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Femininity In The Igbo Community

1155 Words5 Pages

In the Igbo community, many men thought that being weak was being feminine. Women were being treated like pieces of property or toys that you can play with (Shmoop Editorial Team 2008). They were being beaten and abused (#312513, Answered by niyonkuru j #312513 on 4/3/2013 12:15 PM, Answered by judy t #197809 on 4/3/2013 11:57 AM, & Answered by jill d #170087 on 4/3/2013 12:01 PM). It seems like women were not valuable. The women did not have free will. They were told what to do and they did it. Women had an important part by nurturing their children and always being there for them but that was it. That is one thing that men would not do because they did not want to be portrayed as weak or be called agbala, which is a woman or man with no title. …show more content…

They go to their mother for protection (Shmoop Editorial Team 2008). The children can run to their mothers when they are afraid that they did something wrong. Whereas if they run to their fathers, they will most likely be beaten. The women show compassion (Shmoop Editorial Team 2008). The men only show anger and think that showing compassion is a feminine thing (Shmoop Editorial Team 2008). One of the reasons why ‘Mother is Supreme’ is because the children can always run to their mothers for forgiveness and sympathy (Shmoop Editorial Team 2008). “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” (Achebe 1965). Okonkwo thought that if you show any emotion then you are weak and feminine. “Okonkwo never showed any emotion openly, unless it be the emotion of anger. To show affection was a sign of weakness; the only thing worth demonstrating was strength” (Achebe 1965). To summarize, women offer the protection, sympathy, compassion, forgiveness, and all other emotions that men considered to be

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