Sitting on a man

Nigeria

"Sitting on a man" is a method of employed by Igbo women which functions to challenge male authority and maintain accountability. "Sitting" consists of women gathering and 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. Throughout history, this tactic has been utilized in times of the mistreatment of women or as a response to the demonstration of deviant behavior. The practive is also referred to as "making war on" a man and may be employed against women as well. "Sitting on a man", along with strikes and various other resistance methods, ultimately functions 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.

History

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 which gave women the opportunity to gather for political, kinship, and market regulation issues) in support of the women making the grievance, and employ the practice. Women would wear ferns on their heads and don loincloths. They would paint their faces with charcoal and carry sticks wreathed with palm fronds. Such a display of solidarity among women reinforced their influential role in society, offered access to autonomy throughout precolonial times, and lent itself as an effective measure to enact change.

Colonialism

Resistance

In the early twentieth century, women in British Nigeria organized an anti-colonial protests in response to political reforms regarding the Native Administration."Sitting" on Warrant Chiefs was a prominent method of resistance. The Women's War was a significant demonstration of the employment of the adaptation of "sitting on a man" in efforts of resistance from imposed indirect colonial rule in British Nigeria. Protests would often consist of singing and dancing around homes and offices, invading personal spaces, and other actions which demanded the attention of the Warrant Chiefs. Wives of the local colonial representatives were often disturbed by this form of protest and aided in encouraging Warrant Chiefs to adhere to the requests and demands of the women. "Sitting on the Warrants," became a widespread colonial resistance tactic utilized by women in Nigeria.

Effects

Igbo women held significant and influential social and political standings (while still second to men), colonial imposition excluded women from political settings and activities, despite resistance, this alteration in social institutions negatively affected women’s rights and status in society by de-legitimizing their power of influence. This was done through the outlawing of the practice of “sitting on a man” in the new British Administration design. The criminalization of the tactic was not necessarily deliberate, as colonists were naïve of the functions and implications of the practice, nevertheless through disturbing women’s means of balancing power, colonialism detrimentally effected Igbo gender relations and societal structures.