Igbo Women

Compared to the colonization era, Nigeria women in the pre-colonial had lots of roles to play in the society, had rights and others… women played a great role in the social and economic activity. Division of labor was done and allowed between both gender, and women controlled some works such as trading, cooking, and pottery. Like the Yorubas, their main work was a long-distance trade with so many opportunities of acquiring more money and titles. A distinguished title is given to the most successful woman and it is called “Iyalode”. Even though lands are owned by men specifically, women are allowed to have access to it and farm on it.
Like the book “Sitting on a man” by Judith Van Allen, where Allen talks about the Igbo women and their lives …show more content…
Igbo women in the pre-colonial era had the opportunity to do what they wanted to do what they wanted to do, they had a say in the society and even in that era, there was no rule or law that banned women from participating or having a say. The title “Sitting on a man” has lots of meaning as the Igbo women had control in the society before the colonialization. Allen says, “To sit on or make war on a man involves gatherings at his compound, sometimes late at night, dancing, singing… which often called his manhood into question” (Van 170), this is something that happened only in the pre-colonial era, women came together to form a war and then go to the man’s house, even though sometimes the man might ignore them, but the end the will end up listening to the women and giving into what they want and I could imagine what it was for women to have such authority, the war, strikes and everything I guess it was pretty much fun even when the women will refuse to cook for their husbands and sometimes leave their homes and kids behind with their husbands which will make the man come begging for their return and all this was in the precolonial era. So yes, women had rights, roles, and so many other things before