THE HERMENEUTICS OF IGBO WOMEN STRUGGLE FOR EMANCIPATION

Abstract

The issues about women are many and diverse – social, political, psychological, cultural, epistemological, etc. One particular theme that runs across these levels of studies is the nature of a woman. Is a woman equal or unequal to a man? This is a gender issue. This has become a burning issue because of the manner in which women are maltreated, mistreated and excluded in vital areas where their contributions are needed for the development of the society. Some say that women by nature are inferior to men, for others they are superior to men, and yet for others, they are equal to men. Of particular interest is an opinion that maintains that the Igbo women, in the South East Nigeria, have a low mindset about themselves; they pretended their nature as inferior in the traditional society in order that men would protect and care for them. And that it is on account of this, that they refused to assert their rights and develop their talents. This paper challenges this view. It believes that even before the arrival of the colonial masters in their midst, women had fought against their being treated as inferior and never pretended their gender as weak.