User talk:Bmills646

Women in Colonial Africa

During the colonial times in Africa many societies had different lifestyles and even had different components in their social lives and home life. Women had no choice but to do domestics work. Men were in charge of doing work outside of the home. Work and provide for their families. Women did not have a choice of what they wanted to do in their life since their lives were already planned out for them since birth. In Africa during the 1700s gender issues such as woman circumcision, rules in the family, and ones importance in society. Reveal the women’s roles and the difficulties they faced.

In African societies the women were looked down upon and had to face many challenges in order to maintain their being in society. Keeping the tradition was an important factor in African life, especially in African women lives. Following tradition was important in order to have a life and survive in the environment. Women had to follow the traditions of their villages. Even though it was good to keep tradition these traditions affected the women out of all. These traditions led to the oppression of women. Permanently giving women a specific image that they should have in society. In regular household a woman was in charged of the domestic matters. Women were in charge of the dinner, taking care of the children, and making sure things stayed orderly at home. Men did work outside of the home providing food and support for the family. IN a family the women did not have control and authority; this was usually a man’s job to do. Men were seen as the head authority of their household. Even though they did work outside of the house, they held control of what things happened and planned how things go. Women were undermined and not appreciated because of their limited choices they had. The man was in charge of his wife and the family, women were just to follow his rules to maintain satisfaction and tranquility in the household.

Women circumcision was also a big part of their traditional culture. The circumcision also known as female mutilation” is done by stitching up a women vaginal opening, to prevent pre-marriage sex and preventing a woman from cheating on her husband. As a young woman comes of age she would have to go thorough this procedure and painful experience. The tradition of circumcision was life risking. Due to malfunctions women would die from malnutrition, infections, and diseases. Women went through a lot of pain because the tools done to perform the procedure were not professional. This circumcision is an unjust and painful way for women to deal with.

In society women had planned lives in society. Dowry was a tradition. In some south western African countries many of the young women were bought by families. In exchange for the young girl they would give goats, money, and other resources. Even when a African women was pregnant, a women could claim that fetus to be her future daughter-in-law. Though the young girl was bought by exchange of luxuries, these traditions were an additional factor to the oppression of women in Africa. Being bought into another family, led a young African bride to abandon the ones she loved and the things she owned to live in another household. There she would become a housewife. Cooking and cleaning for the family, and the children she would have. Making sure she fulfilled her husbands every needs, and most important satisfying her father and mother in law.

The women of Africa were deeply oppressed due to their traditions. These traditions provoked the conflicts of gender issues. Women had to sustain their position of being under the man. Since men are made as powerful in society they constantly used oppression as a way to maintain control. The traditional ways of Africa are still used till this day in the villages of the many parts in Africa.