The Centre for Cultural Studies is delighted to extend our warmest congratulations to Rowland Chukwuemeka Amaefula on securing the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) grant for his ground-breaking research project, Nigerian Practices of Male-to-Female Cross-Dressing: Exploring Gender Transgressions in Digital Youth Culture.
His research examines how selected Nigerian youths adopt cross-dressing and related expressions to challenge normative gender roles on social media. In many parts of Africa, including Nigeria, gender non-conformance is criminalised, and transvestism remains a marginalised and understudied subject in Nigerian scholarship. When addressed, it is often framed within governmental perspectives that depict it as an act of ridicule rather than as a legitimate form of identity expression. Dr. Amaefula’s study fills this critical research gap by analysing male-to-female cross-dressing (MCD) and transvestism on digital platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.
Focusing on the online performances of Idris Okuneye (Bobrisky), James Brown (Princess of Africa), and Daniel Anthony Nsikan (Jay Boogie), Dr. Amaefula examines how these figures challenge societal norms and legal constraints through digital personas. Using an interdisciplinary methodology that blends performance studies, digital humanities, and cultural analysis, he investigates how digital media facilitate the construction of gender identities beyond the binary and their wider socio-cultural impact.
We look forward to welcoming Rowland Chukwuemeka Amaefula to Graz in November. His innovative study promises to make a significant contribution to the fields of digital youth culture, performance studies, and gender non-conformity in Nigeria. Congratulations once again!