CONCEPT OF WOMANHOOD IN YORÙBÁ SOCIETY OF WEST-AFRICA

Philosophy, according to Sinclair (1945:9) is ‘the attempt to understand the universe and ourselves and our place in the universe, whether for theoretical interest or for material practical purposes’ (Afolabi-Ojo, 1966:194). He further explains that ‘We are all philosophers in so far as we all have some views about the universe and our place in it.’ (ibid.)  Many human societies philosophically view mundane and ethereal issues differently. Reason being that it is human beings that make up the societies. Since human beings do not think alike, their conclusions on issues are sure to be different.   Many are controversial issues among the philosophers and the so-called non-philosophers alike. Womanhood is an issue which has been on the tongues and ball-points of scholars since the time immemorial. Religious circle is also not excluded. While in many societies like the occidental and oriental, women have not been given their natural places as human beings, until very recently; some others have not had problems of even discussing it because there is no need for it. Among the latter group is the Yorùbá Society of Africa.

Concept of Womanhood is the philosophical ideas, thoughts, and views about the beingness of woman within a given society. In this paper, we shall be looking at the concept in the context of Yorùbá philosophy and how real it is.   

It is true that in many societies, women are said to be at the receiving end, i.e. not being placed in their natural pedestal as human beings; and even looked at with contempt. In the pre-colonial Yorùbá society, women are not seen to be back-benchers. Whatever negative view that is heard or read about the woman in Yorùbá oral or written literature is contextual and therefore cannot be used as a yardstick to measure the general view or philosophical opinions of the entire society about woman. “…a few isolated examples do not constitute a theory,…” (David Crystal). Enikan lo pari niluu nilu dilu apari. (It is a single person in a town that is bald-headed before the town is christened bald-headed town). For example, the following Yorùbá oral verses were profusely quoted by Adefioye Oyesakin (1985:38-39) to support his opinion of “Women as Agents of Indiscipline in Yoruba traditional Poetry”:

Eke!         What a hypocrite!

Obinrin         Woman!

A fe e,           When love is proposed to her,

O ko.             She refuses

O rowo,        But when offered money

O wale          She packs straight in (sic.)

Obinrin-binrin lo seku p’Onikoyi.

Sigidi to ni ko gbodo jose,

Obinrin fun Sigidi lose je.

Eyi ti won ni ko gbodo jepo,

Obinrin bu epo fun un mu.

Eyi ti ko gbodo to iyo wo,

Obinrin mu iyo o fun un niyo

Je ni tire. (sic.)

(A mere woman caused the premature death of Onikoyi,

Sigidi that he said should never taste soap,

The woman fed it with soap.

The one that should not taste palm oil,

The woman scoop up palm oil and made Sigidi drink it.

The one that should not taste salt,

The woman deliberately made it take salt). [sic.]

As earlier mentioned, these verses and their likes abound with historical and contextual meanings. In some other philosophical sayings of Yorùbás, men are also underrated in the society; women have been placed and appreciated far above them. Sheba (2006:43-44) informs us of some Yorùbá adages among many on this point that:

Faa laa jogun iya; aninilara bi ogun baba
(Maternal inheritance is enjoyable while paternal one always involves serious problems.)

Iya lalabaro omo lojo buburu.
(Mother is a comforter to the child on difficult days.

(Iya nii deni lade adeisi, baba nii deni lade gbangba)
(It is mother who gives one a permanent crown; it is father who crowns one in the open.)

Iya ni ore omo
(Mother is the friend of the child.)

Iya ni wura
(Mother is gold…) (sic.)

Woman is not seen by the society as a separate being that is ‘different’ from man except ONLY on the basis of her biological frame of her being. Oyewumi (1997:12) supports our position on this.  She says:

In Yoruba society…social relations derive their legitimacy from social facts, not from biology. The bare biological facts of pregnancy and parturition count only in regard to procreation, where they must.

The above assertion is complemented by what Judith Butler (1999: 11) notes:

It would make no sense, then, to define gender as the cultural interpretation of sex, if sex itself is a gendered category…gender is not to culture as sex is to nature…

In the same vein, Yorùbá society does not recognize merit on gender basis. They share words of Karl Jasper (1979:232) as quoted by Ajíkòbi (1999:3):

Man is man because he recognizes merit in himself and every other human.

Yorùbás have always been looking at woman as half a body of society, which, if missed, the other half is definitely bound to be useless. Women take their active positions in the society from the micro level of family to the larger society.

Therefore, we shall be discussing womanhood from the following angles:

Woman in the family

Woman in the religious activities

Woman in the political activities

WOMAN AS A MEMBER OF FAMILY IN YORÙBÁ SOCIETY

That a daughter is born in a family is never seen as a bad omen like in some societies. Both genders are welcome in the Yorùbá family with all fanfare. The family members would even posit that ‘Owo ero lo fi bere (lit. She starts with softness/gentleness) when a wife gives birth to a baby-girl. ‘Gbogbo lomo (Either male or female child, there is no difference); ‘Ko si iketa omo; atokunrin atobinrin’ (there is no third child after male and female). Thus, woman is seen as a full member of the family from birth.

As the female child grows up, she assumes her roles and responsibilities ordinarily as a member of the family, NOT as a female. Although she is expected to fulfill extra responsibilities; it is as a form of further and former training to be able to meet up with her higher tasks as a mother in the not too far future in the same society. If she is not well trained, no suitor would want to seek her hand in marriage. It is only for this reason that a female child is seen to be performing more tasks in the house than the male child.

Woman is never downgraded in the family because of her gender as earlier emphasized. As the Yorùbás call the first son of the family DAODU; first daughter of the family is also known as BEERE. In absence of her parents from the house, she assumes the responsibility of being the head of the family. Tradition does not allow any of her male siblings to go against her instructions. If the parents are present, all her aburos (juniors) are her errand boys and girls to facilitate her responsibilities for the family because she is Egbon (senior). Oyewumi (1997:40) has this to say on the issue of seniority among the Yorùbás without an iota of bias against any gender:

Seniority is the primary social categorization that is immediately apparent In Yoruba language. Seniority is the social ranking of persons based on their chronological ages… Age relativity is the pivotal principle of social organization.

A very important aspect of social issues in Yorùbá society is inheritance. Woman is never excluded in the inheritance of her parents in the traditional Yorùbá society.  He has access to inheritance of both the father and her mother. Many philosophical sayings of Yorùbás are full of information on this. Example of such as translated by Ajíkòbi (op cit: 82-83) runs thus:

If you come across a woman

Inquire of her if she has some yam-cuttings

If you come across a man,

Inquire of him if he has some yam-cutting.

Since one cannot know whose deceased father must have left some yam-cuttings in his yam-heaps (for his children to inherit). (sic.)

Ajíkòbi (ibid: 83) further dilates on the above wit that:

This maxim simply indicates that both sexes have equal consideration in the inheriting of the vital means of life-the land in the Yoruba laws and culture.

Barnes, S.T. (n.d.) in Ajíkòbi (ibid: 82) explains the inheritance opportunity for both women and men in the Yorùbá society that:

Women and men do, however, inherit urban real estate with equal rights shared among siblings, and they inherit rights to use rooms in their natal homes whether rural or urban.

As a wife, woman in the traditional Yorùbá society is pampered. Ajíkòbi (ibid:75) explains this concept clearly that:

…it was a popular practice in the pre-colonial era in Yorubaland that newly wedded wives were not allowed to work for the first three years. They were fully catered for and pampered by their spouses.

He (ibid) cites an axiom in Ifa verse – Ogbe-Iyonu/ Ogbe-Ogunda as found in Popoola, A. (1990:24) to support this philosophy:

Ó sá taara

Ó rìn taara

Òtààrà, taara n’isàn odò

Ojú Odún méta,

L’obinrin fi i  jeun owó oko. [sic.]

He [ibid] gives its translation thus:

He who runs swiftly

He who walks rapidly

The stream flows rapidly

The total dependence of a housewife [i.e new wife] on a husband is for three years.

If in the course of any misunderstanding between her and husband; the society creates an avenue for the woman to be rescued from being maltreated by the husband. Members of Osu ile [Very senior daughters of the family] come to her aid; and even sometimes physically punish the husband without any male family member raising an eye-brow.  

From the foregoing, it is crystal clear that woman is seen and regarded as a full member of Yorùbá family who enjoys her status as one.

WOMAN IN THE RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES OF YORÙBÁ SOCIETY

Frazer, J.G. (1911:222) in Afolabi-Ojo (1966:158) defines religion as ‘a propitiation or conciliation of powers superior to man, which are believed to direct and control the course of nature and of human life’. This important aspect of human life is not taken with levity hand in the Yorùbá society. Every member of the society takes and performs active role in the matter of religion. Like other African women, Yorùbá women play ‘major and dominant roles’. Ajíkòbi (op. cit.: 61) quotes Awe (1979:16) that:

But it is in the practice of religion that women have contributed most to the Yoruba cultural heritage. They were devotees of most of the known cults in the Yoruba country and they play a significant role in the survival of many cults to the present day. As has been pointed out, some of the women who were priestess of these cults occupied prominent positions in them. Side by side with the priests they conducted the rites that characterises each cult.

Ajíkòbi (op. cit) added a rider:

These female roles are even waxing stronger now than before.

Our argument here is that woman in the traditional Yorùbá society takes her full position as human being. The society at large also naturally takes, accepts and allows her to perform her roles.

Lambo in Ajíkòbi (ibid:62) remarks:

Ti ‘ò bá sí obìnrin ninu awò kan,

Kò i ti i kun to. Awo obinrin lo

jinlè ju gbogbo awo ti Okunrin lo. [sic.]

Any cult that has no female members is not complete.

It is the females’ cult that is deeper than the males’.

An Egba Yorùbá traditional song in Ajíkòbi (ibid) warns not to look at woman’s inclusion in the religious activities with contempt:

Ka ma de p’obinrin ‘o mawo

Awo mejilelogun l’obinrin mo

Meji to le lori ‘e ree t’okunrin

Gbogbo ogun yooku t’obinrin ni.

We should not say women are uninformed aboutesoteric cults.

They are initiated into twenty-two (esoteric) cults.

Only the last two are known to men.

The remaining twenty belongs to the women folk. [sic.]

As earlier mentioned, woman in Yorùbá society is not just involved in religious activities; she assumes leadership position over men in many of the traditional religious settings. In the Opa cult, Iya-agan is a leader that must be obeyed.

According to Matthews, A (1991:108) in Ajíkòbi (ibid: 63), a Opa song declares the essence of Iya-Agan that:

Opa á pa’lúwa ré

Eni tó bá f’ojú d’ìyá-àgan

Opa á pa’lúwa ré

Eni tó bá f’ojú d’ìyá-àgan

Eni mòjàa Sàngó

Kò jé f’osé ‘è sere

Opa á pa’lúwa ré

Eni tó bá f’ojú d’ìyá-àgan

Opa will kill the person

He who disregards the Iya-agan

He who had experienced the wrath of Sango

Will never fiddle with his ose staff

Opa will kill the person.

He who disregards the Iya-Agan. [sic.]

According to Sobande (1976:6) as read in Ajikobi (ibid: 62-63), the position of Erelu Osugbo (Female leader in Osugbo cult) cannot be underestimated:

Dá ‘gi ké

Dá’gi ké

Àkéké ‘ò lè dá’gi ké

Dá’gi là

Dá’gi là

Dlìlà ‘ò lè dá’gi là

Bí ‘ò s’Érelú

Òsùgbó ‘ò leé d’áwo se [sic.]

Able to cut the tree solely

Able to cut the tree solely

The axe cannot solely cut the tree

Able to split the tree

Able to split the tree

The axe cannot solely split the tree

In the absence of the Erelu

The Osugbo cult members cannot hold any meeting.

The above songs are of many philosophical statements in Yorùbá society that explain and approve the religious status of woman.

WOMAN IN THE POLITICAL ACTIVITIES

In the political arena, Yorùbá woman is not found wanting. She is not debarred to play her role. Examples of women who grew to the apex of their political carriers are numerous to mention.   In the Yorùbá traditional civil society, the highest position is the Oba. Women have attained to this position in the society. Awe (op. cit : 14-15) in Ajíkòbi (ibid:43-44) writes to mention few of these female Obas:

Oral traditions however record the existence of a few female rulers in the past, such as Owaluse who reigned in Ilesa, Oluawo, the female ooni to who was attributed the potshed ‘pavement’ in Ile-Ife and thefemale twin ruler of Ondo. Descent through the female line is also not unusual in some of the ruling houses. [sic.]

Ilesanmi (1987:24) in Ajíkòbi (ibid :44) also has this to say:

Àwon Owá tó jé obìnrin ní Ilésà wà lára àwon tó di Òòsà ní ilè náà lonìí. Lára won ni Owá Waaji, Owá Waaye, OwáAyero and Owá Ori. [sic.]

The female owas in Ilesa are among those deified in the land today. Among them are Owa Waaji, owa Waaye, Owa Wayero and owa Ori.

In a list of Owas of Ilesa (in the present Osun State of Nigeria) presented by Aluko, J.O. (1993:6) in Ajíkòbi (ibid.), the following female Owas reigned in Ilesa, now in Osun state of Nigeria:

1. Owa Obokun Yeye-Ladega

2. Owa Obokun Yeyegunrogbo

3. Owa Obokun Yeyewaji

4. Owa Obokun Yeyewaye

5. Owa Obokun Yeyewayero

6. Owa Obokun Yeyeori.

In Akure, the capital of Ondo state of Nigeria, the following three women were also crowned as Deji (Ajíkòbi, ibid: 45):

1. Eye Aro      1393-1419

2. Eye Mohin 1705-1735

3. Amaro        1850-1851

In the traditional political setting of Lagos (Island), the Erelu is the official mother of Elékòó (Oba of Lagos). Takiu Folami (1982:115), according to Ajíkòbi (ibid.):

The history of the Obaship or traditional chiftancy of Lagos would be incomplete without mentioning a powerful woman who has unknowingly changed the course of the history. She was known as Erelú Kútì.

In the lineage, the fourth Erelu is in office. She is Her Royal Highness, Erelú Abiola Dosumu, Erelú Kútì IV. On 30th July 2010, this writer, with other course mates, paid her a courtesy visit. Below is a statement made by her on the traditional political setting of Lagos:

If an Oba makes a statement that is wrong, the Erelú Kútì answers him back immediately … He (the Oba) knows his limitation. He cannot go beyond a certain point. Because if he does, he knows that the Erelú Kútì will fire back!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Oral account of Lagos reveals that the Erelu is the leading king maker of Oba of Lagos. And whenever she has any cause to visit the Ìgà (palace) of the Oba, the Oba ceases to preside on any issue as long as the Erelu remains there.

These explain how powerful Erelú Kútì (a woman!) is in the traditional politics of Lagos of yesterday and today.

In essence, we have established that woman is never looked at as a ‘woman’ in the society.  She is a being whose existence and presence in the society cannot be carpeted. Yorùbá traditional society does not subscribe to the notion that:

In the time of our forefather, women were regarded as the personal property of their husbands who could treat them as they wished. (Women and the Law, FIDA (Anambra/Enugu Zone, family Law Centre Publication, 1993:3)

The society is in support of what one of her icons, Oyewumi (Op. cit: 156), declares:

In yorùbáland, the transformation of obinrin into…‘women of no account’ was at the essence of the colonial impact as a gendered process. Colonization, besides being a racist process, was also a process by which male hegemony was instituted and legitimized in African societies.

We deem it appropriate to conclude that in the mythology of Yorùbá, woman is the guardian of all what is good. Osun (the goddess of river) was chosen to be the keeper of good things created by the Olódùmarè (The Almighty). 16 males (Odù) were sent to the world, Osun was the only woman among them. Abiodun (1989:5) informs us in Makinde (2004:171-172) of the Odù Ifá that explains this:

Ni igba ti won nbo lati ajule orun

Olodumare yan gbogbo ohun to dara

O si yan oluso

Eyi si je obinrin [sic.]

When they were coming from heaven

God chose all good things

He also chose their keeper

And this was a woman

A typical nursery song goes thus to tell us how high esteem the traditional Yoruba society holds woman:

Iya ni wura iyebiye

Ti a ko le f’owora

O l’oyun mi f’osu mesan

O pon mi f’odun meta

Iya ni wura iyebiye

Ti a ko le f’owora [sic]

Mother is a precious gold

That cannot be purchased with money

She carried me in her womb for nine months

She nursed me for three years

Mother is a precious gold

That cannot be purchased with money. (Makinde 2004:165)

References:

Afolabi-Ojo, G.J. (1966), Yoruba Culture, London: University of London Press Ltd.

Ajíkòbi, O.O., (1999), What Does an African ‘New Woman’ Want?, Lagos:

Publications Ark

Butler, J., (1999), Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity,

                                London: Routledge

Oyesakin, A. (1985): ‘Women as Agents of Indiscipline in Yoruba Traditional

Poetry’, Nigeria Magazine, Lagos, vol. 53, no. 2, April-June, Abalogu, U.N. (ed.)

Oyewumi, O. (1997), The Invention of Women, U.S.A.: University of Minnesota  

                                Press

Sheba, L. (2006), Yorùbá Proverbs with Feminine Lexis, Ibadan:

Spectrum Books Limited

Makinde, T. (2004), “Motherhood as A Source Of Empowerment of Women in

                               Yoruba Culture”, Nordic Journal of African Studies

http://www.davidcrystal.com/DC_articles/