The Struggles of Cultural Assimilation of Nigerian Women in America
Abstract
In this articled will attempt to explain the historical oppression of the Nigerian woman in her home country and how each little Nigerian girl is brought up to submit to the men in her life for her entire life span ,living in the background without a voice but many duties. It will explain how this woman moves to America and finds new freedoms and is presented with the option of assimilating into the new culture or maintain her country’s ways. The identity formation, issues and challenges are subjected to the theories of personality and social change. As the Nigerian woman finds herself in America and trying to understand her new surrounding and to adjust to the new freedoms that she encounters, she must also make the decisions of how much of assimilation of the new culture and how much retention of her own culture does she acquire. This article will show how the course in diversity has equipped and prepared this student to be more competent in working with this population.
In reviewing the research on immigrant women and Nigerian women as a whole for comparison I interviewed 50 women to see if these women agreed with the documented research; 15 women from Nigeria residence in US for more than 10 years, 10 women from Nigeria residence in US for less than 10 years, 8 women born in US with Nigerian parents, 10 women from different countries of Africa, 3 women from Hattie, 2 women from the Dominican Republic, and 3 women from America who have traveled or lived abroad. All of the fore mention women were asked questions gleamed from the documented writings of the cited researchers. The research supports the hypothesis that these women suffer depression and rejection due to cultural differences. The complication of trying to thrive in a society that is different from their cultural up bring and retaining their cultural identity intact posses the issues of identity. The women are faced with the vast opportunity of the western woman. In the
In this articled will attempt to explain the historical oppression of the Nigerian woman in her home country and how each little Nigerian girl is brought up to submit to the men in her life for her entire life span ,living in the background without a voice but many duties. It will explain how this woman moves to America and finds new freedoms and is presented with the option of assimilating into the new culture or maintain her country’s ways. The identity formation, issues and challenges are subjected to the theories of personality and social change. As the Nigerian woman finds herself in America and trying to understand her new surrounding and to adjust to the new freedoms that she encounters, she must also make the decisions of how much of assimilation of the new culture and how much retention of her own culture does she acquire. This article will show how the course in diversity has equipped and prepared this student to be more competent in working with this population.
In reviewing the research on immigrant women and Nigerian women as a whole for comparison I interviewed 50 women to see if these women agreed with the documented research; 15 women from Nigeria residence in US for more than 10 years, 10 women from Nigeria residence in US for less than 10 years, 8 women born in US with Nigerian parents, 10 women from different countries of Africa, 3 women from Hattie, 2 women from the Dominican Republic, and 3 women from America who have traveled or lived abroad. All of the fore mention women were asked questions gleamed from the documented writings of the cited researchers. The research supports the hypothesis that these women suffer depression and rejection due to cultural differences. The complication of trying to thrive in a society that is different from their cultural up bring and retaining their cultural identity intact posses the issues of identity. The women are faced with the vast opportunity of the western woman. In the
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