Sitting on a man
"Sitting on a man" is a method of Igbo women to challenge male authority. "Sitting" consists of publicly shaming a man by convening upon his hut or workplace, dancing, and singing songs detailing grievances with his behavior. It is also referred to as "making war on" a man and may be employed against women as well. Women participating in the "sitting" will beat on the walls of the man's hut with yam pestles and, in rare cases, tear the roof off of his hut.[1]
Alongside strikes and boycotts, sitting on a man was a key tool for women to maintain a balance of power in social and political aspects of pre-colonial Igbo cultures.[2] A man could be singled out for mistreating his wife, allowing his cows to eat the women's crops, or breaking the rules of the market.[2] If most women in the village agreed that the man was at fault, they would collectively support the woman making the grievances. The women would wear ferns on their heads and don loincloths. They would paint their faces with charcoal and carry sticks wreathed with palm fronds.[3] In instances where "sitting" was used as a tactic to mediate disputes in a marriage and to reprimand the man for his wrongdoings to his wife, women first consulted with the mikiri; if the man was found to be responsible for the wrongdoings alleged by the wife, the women would then commence their tactic for holding him accountable by "sitting" on him; this display of solidarity among women reinforced women's influential role in their society, and ability to effect change.[4]
In 1929, women in British Nigeria organized an anti-colonial protests to redress grievances that came to be known as the Women's War.[5] "Sitting" on the Warrant Chiefs was a major tactic used in the protests. Along with singing and dancing around the houses and offices of the Warrant Chiefs, the women would follow their every move, invading their space and forcing the men to pay attention. The wives of the Warrant Chiefs were often disturbed and they too put pressure on the Warrants to listen to the demands of the women. This tactic of "sitting on the Warrants," i.e. following them everywhere and anywhere, was very popular with the women in Nigeria, and used to great effect.
Notes
- ^ Van Allen, Judith (1976). "'Aba Riots' or Igbo 'Women's War'? Ideology, Stratification and the Invisibility of Women". Women in Africa: Studies in Social and Economic Change. Stanford University Press. pp. 61–62. ISBN 978-0-8047-6624-1.
- ^ a b Van Allen, Judith (1972). ""Sitting on a Man": Colonialism and the Lost Political Institutions of Igbo Women" (PDF). Canadian Journal of African Studies. 6 (2): 165–181.
- ^ French, Marilyn (2008). From Eve to Dawn: Revolutions and the struggles for justice in the 20th century. New York: Feminist Press at CUNY. p. 287. ISBN 978-1-55861-628-8.
- ^ Judith, Allen. "Sitting On A Man":Colonialism and the Lost Political Institutions of Igbo Women. Canadian Association of African Studies. p. 171.
- ^ Sheldon, Kathleen (2005). "Sitting on a Man". Historical Dictionary of Women in Sub-Saharan Africa. Lanham (Maryland): Scarecrow Press. p. 228. ISBN 978-0-8108-5331-7.