Chioma Opara (born 23 May 1951 in Jos, Nigeria) is a Nigerian author and academic whose work primarily focuses on West African feminism. She is known for creating the theory of femalism and is one of the six most important African feminist theorists. Her work has been influential in studies of gender in Africa. She is currently Professor of English and Comparative Literature on the Faculty of Humanities at Rivers State University in Port Harcout, Nigeria. Education Opara received her B.A in French at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and went on to receive her diploma in French Studies at The University of Dakar and a certificate in French studies from the University of Tours in France. She received her Ph.D. in English at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria. Opara has been an activist for humanities education in Nigeria. In a 2016 inaugural speech at Rivers State University, Opara stated that its Institute on Foundational Studies should be elevated to a full-fledged Faculty of Humanities. She argued that "the elevation of the institute to a Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences would facilitate integrative possibilities. In a 2016 interview, she argued that the mastery of language, particularly the English language, is essential to bolster the academic prestige and achievement of higher education institutions in Nigeria: "students should take the dictionary as their second bible." At her university, Opara is dubbed "the English women" due to her expertise in the English language and literature. Theories Opara's theoretical work focuses on innovating psychological and sociological feminist frameworks for African women and academics, particularly in analyzing literature. Opara centers the African female experience in the context of postcolonialism, globalization, economic disparity, and traditional African culture. She discusses how African women can subvert generations of sexism, entrenched in all of these systems in a specific context, and describes the appropriate tools for given contexts. Her work belongs to the school of burgeoning African feminist scholarship, which grew as a necessary response to the problem of white feminism and black feminism failing to address the experiences and perspectives of African women on the continent. Femalism Opara describes her theory of femalism as a tangible "praxis" that "foregrounds the body while applying psychoanalytical criticism in its negotiation of the gendered subjectivity deemed as culturally and socially constructed." In this theory, she describes the female body as a site of patriarchal abuse and violence on the