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{{tone|date=April 2017}}
[[File:LocationNigeria.png|thumb|Nigeria]]
"'''Sitting on a man'''" is a method employed by [[Igbo people|Igbo]] women of [[public humiliation|publicly shaming]] a man by convening upon his hut or workplace; women may dance, sing songs detailing grievances with his behavior, beat on the walls of his home with yam pestles, or, occasionally, tear the roof from his home.<ref name="CJAS">{{cite journal|last1=Van Allen|first1=Judith|date=1972|title="Sitting on a Man": Colonialism and the Lost Political Institutions of Igbo Women|url=http://www.artsrn.ualberta.ca/amcdouga/Hist247/winter%202010/additional%20rdgs/sitting_on_man.pdf|journal=Canadian Journal of African Studies|volume=6|issue=2|pages=165-181|via=}}</ref>
The practice is also referred to as "making war on" a man and maybe employed against women as well.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Van Allen|first1=Judith|title=Women in Africa: Studies in Social and Economic Change|date=1976|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-6624-1|pages=61–62|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pWffQVU85ccC&lpg=PA61&dq=%22sitting%20on%20a%20man%22&pg=PA61#v=onepage&q&f=false|chapter='Aba Riots' or Igbo 'Women's War'? Ideology, Stratification and the Invisibility of Women}}</ref> "Sitting on a man", along with strikes and various other resistance methods, ultimately functioned as a tool for women to maintain balance of both social and political power throughout pre-colonial times; however, this status would be negatively impacted by colonialism.<ref name="CJAS" />
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The Igbo political system was built on collectivism. They did not distribute power by force amongst one another. In the Igbo community, they did not believe in authority or power being specialized within their political institution. Because of their scattered community, it was easier for them to work as a union on political matters they faced within the village. Igbo tradition was to have village assemblies where they would discuss concerns and mutually agree on decisions for solutions. Factors that played into choosing leaders within their political system were candidates who lived in good faith, generous, and intellectual speakers (persuasive and influential speech). Men and women were both able to be leaders, however, women were at a disadvantage to men because of their patrilineage. Women could achieve status through her own accomplishments even though men were able to gain resources easily. Also, they were able to advance in their rankings amongst other women, whereas men instantly developed status from birth. Even though it was rare for most women to obtain prestige, there was no official limitation of power on women.<ref name="CJAS" />
There were multiple reasons a man could be subjected to the practice of "sitting on a man". If a man was found mistreating his wife, allowing his cows to eat the women's crops, breaking the rules of the market, or causing marital disputes, women would collectively consult with the mikiri (a forum which gave women the opportunity to gather for political, kinship, and market regulation issues) and if it gave support to the woman making the grievance, and they would employ the practice.<ref name="CJAS">{{cite journal|last1=Van Allen|first1=Judith|date=1972|title="Sitting on a Man": Colonialism and the Lost Political Institutions of Igbo Women|url=http://www.artsrn.ualberta.ca/amcdouga/Hist247/winter%202010/additional%20rdgs/sitting_on_man.pdf|journal=Canadian Journal of African Studies|volume=6|issue=2|pages=165-181|via=}}</ref> Women would wear ferns on their heads and don loincloths. They would paint their faces with charcoal and carry sticks wreathed with palm fronds.<ref>{{cite book|last1=French|first1=Marilyn|title=From Eve to Dawn: Revolutions and the struggles for justice in the 20th century|date=2008|publisher=Feminist Press at CUNY|location=New York|isbn=978-1-55861-628-8|page=287|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hyr9pwbqeqoC&lpg=PA287&dq=%22sitting%20on%20a%20man%22&pg=PA287#v=onepage&q&f=false}}</ref> Such a display of solidarity among women reinforced their influential role in society, offered access to autonomy throughout pre-colonial times, and lent itself as an effective measure to enact change.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title="Sitting On A Man":Colonialism and the Lost Political Institutions of Igbo Women|last=Judith|first=Allen|publisher=Canadian Association of African Studies|year=|isbn=|location=|pages=171|quote=|via=}}</ref>▼
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After colonialism, women’s meetings were put into categories like “Mikiri” and “Mitiri”. In "Mikiri" women were able to form all of their talents regarding politics among egalitarian people.<ref>{{Cite book|title="Sitting On A Man":Colonialism and the Lost Political Institutions of Igbo Women|last=Judith|first=Allen|publisher=Canadian Association of African Studies|year=|isbn=|location=|pages=171|quote=|via=}}</ref> Most of the times, they were discussing things they were interested in and could relate to with one another. Those things being: a farmer, mother, wife, trader, etc. and most times men did not agree with their views, but that did not stop them. The most important part of the "mikiri" meetings was the part about maintaining the most prominent act by women, which was trading. They established all of the logistics for trading, and if throughout this process the younger men could not be controlled surrounding their opinions, the women would rebut through strikes and boycotts which soon became know as "sitting on a man".<ref>{{Cite book|title="Sitting On A Man":Colonialism and the Lost Political Institutions of Igbo Women|last=Judith|first=Allen|publisher=Canadian Association of African Studies|year=|isbn=|location=|pages=171|quote=|via=}}</ref>
▲There were multiple reasons a man could be subjected to the practice of "sitting on a man". If a man was found mistreating his wife, allowing his cows to eat the women's crops, breaking the rules of the market, or causing marital disputes, women would collectively consult with the mikiri (a forum which gave women the opportunity to gather for political, kinship, and market regulation issues) and if it gave support to the woman making the grievance, and they would employ the practice.<ref name="CJAS"
== Colonialism ==
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