Romance, Parenthood and Gender in a Modern African Society
Author(s)
Smith, Daniel Jordan
Abstract
Young Igbo men and women in Nigeria increasingly insist on choosing their marriage partners, and ideas about love are shaping Igbo constructions of marriage. But the viability of marriage still depends on fertility. This article examines the divergent consequences for men and women as they negotiate the transition from the role of romantic lover that now commonly characterizes courtship to the roles of mother and father, embedded in webs of kinship, that characterize marriage.
