Question

Course: Human right and Gender

Explain how igbo's community in Nigeriasocialized their girls and boys as future men and women.

Answer 1

Male gender preference is strongly perceived among Igbo women and its perception is significantly influenced by socio-demographic factors. Male gender preference may be responsible for Igbo women seeking fetal gender at ultrasound.

The Igbo are the original inhabitants of the South Eastern part of Nigeria and constitute the third largest ethnic group in Nigeria. The traditional Igbo society is very gender-sensitive and patriarchal. This is captured in this reading from Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, which provides us with the portraiture of the traditional Igbo family with its genderized roles and functions. “In the family, if a child is born, the sex is determined and if the baby was a male, that meant greater joy for the parents.

The Igbos is traditionally patriarchal. The male child is brought to see himself as superior to the females, and he is made to understand this very early in life. Thus, the male child is seen are as being very important by both men and women in the traditional Igbo society. However, today's Igbo society cannot be described as typically traditional. The Igbo have become one of the most sophisticated tribes in the present Nigerian nation. They are profoundly educated, widely traveled, economically advanced, socially advanced, and psychologically active.As a consequence, Ndiokwere, is of the opinion that the Igbo traditional identity is fast being eroded as many Igbos leave their country for other places in search of greener pastures.

Obstetric ultrasound is a well-recognized prenatal test used to visualize and determine the condition of a pregnant woman and her fetus. Aside the medical uses, obstetric ultrasound is often used to determine the gender of fetus. Most of the women were aware that fetal gender can be determined during obstetric ultrasound scan. This is in tandem with the report of a previous study that 81% of women are aware that ultrasound can be used to determine fetal gender. Majority of our respondents desired disclosure of fetal gender to them, which is in agreement with reports of previous studies. Furthermore, a study in Uganda reported that Ugandan parturients have a strong desire to know fetal sex at ultrasound. Other studies, in contrast, have also reported that only a small proportion of obstetric patients seeks to know fetal gender.

Our results show that male gender preference is strongly perceived by Igbo women irrespective of age, formal educational attainment number of co-wives married by the husband, and number of male and female children already had. From the foregoing, it can be deduced that Western education has not seriously affected the Igbo Society's preference for the male child. This is in disagreement with the opinion of Ndiokwere.

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