'These Girls Today Na War-O': Premarital Sexuality and Modern Identity in Southeastern Nigeria

Smith, Daniel J.

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Title:	'These Girls Today Na War-O': Premarital Sexuality and Modern Identity in Southeastern Nigeria
Author:	Smith, Daniel J.
Year:	2000
Periodical:	Africa Today
Volume:	47
Issue:	3-4
Period:	Fall
Pages:	98-120
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Nigeria
Subjects:	Igbo sexuality fertility Law, Human Rights and Violence Women's Issues Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Health, Nutrition, and Medicine Cultural Roles
External link:	http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/africa_today/v047/47.3smith.pdf
Abstract:	Over the past few decades, several related changes have contributed to increasing the prevalence of premarital sexual relations in Nigeria. Demographic transformations such as rising age at marriage and increasing levels of urban migration are playing a part in changing the nature of male-female relationships. Sexual relationships are being socially constructed as an appropriate expression of intimacy, but also as a statement about a particular kind of modern identity. This article examines the social context of premarital sexual relations among young people in Igbo-speaking southeastern Nigeria. It is based on twenty months of research, from 1995 to 1997, in Ubakala, an Igbo community in Abia State. The larger objective of the research was to understand the continuing value of high fertility in Igboland, even as social changes conventionally associated with fertility decline are taking place. Much of the explanation for the sustained value of high fertility is related to the continuing importance of kinship networks for access to modern opportunities and resources. The article focuses on conflicts between contemporary sexual identities and traditional models of gender and family. It shows that women's sexuality, more than men's, is criticized and that girls are often regarded as 'na war-o', out of control. Moreover, the contest is not only between the older and younger generation, but also among and within young people themselves. The article concludes that premarital sexuality in Igboland can be viewed as a symbol of changes associated with 'modernity' and a lens through which to understand the social, demographic and health consequences of these changes. Bibliogr., notes, sum.

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