Gender Roles In Igbo Culture

In many countries there are distinctive gender roles. For almost every culture there are male and female “traits and roles”. Men are usually seen as masculine and completes all the hard work. On the other hand, women are seen as fragile and meant to stay home and tend to the children. An example of this is in Indian culture. Although women are working alongside men in today’s society they are still looked down upon. Women who are well educated suffer from a social stigma. Women are not appreciated for the things they do. Gender roles in Igbo culture share some differences and similarities with cultures around the world. The Igbo people hail from Nigeria, they have a very rich culture and history. Things Fall Apart is a wonderful novel created

Compared to their male counterpart women perform just as much labour. Women take care of their own poultry, they cook for their husband and take care of their children. Yams are extremely important to Igbo culture they are called “King of the crops”. Achebe shares, “His mother and sisters worked hard enough, but they grew women’s crops, like coco-yams, beans and cassava. Yam, the king of crops, was a man’s crop.” (28) Men sow the yams, climb palm trees, wrestle, and keep loyal to their personal God. Both men and women shared the same amount of labour. The Igbo culture had clear and distinctive gender roles. However, as of today Igbo women are changing those roles. Education is extremely important for unshackling the freedom for these women who hold great potential. Today more women are in school than men. These women take up classes in medicine, geology, engineering and computer science. Sam Mbah a Nigerian author and activist writes, “The traditional African society would not achieve balance and harmony without the role of the women.” Women in African society are often looked down upon however, they are fighting against stereotypes. Women are even in the military but, there is still more to come for