Gender
Oyeronke Oyewumi's argument that gender was not the primary organizing category of Yoruba society, the serious criticisms of it, and the documented record of women's authority.
Di claim wey go arrange dis file na di own of Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí: say gender no be primary category wey dem take arrange Yoruba social thought before colonial encounter happen, say seniority na im do di work wey gender dey do for European social organisation, and say di category "woman" as dem dey use am for Yoruba society na largely sometin wey dem import come through colonial administration, missionary translation and Western scholarship. Dis na one of di most influential argument dem for African gender studies and na one of di ones wey dem argue pass. Other African feminist scholars don criticise am well well, especially Bibi Bakare-Yusuf wey criticise am sharp pass, and di criticisms dey serious.
Dis file bring out di argument, den di criticisms, den di documentary record of wetin Yoruba women actually hold and do, wey plenty and wey neither side of di theoretical dispute dey deny. Confidence dey marked as contested because di central interpretive question still open for real, no be say dem no know di underlying facts.
Oyěwùmí's argument
The Invention of Women: Making an African Sense of Western Gender Discourses (University of Minnesota Press, 1997) argue say gender no be universal organising principle and say di Ọ̀yọ́-Yoruba case show society wey no use am as one. Di argument get several parts wey link together.
The critique of the visual. Oyěwùmí put di biologising of social difference for European thought on top how vision take hold first place for dat intellectual tradition. To make di visual get privilege dey turn appearance and visible markers to di base of categorisation, so dat Western episteme dey construct im categories and hierarchies as binary and visible: male and female, white and black. Because of dat, dem always dey link physical body to social body. African cultures, according to wetin she write, no historically dey ordered by vision but through other senses, na why she propose "world sense" instead of "worldview" as di proper term for African way of knowing .
The linguistic claim. Yoruba language no dey mark gender grammatically, but e dey mark seniority. No gendered third-person pronoun dey. Names no dey gender-specific. No gender-specific words dey for son, daughter, brother or sister. Di words ọkọ and aya, wey people conventionally dey translate as husband and wife, no dey gender-specific like how English terms be. Wetin dem dey mark na relative seniority, for di third-person forms and throughout di address system .
Her account of ọkùnrin and obìnrin dey central and e worth quoting as Bakare-Yusuf reproduce am:
the word obinrin, erroneously translated as 'female/woman', [...] does not derive etymologically from okunrin, as 'wo-man' does from 'man'. Rin, the common suffix of okunrin and obinrin, suggests a common humanity; the prefixes obin and okun specify which variety of anatomy. There is no conception here of an original human type against which the other variety had to be measured. Eniyan is the non-gender-specific word for humans .
Di force of dis point dey precise. For English, "woman" morphologically derive from "man", so linguistically dem mark female as variant of male norm. For Yoruba, ọkùnrin and obìnrin na parallel constructions on top shared element, and di unmarked category for human being na ènìyàn, wey dey neutral. So Yoruba no encode male norm with female deviation. Oyěwùmí conclusion na say obìnrin therefore no dey symbolically or normatively inferior to ọkùnrin, and say di "woman" wey Western feminist discourse theorise in terms of negation and limitation no get Yoruba equivalent . Because no gendered noun of dis kind dey, she use "anamale" and "anafemale" take name anatomical categories without importing di social weight of "man" and "woman".
The institutional claim. Yoruba social institutions no divide by anatomy. Di compound, di agbo ilé, na im be di site of legitimacy, authority and power, and im ordering principle na di insider-outsider relation. Every member of di lineage, anamale or anafemale, na both ọmọ ilé and ọkọ, and dem stand as senior to anybody wey marry enter. Oyěwùmí own formulation, wey be di passage wey dem quote pass for di book:
Although ana-females who joined the lineage as aya were at a disadvantage, other ana-females who were members of the lineage by birth suffered no such disadvantage. It would be incorrect to say, then, that anatomic females within the lineage were subordinate because they were anatomic females. Only the in-marrying aya were seen as outsiders, and they were subordinate to oko as insiders .
She extend dis to di division of labour, dey argue say di assumption for West African studies say men dey farm and women dey trade na imposition of alien model wey dey bend reality, since both ọkùnrin and obìnrin been dey represented inside trade and farming, and anafemale fit be aya for one lineage and ọkọ for another one, as well as warrior, diviner, hunter and farmer .
The colonial claim. If di category no be indigenous one, e must to enter from outside. Oyěwùmí account na say British colonial rule, missionary translation and subsequent scholarship impose gender binary on society wey been dey organize by seniority, lineage and community, and say ọkùnrin and obìnrin come get dia symbolic gender-based layers of meaning through di colonial project. Colonial administration come worsen di imposition institutionally by recognising only male authority, wey turn theoretical distortion to material one.
Dat last point no dey contested. General historical record of indirect rule across Yorubaland corroborate am, as indirect rule deal with male chiefs and dismantle di parallel authority structures wey women get. Dem treat dat one inside History: Christianity, Islam and Colonial Conquest.
Di criticisms
Bakare-Yusuf paper wey di title na "'Yorubas Don't Do Gender'" (2004) be di critique wey detailed pass, and e first agree with plenty points before e begin attack. E agree say make person no carry gender make general first-order principle across all societies and time, say when person just carry foreign categories without checking e dey spoil local dynamics, and say di questions wey researcher carry come dey determine di answers wey dem go find: if person ask question about gender for society wey seniority dominate, dem go still get answer wey touch gender . Wetin e dey object to na di method, no be di general project to decolonise di categories.
Language no mean say na so social reality be. Na dis one be her main argument. E argue say Oyěwùmí "completely flattens the relationship between language and reality by assuming that there is total isomorphism between the two," and e fail to separate de jure from de facto description, dat is, between wetin dey happen for level of language, discourse and law or juridical norm, and wetin dey happen for everyday life experience . Di example wey e use na post-apartheid South Africa, where nothing for level of discourse or law dey limit black South African under one of di most progressive constitutions for whole world, but real barriers still dey work for level of lived experience . So, say Yoruba grammar no get gender marking no mean say gender inequality no dey for Yoruba life.
Di etymological method no solid. Wetin Oyěwùmí dey argue need make ọkùnrin and obìnrin get original, pre-colonial meaning wey person fit recover under colonial mistranslation. Bakare-Yusuf reply say we no fit guarantee say word carry particular meaning for particular point in history, say e even hard pass for oral culture wey no get written dictionary history, and say di method assume say culture just dey pure pass through time without any break . E compare di move to how Heidegger use etymological recovery of "original" German and Greek meanings to support theory of German historical destiny, wey be sharp and intentional comparison . Wetin e bring take counter am na Wittgenstein rope: words get plenty different uses wey connect together, and different practices, discourses and institutions na im dey shape meaning to give concepts multiple layers, so dat "women" already get plenty meanings wey even dey contradict themselves and e already open to change .
Power no be one straight thing. Even if person agree say seniority na di main language of power, Bakare-Yusuf argue say e no fit be di only one, and say no kind of power, whether gender, seniority, race or class, dey get di same value from one context to another or dey stand alone without di others . Because Oyěwùmí wan make seniority stand alone, e no fit see how di ideology of seniority dey cover other power relations, or how dem dey use im words take hide sexual abuse, violence inside family (especially against di aya inside lineage) and symbolic violence. Di conclusion wey Bakare-Yusuf give for dis point straight well-well: "her theory of seniority becomes disturbingly naive and politically dangerous" Di example wey e give na how dem dey abuse seniority inside Nigerian student-teacher relationship, wey nobody dey challenge because victims no wan make people see dem say dem disrespect senior person, wey e view as another form of power-over wey dem disguise as respect for elders .
Di statistical objection. Na dis one clear and concrete pass. Bakare-Yusuf note say for patrifocal society, na anafemales as aya, no be anamales, dey move go another lineage and become subordinate outsiders inside spouse lineage; as far as dem dey give special privilege to heterosexual coupling and motherhood, na anafemales dey marry comot; and na women get primary responsibility to prepare food and care for children, wey come give dem di double load of to nurture and to provide . Oyěwùmí answer dis by questioning di value of statistics and by pointing to counter-examples, but Bakare-Yusuf hold say none of di two response reach: say person fit calculate probabilities at all dey show say normative structure dey work, and to deny say statistics valid na weak way to deny standardisation itself. Person fit find powerful women monarchs and hunters even inside patriarchal cultures wey hard pass, and dat kind counter-examples na "the 'miraculous exception' within what is in reality a hegemonic framework," following wetin Bourdieu talk . Her conclusion on dis point na say di experience of princesses and women wey get privilege no fit be wetin dem go use evaluate di position of all women or take deny say collective subordination dey, but instead make dem use am imagine new possibilities and fight inequality .
Di authenticity objection. As Oyěwùmí focus specifically on di Ọ̀yọ́-Yoruba, instead of every other Yoruba subgroup, Bakare-Yusuf see am as evidence say di work dey suppress internal difference because of ideology of authenticity, and e bring Nancy Fraser talk on how identity politics dey discourage people inside group make dem no examine patriarchal strands say e no authentic . Wetin e bring as alternative na "polytheistic" reading of Yoruba culture, wey mean structural way of thinking wey open to plurality, negotiation and accommodation instead of just one ordering principle, and e quote Hountondji argument say pluralism dey inside every society naturally instead of say na outside e come from, so dat di main encounter no be Africa against Europe, but "the continuing encounter between Africa and itself"
Where oda criticism come from. Oyěwùmí argument also get challenge say di linguistic evidence too heavy (Yoruba dey mark sex with words where e matter, inside ọkùnrin and obìnrin demsef and inside plenty compound words), say Ọ̀yọ́ no stand for Yoruba societies generally, and say di pre-colonial baseline wey she build back na from sources wey colonial period shape, di same period wey she dey try look pass. Ifi Amadiume Male Daughters, Female Husbands (1987) on top Nnobi Igbo na book wey people dey often read alongside Oyěwùmí work as di oda major statement on flexible African gender, and Amadiume own position, say gender categories dey but dem no tie am hard to biological sex, na claim wey really different from Oyěwùmí own, say gender no even be social category at all.
Where di argument reach settle, as e reach
Di most useful position wey dey ground now na di one wey take di strongest part of Oyěwùmí case and drop di strongest form of di claim. Insa Nolte work on eighteenth-century Yoruba marriage and belonging reach one point wey make sense to quote: as e dey show how important patrilineal kinship be as template for social and political organisation, marriage link husband roles with power and belonging by birth, and link wife positions with support and origin from outside, so even as women no dey inside some forms of authority, "a primarily relational understanding of gender meant that husbandly roles were frequently open to women"
Na so di reconciliation wey evidence support stand. Gender for Yoruba society na relational instead make e fix to anatomy: e dey name position inside set of relationships, and pesin with any anatomy fit occupy di position of ọkọ. Na why ọkọ no fit mean "husband" just like dat. But di positions no just scatter anyhow. Because di system na patrilineal and virilocal, na systematically women dey move go outside come enter as outsiders, and systematically na men dey stay remain insiders. Di two things na true, and Oyěwùmí dey correct about di first one but no give enough weight to di second one, while Bakare-Yusuf hold di two together.
Pesin wey just dey read dis newly suppose also note wetin di two scholars no dey drag: say colonial administration and missionary institutions enforce gender ideology wey rigid far pass anything indigenous, and say dem cause serious, well-documented damage to women institutional authority. Di theoretical dispute na about di precolonial baseline, no be about di colonial effect.
Wetin Yoruba women actually hold
Di documentary record for here strong and mostly no get controversy. E stand on im own without depending on di theoretical argument wey dey above.
Ìyálóde. Di Ìyálóde na chieftaincy title wey woman dey hold, wey dem translate as mama wey dey in charge of external or public affairs. Di pesin wey hold am dey represent women for town political process, dey sit for council, dey oversee women trade guilds and markets, dey settle dispute among traders, dey set market rules, and dey carry women interest go meet di ọba and chiefs . Bọ́lańlé Awé study on di office inside traditional Yoruba political system na di standard scholarly work . Na by merit and respect dem dey choose di pesin, no be by inheritance, and dis one clear well well from most hereditary titles.
Di people wey hold am no be figurehead. Efúnṣetán Aníwúrà, di second Ìyálóde of Ìbàdàn from 1867 to 1874, build one of di biggest wealth for nineteenth-century Yorubaland through long-distance trade, and she dey among di major slave traders for di city, with plenty armed fighters of her own . Da last fact need make dem talk am clear instead make dem commot am: women wey get status participate inside slave trade as big players, and di record of women authority no be record of moral superiority.
Madam Tinúbú, wey British people exile from Lagos for 1856, relocate go Abẹ́òkúta, supply weapons during di war with Dahomey, and dem make am Ìyálóde of all Ẹ̀gbáland . Her career na di clearest single case of woman wey use military-political power for state level.
Ìyálọ́jà. Mama of di market: power over particular market and di traders, with authority to share stalls, settle trading palaver, and control wetin dey happen inside di market. Di office still dey till today, and di Ìyálọ́jà General of Lagos still remain big political position for contemporary Nigeria.
Market power as political power. Di connection no just happen by chance. Because na women dominate market trade and because market na like di circulatory system of di economy, organised group of market women fit make di whole economy of one town stop. Di most famous example na di Abẹ́òkúta women revolt of 1946 to 1949, wey Fúnmiláyọ̀ Ransome-Kuti lead, wey force di Aláké to step down from throne and abolish tax on women, and wey dem treat inside History: The Twentieth Century.
Female rulers and regents. Dem record Ọ̀rọ̀mpọ̀tọ̀ inside Ọ̀yọ́ king list as Aláàfin wey be female anatomically, di sister of her predecessor Ẹgúngúnọ̀jọ̀ . Di traditions wey surround am, including di story say she cover or transcend her anatomy so dat she fit rule, na exactly di kind material wey di two sides of di theoretical argument dey interpret differently, and whether di details really happen historically no dey certain. Regencies wey women hold, and female occupants of specific stools inside different Yoruba towns, dey well documented across di region. Wetin clear be say make woman occupy di highest offices na rare thing instead of normal, wey support Bakare-Yusuf point about "miraculous exception", while di fact say e even possible at all support Oyěwùmí point say anatomy no be complete barrier.
Palace and chieftaincy title office dem. Di Erelú, di Ìyá Ọba (king mama, wey bi post instead of biological mama for some town dem), di Ìyá Kere and oda palace title dem give women formal position inside how kingship dey run. Onadeko record say di Ògbóni executive body of six people, di Ìwàrèfà, include di Ìyá Abiye among di Olúwo, Lísa, Aro, Ọdọ́fin and Apènà . Make woman dey sit down for di six-member executive body wey dey serve as judicial and constitutional check on di ọba na concrete institutional fact, no bi just symbolic gesture.
Òrìṣà priesthood. Women dey hold priest position for every level of òrìṣà practice, including to head major cult dem, and for plenti tradition, na women dey mostly or strictly hold di priesthood of specific òrìṣà. Section 06 treat dis matter.
Àwọn ìyá wa. "Our mothers", wey dem still dey call Ìyá mi and di ẹlẹ́yẹ, owners of birds, na name for di collective spiritual power wey dem dey attach to elder women, wey people believe say get power to protect and to destroy . Dem treat am well for di òrìṣà and cosmology section dem bikos na religious category, but di social meaning belong here: di fact say people accept say separate female spiritual power dey wey men must beg instead of to command am na structural counterweight, and di Gèlèdé masquerade, wey dem dey do to honour and appease di mothers, na di public form. Di category get two sides. Di same thinking wey make elder women powerful na im make people dey accuse dem of àjẹ́, and as dem don state above, na witchcraft accusation bi di particular charge wey fit remove woman from family hand carry am go di Ọba's court .
How to hold all dis
Person fit hold three point together at di same time without contradiction, and e go better make reader hold all of dem instead of to pick side.
How Yoruba society arrange tins run on seniority and who belong to lineage reaching level wey no get match for Europe, and to translate im terms into English gender words dey really scatter di meaning. Na dat one bi Oyěwùmí real contribution and e stand.
Even with dat, body anatomy still follow social position systematically, bikos patrilineal virilocal system dey move women go outside and keep men inside, and no matter how person take dey careful with words, dat difference no dey disappear. Na dat one bi Bakare-Yusuf real contribution and e stand too.
And di colonial period truly force stronger gender order pass di one e meet, scatter di women side of di dual-sex political structure, and produce plenti of di scholarship wey dem dey take read precolonial period today. Dat one na documented history and no argument dey between dem about am.