Recreating femality: Reviewing the implications of Igbo gender-based expressions

Abstract

The Igbo people of south-eastern Nigeria are noted for their  use of expressions that are both insightful and thought provoking as they are often used in diverse discourse contexts to philosophically  explicate their ideology, emotions, beliefs, attitudes and social lives in general. The expressions often serve as direct means of showcasing one’s communicative competence in the language. The expressions form an aspect of Igbo orature and are perceived as wisdom-laden. This study is poised to examine some of the female gender-based expressions in Igbo and how they are employed as linguistic weapon of oppression and domination in Igbo patriarchal society. Premising the study under the theory of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and applying the tool of descriptive analysis, twenty of such expressions collected during personal interactions with people and from literatures were studied. Their literal meanings as well as socio-cultural and legal implications were provided to explicate the socio-cultural status of the Igbo female gender which arose as a result of the legitimization of such expressions through power relations. This study posits that such expressions are not only demeaning as they are used to strengthen domination but impolite as they threaten the ‘faces’ of women as well as  impact negatively on the overall being  and development of the female gender. Inadvertently, these expressions have not only developed into a double edged sword destroying both the victims and the development of the Igbo nation, but are equally instruments of infringement on the women’s fundamental human rights. The future generation will be more culpable to injustice and infringement of human rights if the situation is left unchanged. This paper is of the view that the expressions are employed to enact, exercise and sustain power and social inequality between the genders in Igbo society.