Gender Roles In Igbo Society

1950 Words8 Pages
The pre-colonial and postcolonial Igbo society has been observed to be male dominated. Men reign supreme in sociocultural affairs while the female figure has specific limited prescribed roles, a confirmation of absence of feministic ideologies. Motherhood, being submissive to the husband and generally domestic dutiesare some of the roles women are associated with. As the title of the novel by Buchi Emecheta Second Class Citizenimplies, the female figure has been treated as a lesser significant sexwithin the Igbo society considering that equalityamong women is limited by their fathers, husbands and the general patriarchy system. This is something Adah finds quite the same when she moves to England whereby with her African descent she continues to suffer womanhood struggles. A profound look atBuchi Emecheta’s literary masterpiece Second Class Citizen lays foundation for critical reflection and analysis of Adah’s breaking away from the prevalent gender outlooks, sexism attitudes that define male and female relationships and deep rooted stereotypes against women. A close look on this text confirms there are several prescribed gender roles both in the Igbo society as well as in London. The challenge therefore is upon how Adah will break away the gender roles being imposed on her and still be in a position to pursue her educational dreams. Based on a feministic approach,this paper will delve deeper on the sociocultural factors that contribute to Adah being perceived and treated as