MARGINALIZATION OF WOMEN IN IGBO TRADITION: MYTH OR REALITY?

Abstract

There have been claims and counter-claims among scholars of Igbo tradition that Igbo culture creates conditions that enhance the marginalization of women by men. Thus, while some scholars endorse this position that women are marginalized in Igbo culture, there are other scholars who contest this endorsement. This study examine the claims of the later with specific reference to politics. Particularly, it review the works of those authors who claimed that the active participation of women in the politics of traditional Igbo society before colonization introduced what they described as the perversion of Igbo culture, showed that women were not marginalized in that society. This review ascertained firstly, whether traditional Igbo society treated women equal with men as these authors alleged. Secondly, it determined whether the marginalization that exist today in contemporary Igbo societies is the consequence of colonization. To achieve these, three criteria were used to analyze and critique the various arguments marshaled out by these scholars. Based on the analysis, it was discovered that women were politically and culturally marginalized in both the traditional and contemporary Igbo society, and that is why colonization might have contributed to this, it was not the origin of the marginalization in current Igbo society. In the light of these findings, it was recommended that unjust political and cultural practices that are oppressive to women should be dismantled to encourage better political and cultural participations of contemporary Igbo women.