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 Periodical article |
 Leiden University catalogue |
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| Title: | Male domination or sexual inequality: an examination of pre-colonial African life |
| Author: | Achufusi, Ify Grace |
| Year: | 1996 |
| Periodical: | Africana Marburgensia: Sonderheft |
| Volume: | 16 |
| Pages: | 40-47 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | Africa |
| Subjects: | gender relations women |
| Abstract: | In precolonial Africa, women enjoyed a considerable measure of respect and played significant social and political roles. Labour was biologically defined, and sexual roles and functions were complementary. There was sexual inequality rather than domination. Male domination evolved at a later stage, notably in the wake of alien intervention. Christianity and Islam, colonialism and subsequent neocolonialism disrupted African value systems and sowed the seeds of discord in the male-female relationship. In the postcolonial era, the gap between men and women has widened. By virtue of the fact that men participated in the colonial system, it is they who wield power in modern Africa. African women are aware of having been dispossessed and peripherized and have used some reliable strategies to combat the situation, such as the traditional role of political pressure group adopted by the 'umuada' or daughters of the village among the Igbo of Nigeria, as well as more modern methods, epitomized in organized political and economic action by women's organizations. The strategies used by African women to cope with the problems of male dominance and oppression have not been separatist or confrontational, however. Women have sought to remain constructively engaged in society. Bibliogr., ref. |