User:Ermanimonet/sandbox

Hey guys, so I just finished the trainings and I guess we have to just evaluate the article for class to show were keeping up with the project. The talk page basically helps describe the basics of what we need to do to help the article really stand out and I agree with the feedback. Being a little more thorough on the little talking points is very important such as how they didn't know what a warrent chief was. Explaining little things like that will help the way people engage with the article and link it to other articles. We could find out if other cultures also utilized this practice, to what degree and how successful it was to them. I think we should also expand the pre-colonial context of the not only the practice but the Igbo women in general. Such as the roles played by them in society (market owners and the like) and talk more about when it was that they used the practice and be more precise on what the practice entailed for the women using it as well as the people being "sat" on. Also talking about the consequences after and maybe giving an example would really help with people who are unfamiliar with it. They said the articles ( one of which was the one we read in class) was underutilized so we should re-read it maybe and just pick out more information that should expressed in the page, and maybe find some others but I don't think that's too too important, just better usage from the the ones already used. What do you guys think?- Anthony Hey guys so i started making an outline below to start adding/revising some concepts and ideas we talked about above from our last assignment. If yall have more information that yall want to add or change please feel free to do so. I thought making an outline would help us start putting together some key points we want to touch on. Let me know what yall think .-Andrea

Sitting on a Man by Van Allen
Lead paragraph ( from the wikipedia page-l think this part is strong but if yall don't then please add to it or revise)

History/pre-colonialism


 * igbo tribe- dominant group in SE Nigeria because of the common language and contingency of land. (cited in the reading on pg.166)
 * impact of the mikuri/mituri for igbo women/ men and women were both able to attend the meetings and govern together however the mikurti was for the igbo women to attend to discuss concerns /personal issue as well as rules for market associations/trade. (pg.170)
 * Igbo women had heavy power in trading goods/crops locally and regionally. They were able to keep their profit; no questions asked; were able to trade and farm while being mothers and wives (pg.168)
 * power of trade created the "siitting on a man" movement/protest- igbo women worked as a collective to break patriarchal control over their righful positions in trade by stopping wifely duties towards their husbands.(ex. the collective of women stopped cooking for the men until they cleared the market paths for them (pg.169-170)).
 * These protests can initiate by a man disrespecting his wife, violating market rules, or letting cows eat women's crop (ex. the man wanted the women to stop trading in long-distant markets because she would not come home until the late evening which made him think she was sleeping around with other men in those towns. She denied his request because she was seeking more opportunity for profit-making. The collective retaliated until the man caved in (pg. 170)).
 * "to sit"= "make war" on men by singing and dancing which revealed the women's grievances against him/questioned his manhood. The collecitive would also rough him and destroy his hut with mud or by breaking it down(pg.170).
 * Women would "sit on the man" until he apologizes for his mistake; was legitimate with no intervention from the man(pg.170)

Colonialism/British control over Igboland


 * westernization was adopted by the British and implemented into Igbo political instutions (pg.171)
 * warrant chiefs were constituted and made sure district orders were executed within igbo villages. the chiefs were connecting the igbo people and colonial power together; which created tension between igbo traditon and colonialism (pg.171)
 * warrant chiefs were not trusted by the igbo people because they were able to get away with murder and have british council defend their acts/behavior( ex. the chiefs would steal food and crops from the igbo women as well as their domesticated animals.(pg.172)
 * Reform for the system of the warrant chiefs were protested by igbo women and men but no actual improvements resulted which led to the start of the Aba Riots and the women's war. (pg.172)

Aba Riots/ Womens war


 * igbo women-liberation on the larger scale
 * british view of igbo politics as "invisible"
 * results/impact of the rebellion to igbo women/community

Reform and Womens Loss of Power


 * Missionary influence-the church becoming the center point in igbo politics


 * Victorianism- created the "women-place-is-in-the-kitchen" narrative

History[edit]
 Pre-colonialism in Igboland 

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.

"Women in Politics" Igbo women had a very strong presence in the traditional political world. The Igbo people did not have stipulations on who could speak up and who could not. Any adult that had something valuable to say in a conversation, had the right to do so. Women were given rights by their achievement, it was not about their husbands accomplishments but solely about what they brought to the table. Although, they were not able to speak on all subjects of matter, they could speak on things that considered them and other women. This was a rare circumstance, but still accepted in their society by invitation. Women were still seen as second to men, even though they had some power and influence to speak on things that concerned them. Due to the fact that the wealth was solely based off men and their status within their community women did not hold as much high status as men who had that political advantage over women. Most of the political standings were based off of the patriarchal part of the women’s families, so if there was no power within that part, they also did not have much power. 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. 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".

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. 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.

Effects[edit]
During Precolonial times Igbo women held significant social and political standings while still second to men, this allowed them to engage and influence the politics of their village in some shape or form. During colonization however, the idea of excluding women from political settings and activities, despite resistance, grew among the Igbo people.The missionaries who had come to the region had begun to change the role of women in the Igbo society as their purpose was to train the women to be good Christian Wives and Mothers first and foremost. These Christian values also prohibited the use of Pagan rituals which included the Mikiri, taking away the one way in which Igbo women would traditionally engage in Politics and created a form of invisibility that denied them any way to air their grievances. Politics were seen as Men's realm and any women who could engage was seen as having the "brain of a man" which was very rare. Schooling became a huge part of Igbo life as well but young girls were often not sent and those that did go were often not given the same education as their male counterparts. The missionaries were not against women in politics as many supported women's suffrage, but in Africa the church was the biggest priority was creating Christian Families which required women to be mothers and wives and not politicians. By altering the social institutions it negatively affected women's rights and status in society by de-legitimizing their means of influence. The criminalization of the tactic Mikiri was not necessarily deliberate, as colonists were naïve of the functions and implications of the practice as they were socialized with a Victorian ideology which had no place for women to engage in politics. Unfortunately, by disturbing women's means of balancing power, colonialism detrimentally effected Igbo gender relations and societal structures. Women no longer had the ability to affect the way that trade was preformed or even defend themselves against any form of abuse enacted from the men of their villages. This left many Igbo women in a vulnerable state of subservience and created a society where their traditional roles came undone. Hello can you see this? yes, i can.