Female Husbands in Igbo Land: Southeast Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction The concept of patriarchy is not new. Indeed, it has been an age long defining concept in gender relations world over. In Africa for instance though cultures that operate matriarchy as a social system abound, its application is only limited to inheritance. Generally it has been argued by scholars that there could be no absolute practice of either patriarchy or matriarchy. (1) Nevertheless, patriarchy largely dominates most of world's social system today. A popular altercation to practice of this social system has been that of woman to woman marriage, an improvisation to sustain patriarchy, but a negation of its definition and import. That woman to women marriage or female husbands was more pronounced than might be supposed especially in Africa where it occurred in over 30 societies, including; Igbo of southeastern Nigeria, Zulu of Southern Africa, Nuer of East Africa etc., is incontrovertible. Indeed, it suggests flexibility and dynamism that have attained gender roles in Africa. Patriarchy: a Conception or Misconception? Conceptually, patriarchy has been defined in various ways by scholars. It has been defined as a social system wherein family headship and along with it power and possession passed from man on to his sons. (2) It also referred to a social system in which men wielded all powers and used it only to their own advantage. For purpose of this work, latter definition seemed more significant. Since it was normal for authority to go with function, patriarchy as practiced in Africa naturally assigned authority to men for system had allowed them all powers and its use. Consequently, since they wielded all powers and discretionary right to use it, it was only natural that they were bound to use it selfishly. One of functions bestowed on men by system of patriarchy was headship of family. And since family remained smallest building block of society, though not exclusive, men became leaders of society by extension. According to Chinweizu, (3) the patriarch zone of function and authority includes physical protection of homestead and its territory, male economic sphere..., spiritual sphere..., social sphere. The matriarch zone of function on other hand restricted women to kitchen, cradle, female economic sphere, mostly perceived as demeaning for men to venture or intrude into. These socially ascribed functions inhibited women's participation in public life, since they were to be seen and not heard. The concept of patriarchy permeated every aspect of societal life, in every age, so much so that even most religions especially major ones: Christianity, Islam and Judaism, preached patriarchal ideologies. Indeed, masculinisation of gods of these religions was an affirmation of patriarchal dispositions of their parent societies and cultures. Such dispositions and perceptions led to marginalization and underdevelopment of This however, was consequent upon ambience of anti- women cosmologies of other civilizations and destruction of knowledge of other people of women which led to emergence of only one monolithic scientific paradigm in all its rationality and objectivity which dominated all civilizations with a patriarchal order which denied all women. (4) In Europe for example, though ideals of equality of genders, women empowerment and liberation, feminism and other ideals that were geared towards elimination of vestiges of patriarchy emerged and despite all mobilization and even legal support in most countries for women, patriarchy was still dominant and matriarchy vestigial. Even political elite of those societies still did not accept or appreciate women's participation in public life. A Roman senator Cato, said, Our ancestors did not allow women to handle any business even domestic, without special authorization. …

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