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Gender Roles, Rituals, and Customs. By Jenny Park, Jane Yang, and Albert Cho English 9F, 5/18/2009. Gender Roles in the Ibo Clan. Roles of Men. Men had multiple wives.
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Gender Roles,Rituals, and Customs By Jenny Park, Jane Yang, and Albert Cho English 9F, 5/18/2009
Roles of Men • Men had multiple wives. • The bigger the title, the more powerful a man was considered in the clan. (Men with no titles or very little amounts of power were called women, or agbala, for being weak and powerless.) • Men were responsible for… • Farming and growing plantations • Building huts • Hunting • Leading the clan and making decisions • Leading their families
Roles of Women • Women were responsible for… • Cooking and preparing for various feasts • Making clothing • Going to the market to buy supplies • Raising children • Collecting firewood and water • Women had to obey their husbands. • They ate separately from their husbands in their own huts with their children. • Women had less power in the village.
New Yam Festival & Wrestling Matches • Annual festival to celebrate the harvest of yams and a new year • Wrestling Match • Drums roll from noon to when the match starts • The match starts when the sun starts to set • People sit around the playground area • The starting match is between the youngest wrestlers • The match ends with the leaders of the village • Men, women, elders, and children all enjoy watching it
Storytelling • Popular among women and children • The story of why tortoises do not have smooth shells • Tortoise was invited to a feast in the sky from the birds • Birds donated their feathers to make wings for him to fly • The tortoise acted like a dictator; he always ate first, and was called ‘All of you’ • The birds became angry of eating the left over food from tortoise • Birds took off the feathers of tortoise • Tortoise fell on hard objects her wife brought out • His back cracked, so a doctor took the pieces of the shell and put them back together; that is why tortoises do not have smooth shells
Marriage • THREE STEPS: • 1. The bride-price is paid • 2. The Uri ceremony is held at the bride’s village • 3. The final ceremony of confession is held • The female family members gather • The female family members sit in a circle with the bride in the center • The bride is asked questions of whether she had met any men after she has received the proposal • The bride confesses the truth, usually confessing she has not met any men, or else it is believed that she will suffer or die at childbirth • When the confession is over, the people cut the throat of a hen • From then on the bride is taken to her new husband’s hut and becomes his wife
Uri • Ceremony for celebrating the marriage of the bride • Men, women, and children are all invited • Mainly a women’s ceremony, central figures: Bride & her mother • The suiter (groom) brings palm-wine to the bride’s kinsmen, called umunna • The bride’s mother would cook for the whole village • People would bring coco-yams, palm oil, and a cake of salt and smoked fish as presents • Relatives, friends, and in-laws come to celebrate • Girls wore red and black waist-beads and anklets of brass
Funerals • Ancient drums of death beat, guns, and cannons are fired • Men cut down every tree or animal they see • People wore smoked raffia skirts and painted their bodies with chalk and charcoal • An ancestral spirit, the egwugwu, appears and speaks for the dead • A one-handed spirit approaches the corpse with a basket full of water and dances • The last step of a funeral is the burial of the corpse
Quote #1 • “It’s true that a child belongs to its father. But when a father beats his child, it seeks sympathy in its mother’s hut. A man belongs to his fatherland when things are good and life is sweet. But when there is sorrow and bitterness he finds refuge in his motherland. Your mother is there to protect you. She is buried there. And that is why we say that mother is supreme.”(134)
Analysis of Quote #1 • The quote means that even though men have most of the authority and power so it looks like they are above women in the outside, women actually are as important as men. As the quote says, when things are going bad a man finds refuge in his motherland. In the Ibo Clan, men are considered to be more powerful than women, but this quote shows that women are powerful in ways that do not necessarily require physical strength and power.
Quote #2 • “The youngest of Uchendu’s five sons, Amikwu, was marrying a new wife. …The daughters of the family were all there, some of them having come a long way from their homes in distant villages. Uchendu’s eldest daughter had come from Obodo, nearly half a day’s journey away. The daughters of Uchendu’s brothers were also there. It was a full gathering of umuada, in the same way as they would meet if a death occurred in the family. There were twenty-two of them.”(131)
Analysis of Quote #2 • The quote shows how excited everyone was to celebrate the Uri ceremony of the marriage. The part where it says Uchendu’s eldest daughter traveled a half-day’s distance shows how important people think of this ceremony and how serious they take it.
Question #1 • What can you conclude about Nigerian culture from its rituals and customs?
Possible Answer for Question #1 • They respect the elders and the men over women and children. • Elders go last during wrestling matches, and receive a lot of attention • Men have more power in ruling and making choices in the village. • Nigerians like to gather and have feasts. • Wrestling Match • Wedding Ceremony • New Yam Festival
Question #2 • In the Nigerian society, men have more power than women. In our society today, do you think men and women are treated equally?
Possible Answer for Question #2 • No, they are not treated equally. • In many parts of the world, a child gets his/her father’s last name as his/her last name. • Even though it seems they are treated equally in the outside, stereotypes still exist. • Yes, they are treated equally. • Both men and women receive equal amount of education. • These days both women and men are equally hired in companies.
Question #3 • The wrestling matches in Nigeria described in the book are similar to Ssireum in Korea. Explain the similarities and differences between them.
Possible Answer for Question #3 • The wrestling match takes place during the New Yam Festival. • Ssireum matches were traditionally held in the 5th of May (Dan-Oh Jeol). • Both require a playing area of sand. • Both matches celebrate food from harvest.
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