Gender Relations in Ibibio Traditional Organizations
Author(s)
Abaraonye, Felicia Ihuoma
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to understand how a flexible gender system affected women’s access to economic resources and positions of political and ritual authority through certain Ibibio traditional organizations. This flexible gender system resulted not only in role ambiguity but also in status ambiguity. In the formal social system, there was a flexibility in gender classification which allowed the incorporation of certain categories of women into the male category, giving them positions of authority in both social and ritual power structure. Some daughters were regarded as male in relation to the male wives, while some males were regarded as females in relation to female husbands. Consequently, sex in this context does not correspond to gender. Therefore, what is gender?
