Back to: senior six s6 divinity paper three
Position of Women
- Women were considered beasts of burdens whowere supposed to do all the domestic work as the men were enjoying beer with the friends.eg among the Karamojong.
- Women were denied chance to take up leadership positions in the society but only Men could be leaders.
- Women were prohibited to eat certain foods in some societies e.g. among the Baganda, they forbidden to eat eggs, pork, chicken etc. as they were for only Men.
- Women were denied chance to own property neither could they inherit property hence being inferior.
- There was more celebration when a baby boy was born than when a baby girl was born.
- When a woman died, mourning took a few days than when aman died.
- In some societies, women were seen as a source of curses.eg in Buganda, when a man met a woman first on the ways, he could just go back home.
- Women were blamed for any misfortune or catastrophe that occurred in the society .e.g. earth quakes, drought etc.
- They were also blamed for producing single sex children yet Men were responsible for this.
- A woman were denied chance to initiate divorce yet Men could send away their wives if they wanted.
- Women were seen as sex machines who were supposed to satisfy men sexually without them enjoying sex.
- Women were prohibited to take part in society meetings and they could not make any decision either at home or in the society.
- A woman had no right to choose for herself amarriage partner .Once a man admired her, she had to go with him.
- They were seen as factories for manufacturing children who did not belong to them but belonged to their husbands
- They were denied chance to decide the number of children to produce. It’s only men who determined the number of children to produce.
- They were always beaten,slapped and kicked by their husbands and they had no right to fight back.
- Women were expected to keep their virginity until marriage and those who did not were severely punished but the issue of men being virgin was not highly emphasized.
- Women had no identity of their own but they could be known by either their fathers or husbands.
- They were supposed to respect Men and be submissive to them even when a man was younger to the Woman.eg in Buganda; Women were to kneel when greeting men.
- Women were blamed for any misfortune or catastrophe that occurred in the society e.g. earthquakes, drought famine etc
- There was no restriction on how many women a man could marry, but a woman was allowed only one man at time.
However, to a smaller extent, men paid some respect to women giving the special places in society.
- Women were the doctors and nurses of society, making syrups and medicine to cure diseases and illness.
- They would be saluted for helping to prepare the adolescent girls for marriage and other adulthood responsibilities, a unique and highly respected role.
- Women inculcated the correct morals values into the children, helping pass on a legacy to the future generation.
- Women were also applauded because, by producing children, they contributed to the expansion of the clan, making it strong and prosperous.
- They were considered important for, they and their children did bring respect to the men and his family in the society.
- Women were considered mothers of the society for it’s them who fed the family even when the going had got tough.
1. “In African Traditional society, Women were considered inferior to Men. “Comment Approach:
The question wants the various ways in which Women were undermined or under looked in African Traditional society. The candidate should show examples of societies where Women were treated like that. Read more about Principle of accounting,Agriculture
The Church’s Effort to Uplift the Status of Women Today
- To a large extent, Christianity has contributed to the rise of woman independence movement as shown below;
- Christianity advocates for monogamy which gives equal status of women to men.
- It discourages payment of bride price which traditionally made women subjects to men.
- Christianity has opened up schools allowing girls to study and uplift them socially, politically and economically.
- It has organized counseling and guidance sessions for women telling them how much they matter in society.
- The church has called upon government to consider women positions in government as a way of uplifting them.
- The church has formed women associations and other groups such as mothers unions, young women Christian associations etc. to uplift them.
- Christianity teaches that Man and Woman are equal because they were created in God’s image hence contributing to their independence movements.
- The church has given employment opportunities to women with some serving as reverends.
- The church has organized weddings which have helped women to have a say and share on family estates/ property of their husbands.
- Christianity calls upon husbands to respect, Love and take care of their wives thus giving them a special status.
- The church has also supported women projects that help them emancipate economically. Such projects include piggery, poultry etc.
- Leadership roles in church are also given to women e.g. reverends, pastors, nuns etc.
- The church has put up health centres in order to give special health attention to Women.eg Nsambya hospital,Mengo Hospital, Rubaga Hospital etc.
- It has established financial institutions like banks where women are employed as Managers,tellers,receptionists’ etc. eg Centenary bank.