wifeism

English

Etymology

From wife +‎ -ism.

Noun

wifeism (uncountable)

1. (Nigeria, politics) A patriarchal societal tendency whereby women can only achieve things as the wives of men of rank.
   • 1999, Amrita Basu, C. Elizabeth McGrory, Women's Movements in Global Perspective, page 213:

     In this chapter I examine the emergence of wifeism and the bureaucratization of women's concerns in Nigeria through state involvement, especially since the early 1980s.

   • 1999, Matthew Hassan Kukah, Democracy and Civil Society in Nigeria, page 168:

     But this is not unconnected with the fact that the electoral system in Nigeria is still skewed in favour of wifeism.

Alternative forms

• wifism