KWASE TIV : TIV WOMAN AND THE PROBLEM OF GENDER ROLES IN AFRICA

18 PAGES (8473 WORDS) Gender Studies Article/Essay

This paper argues that, among the Tiv of central Nigeria, the woman (as wife) is the heart-beat of the house holder, the measure of all things for the husband and the epicenter of the community. Contrary to the conclusion of the African Neo-cultural positivists, the roles Tiv traditional social system assigns to kwase Tiv (Tiv Woman) do not demean her and makes her inferior. She is neither marginalized nor oppressed and exploited in social, political, economic and religious spheres. Gender discrimination is sine qua non in traditional society though, it is benevolent.

The paper argues further that, redemption” from discrimination for the kwase Tiv is neither found in liberating her, for she is not enslaved, nor in centering her, she is the epicenter of the house holder. Kwase Tiv in her feminine roles supplements and compliments the man (her husband) for universal beneficence; the common good of tar-Tiv (Tiv society). She has womb, kitchen and cradle, but in further empowerment of her female power. We conclude that the roles tradition assigns to women are meant to advance the anatomy of their female power to receive life’s impulses to husband its stability and persistence of Tiv society. Woman is a female, and man is a male, different as biological facts though, they both seek in each, the other and the being of their beings to flourish the earth.