Gender and Sexuality Studies

Abstract

Infertility is a reproductive health challenge that is perceived differently in the African space.  Though it is a global issue that affects couples, Sterility is seldom attributed to men in African space. This article focuses on male infertility in Sub Saharan African space which has been underestimated because of socio-cultural factors. Drawing inspiration from Ayobami Adebayo’s novel, Stay with Me, the novel portrays how male infertility literally dos not exist in the African psyche because child bearing is a cultural role associated with women and not men. ln spite of the established findings that infertility affects men, it is still viewed as a female problem in Sub-Saharan Africa, a construction that is deeply rooted in culture and shaped by patriarchy. The novel demonstrates how childlessness has been socially and culturally constructed in African space to hold women responsible for a couples’ problem, irrespective of the male factors related to infertility. The spatial theory will be used to examine the socio-cultural construction of infertility in the African space. Adebayo’s novel, Stay with Me, reveals how the space one lives in /the sociology of space shapes and influences people’s understanding with regards to infertility and creates stereotypes about women for the interest of childless men. Considering that male and female factors of infertility co-exist, the dialogic approach of Mary E. Modupe Kolawole and Obioma Nnaemeka is necessary in the follow up and management of infertility rather than focus on the woman who may not necessarily be the cause of a couple’s childlessness. 

Keywords: Infertility, sociology of space, Erectile dysfunction, Dialogic approach, Stigma

Biography

Ophilia A. Abianji-Menang is Senior Lecturer of Literature and researcher in the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Maroua, Cameroon. She holds a PhD in African Literature and Civilizations from the University of Yaoundé I, and a diploma in education from the Higher Teachers’ Training College, Yaoundé, Cameroon. Abianji-Menang is an educator, a literary critic, a child and women’s advocate. Her research interests are in Gender and Feminist Studies, African Oral Traditions, Postcolonial studies, Cultural Studies, Literary Ecology (Ecocriticism) and Multidisciplinary Studies. She has a number of scientific articles in national and international peer-reviewed journals.