Joke Silva, the Nollywood actress, has addressed a controversial comment by Pete Edochie, her colleague in the movie industry, on feminism.
Last year, Edochie had attributed the prevalence of domestic violence and breakups in marriages to the practice of feminism in African homes.
“Feminism isn’t something black people are known for. Today, our wives can’t even cook anymore. Women who can’t cook aren’t supposed to call themselves women. And feminism is what causes women to be beaten up in marriages. You complain to a woman and she retorts,” he had said.
But on Monday — which was Edochie’s 75th birthday — the ace actress reflected on the claim.
Joke spoke as one of the panelists during a virtual session set up by friends and colleagues to celebrate the actor’s birthday.
After the pleasantries, the 60-year-old then addressed Edochie’s comment on feminism. Joke said such statement would make one wonder if the actor grew up with abusive parents or if he was also an abusive person.
The actress, however, commended Edochie for clarifying that he was neither raised in an abusive home nor endorsed domestic violence.
“A statement like that leads us to ask the question, what is feminism and what is gender-based violence? Because both have been introduced in that statement,” she said.
“Feminism for me in simplest form means to be treated equally, to treat each person equally, to treat each gender equally, to treat a man and a woman equally.”
Joke said feminism entails creating an equal society where men and women are given the same treatment.
Buttressing her point, the actress cited the biblical story of the adulterous woman who was brought to Jesus for condemnation.
The film star also described Jesus as “one of the greatest feminists”, adding that his handling of the matter was in support of feminism.
“If we look at Christ for instance, I always say one of the greatest feminists is Christ and I’ll cite examples from the Bible. The first one is the woman caught indulging in adultery,” she added.
“According to Jewish law, that woman should have been stoned but Jesus said let anyone who hasn’t commit a sin be the first to throw a stone at her. This is because it takes a man and a woman to commit adultery, the woman didn’t do that alone.”
