African Women Culture

by Dele Chinwe Ukwu and Anthony I. Ikebudu

Chinua Achebe discussed several customs and beliefs of the Igbo people in his powerful novel, Things Fall Apart . One of the issues he discussed was how the Igbos viewed suicide.

Ekwe = Wooden Drum
Suicide is intolerable in Igbo society even in this modern time. It is considered an "nso ani", a sin against the Earth. The Igbos do not concede to the difficulties of life or to the demands of everyday life. They do not accept suicide, in any form and at any age, as a solution to any problem regardless of the complexities. Suicide is believed to be a terrible and evil way to die.

The Igbos strongly believe in

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Written by Dele C. Ukwu
in consultation with Anthony Ikebudu

In the novel, Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe provided a vivid picture of the Igbos, especially highlighting their social life and customs, religious beliefs, seasonal festivals, ceremonies, myth, political structures and their rich traditional wisdom handed down from one generation to another through oral history and proverbs.Makeup or Body Decoration

Achebe described various aspects of dressing and makeup among the Igbos at the period the book was set. Traditionally, the Igbos (Ibos), especially Igbo women, believed in and valued decorating their bodies for a variety of reasons including aesthetics. There is a saying in Igbo, "One's body is his/her temple."

Ekwe = Wooden Drum
Body decorations for

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We represent over half of humanity. We give life, we work, love, create, struggle, and have fun. We currently accomplish most of the work essential to life and the continued survival of humankind. Yet our place in society continues to be undervalued.” - Jivka Marinova

Inferiorization is the conscious, deliberate and systematic process utilized to derogate, demean and relegate an individual, group as second class. The meaning of the word “feminine,” is modeled, especially in classical ascetic cultures, on the images of the lower self and world. Autonomous social selfhood is imaged by men - the cultural creators of this view - as intrinsically “male,” while the “feminine” becomes the symbol of the repressed, subjugated and dreaded abysmal side

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