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Roles of women in igbo culture
Roles of women in igbo culture
Roles of women in igbo culture
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From the Yoruba cosmological myths, in the beginning of time, Olodumare (God) sent seventeen divinities to earth. Sixteen of the primordial divinities were male while one of them being a female named Osun. The male being the majority in number excluded Osun from making decisions and in turn, Osun retaliated by gathering all women around the universe to disrupt the activities of the sixteen male divinities. The women succeeded in their quest prompting the male to seek divine intervention from Oldumare who advised them on making peace with Osun.
The Yoruba Cosmological Myth accounts for lots of gender based practices and beliefs in the contemporary African culture. They have for long prescribed the level of cultural interaction between the males and females as well as their relationships when it comes to family and leadership. The cosmological narrative defines the inability of the women to access powers, either in religion or in politics. The sixteen primordial divinities excluded Osun, a woman when it came to decision making. This reflected in the contemporary African culture, where...
OFFICIAL SITE OF THE CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF THE YAKAMA NATION. Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, 2010. Web. 16 Dec. 2013.
Most of this documentary supports and clarifies my understanding of contemporary African culture. During the course I’ve learned that traditional African leadership structures undertook great changes under colonial rule and continue to progress today. Pre-colonial Africa had several different states characterized by different types of leadership; these involved small family groups of hunter and gatherers, bigger organized clan groups, and micro nations. Many African communities are still being governed by a council of elders, which is responsible for facilitating conflict and making almost all the important decisions within the public.
The idea of women holding authority was unheard of in ancient times and more recently in Colonial America up through the mid twentieth century. It has always been thought that men are superior to women and that women are not strong enough physically and mentally to hold any true authority. For instance, women did not receive the right to vote in the United States until 1920; the first female senator wasn’t appointed until late 1922. In Chinua Achebe’s novel Thing Fall Apart, however, women do hold authority and some even hold more authority than men. Achebe describes how in the Ibo culture women hold the main positions in Ibo religion as priestess and Oracle and that even the strongest man in the Ibo village and the main character of the novel, Okonkwo, must obey the commands of these women.
In Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the theme of perceived masculinity is prominent and portrayed as a critical characteristic which has the potential to shape clans, families, and the safety of others. Because of the emphasis placed on masculinity, women are widely disregarded and downplayed, as they are seen as property. In African culture men are revered due to their warrior-like natures that can uphold the functionality of a clan, but frowned upon when deemed as weak; the result of this fear of weakness led to the dominance of men over women.
Fiero, Gloria K. "Africa: Gods, Rulers, and the Social Order." The Humanistic Tradition. 6th ed.
However, omissions in his account of his time spent with the tribe provoke questions regarding the role of women in the society and the power dynamic in Cameroonian tribes, such as the Dowayo. In order to answer such questions, one may look to Miriam Goheen’s experience and fieldwork with the Cameroonian Nso people. Her fieldwork, which closely examines exactly such questions affords great insight into the role of the women in these regions and how their labors are regarded by the other tribespeople. Juxtaposed, Barley’s The Innocent Anthropologist and Goheen’s Men Own the Fields, Women own the Crops: Gender and Power in the Cameroon Grassfields provide a very interesting look into the people of the Cameroonian
Chinua Achebe?s Things Fall Apart is a narrative story that follows the life of an African man called Okonkwo. The setting of the book is in eastern Nigeria, on the eve of British colonialism in Africa. The novel illustrates Okonkwo?s struggles, triumphs, and his eventual downfall, all of which basically coincide with the Igbo?s society?s struggle with the Christian religion and British government. In this essay I will give a biographical account of Okonwo, which will serve to help understand that social, political, and economic institutions of the Igbos.
Five myths from throughout Africa will be mentioned throughout this essay. They are from the Boshongo, Mande, Shilluk, Egyptian, and Yoruba peoples. For a brief description of these myths please see the appendix. Please remember that these myths do not represent the beliefs and stories of all of Africa.
There are constant struggles between gender, identity, commodification, and class. Among the men and women in many African tribes that still exist today, there are divergences, which will always remain intact because of the culture and the way in which they are taught to treat each other. Chinua Achebe wrote the novel, Things Fall Apart, which is a great piece of African literature that deals with the Igbo culture, history, and the taking over of African lands by British colonization. The ongoing gender conflict is a prominent theme in Things Fall Apart, presenting the clash between men and women of the African Igbo society. Throughout history, from the beginning of time to today, women have frequently been viewed as inferior, men’s possessions whose sole purpose was to satisfy the men’s needs.
...’s depictions of both traditional and modern beliefs in varying degrees illustrate the importance of both in contemporary Nigerian culture, as well as the greater Africa as a whole, and how both are intertwined and cannot exist without the other. In effect, she skillfully subverts stereotypes or single perceptions of Africa as backward and traditional, proving instead, the multifaceted culture of Africa. She further illustrates that neither traditional African nor western culture is necessarily detrimental. It is the stark contrast of the fundamental cultures that inevitably leads to clashes and disagreements. In the end, what holds African countries such as Nigeria together is their shared pride. Modern, western influences can bring positive changes to society, but new cultures cannot completely eradicate the foundational cultures to which a society is founded on.
The status of men and women in the Dogon tribe of Mali is that the women role is less than the men. Because of the god Amma who is there God. Amma look at both male and female, but men have more power than women but they don’t look down on women. Because they need women role to make their babies and rising them. But this is just like other tribe like Egyptian, Mayan, and Tsalagi cultures, it is sated that “women are the culture bearers and caretakers; those who are responsible for teaching tradition and oral history to the next generation.” A woman in these tribe women roles is too passed down the cultural and their history to their child’s and grand
In Umofia, manliness is associated with strength and womanliness with weakness (Okhamafe 127). There is no such thing as a strong woman, and all men should disdain weakness. In Umofia, “all men are males, but not all males are men” (Okhamafe 126). Only the strong men who hold titles deserve to be called “men”. The Igbo word “agbala” is an alternate work for “woman” and for a man who had no title. Women in Igbo society are expected to act a certain way. Okonkwo scolds his daughter, Ezinma, when she does not “sit like a woman” (Achebe 44). He will not let Ezinma bring his chair to the wrestling match because it is a “boy’s job” (Achebe 44). Eve...
Kaduna: Baraka Press, 2004. Magesa, Laurenti. A. African Religion: The Moral Tradition of Abundant Life. Nairobi: Pauline Pub., Africa, 1998. Mbiti, John S. Introduction to African Religion.
Okeke, Phil E. "Reconfiguring Tradition: Women's Rights and Social Status in Contemporary Nigeria." Africa Today 47.1 (2000): 49-63.
African mythology play a big part in passing down values and beliefs of the African culture. African myths “include supernatural beings who influence human life” (Mythencyclopedia) and usually drive the everyday lives of the people. Myths were a direct way of teaching younger generations about the higher beliefs and religion; in most cases they will include supreme god who the tribes won’t worship directly but through other gods lesser in status. The supreme gods and goddess are also referred to as deities, which are accompanied by spirits who are “are less grand, less powerful, and less like humans than the gods, who often have weaknesses and emotions”(Mythencyclopedia). Another characteristic found in a myth would be the asking of basic questions like who created the world. Who created man? Why does man have to die? This type of myth speaks of a world before the current one, it helps teach generations how the world took its form and acquired its customs. African myths were an essential part of African literary history and a big part in preserving the culture.