniques. Although 'psychological wellbeing' is a difficult construct to define because of its complexity and high subjectivity, adopting the social representations' framework, the constructions,· meanings and determinants of psychological wellbeing and gender roles were allowed to emerge from the participants, within their peculiar socio-historical and cultural contexts. Findings reveal that the constructions of gender identity and gender roles in farm-families are the foundations of the internalization of gender ideals, socio-cultural constructions, psychological wellbeing and coping strategies. Children then grow up to become part of the society and continue the trans-generational perpetuation of gender ideals and reinforcement of gender stereotypes, and these have several implications for the psychological wellbeing of entire farm-family members. The problems of women-subordination vis-a-vis male-domination, therefore, have their roots in the socio-cultural constructions of gender, gender roles, and their ideological representations. Research outcomes thus provide basis for the development of sustainable culture-specific feminist strategies, which address the origins and foundations of gender stereotypes, as well as gender-sensitive and gender-specific interventions for the enhancement of farm-families' psychological wellbeing. The adoption of Yoruba terminology in the constructions of psychological wellbeing and related concepts in the thesis is the beginning of an innovative research process for inventing contextually meaningful and relevant Yoruba terminology for previously Western-based concepts. In this thesis for example, psychological wellbeing is construed as - ilera-okan, alafiaokan, ibale-okan, ilera pipe t 'okan-t 'ara; while stress and emotional disturbance are construed as - aibale-okan, iporuuru ati pakaleke okan. This is a unique contribution to knowledge. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.