Celebration of childbirth through dance and the demystification of the male child in the Igbo Patriarchal Society: A decisive exposition

Christian Chima Chukwu and Ignatius Sunday Ume

Abstract
Celebration of childbirth, among the Igbo, is looked upon as an occasion of feasting and so every festal feature, especially good music is made available as a mark of thanksgiving to God. The birth of a new child is announced with a special kind of song called irri muo, and it is sung in celebration of the birth. Songs sung at childbirth are called umanwa, while in neighbouring communities, they are egwu omugho. Umanwa music is exclusively performed by women, and has survived until today in its original form through oral tradition. This paper, therefore, examines the celebration of childbirth through dance and the demystification of the male child in the Igbo Patriarchal Society. Among the findings, the paper acknowledges that there is always some excitement, merriment, joy and intoxication, mixed with some sparks of faith when the new entrant is added to a household. In addition, the paper recognizes that women are never fully recognized as mothers until the birth of a boy child. Disturbing as the preference is, this paper wonders and questions why women are being easily ridiculed, subjugated and divorced when and where the Y-chromosome, the sole determinant of the birth of the boy child is the exclusive preserve of the male gender. With this, the paper argues that since human personality, a prerogative and quality of every human being does not rest on gender, but on ability; the emphasis on the boy child is absolutely unnecessary because it does not add anything to ability. The paper further calls on the educated elite to enlighten their people to be aware that the dignity of the girl child is fundamentally, essentially and unquestionably equal to the dignity of the boy child. Finally, the paper concludes that, the male child has not in most cases fulfilled the long awaited expectations of being the second father in the house.

Keywords
Igbo Patriarchal Society; Inu nwunye; Egwu omugho; Demystification of the male child; Human personality.

Resumo
Celebração do parto através da dança e a desmistificação do menino na Sociedade Patriarcal Igbo: uma exposição decisiva. A celebração do parto, entre os Igbo, é encarada como uma ocasião de festa e, portanto, todos os aspectos festivos, especialmente a boa música, são disponibilizados como sinal de agradecimento a Deus. O nascimento de um novo filho é anunciado com um tipo especial de música chamada irri muo, e é cantada em comemoração ao nascimento. As canções cantadas no parto são chamadas umanwa, enquanto nas comunidades vizinhas são egwu omugho. A música umanwa é executada exclusivamente por mulheres e sobreviveu até hoje em sua forma original através da tradição oral. Este artigo, portanto, examina a celebração do parto através da dança e a desmistificação do filho do sexo masculino na Sociedade Patriarcal de Igbo. Entre as descobertas, o artigo reconhece que há sempre alguma emoção, alegria, diversão e intoxicação, misturadas com algumas faíscas de fé quando o novo participante é adicionado a uma família. Além disso, o artigo reconhece que as mulheres nunca são totalmente reconhecidas como mães até o nascimento de um menino. Por mais perturbadora que seja a preferência, este artigo pergunta e questiona por que as mulheres estão sendo facilmente ridicularizadas, subjugadas e divorciadas quando e onde o cromossomo Y, o único determinante do nascimento do menino, é a reserva exclusiva do sexo masculino. Com isso, o artigo argumenta que, do ponto de vista da personalidade humana, uma prerrogativa e qualidade de todo ser humano não se baseia em gênero, mas em habilidade; a ênfase no menino é absolutamente desnecessária porque não acrescenta nada à capacidade. O artigo pede ainda que a elite educada ilumine seu povo e saiba que a dignidade da menina é fundamental, essencialmente e inquestionavelmente igual à dignidade do menino. Finalmente, o artigo conclui que, na maioria dos casos, o filho do sexo masculino não atendeu às esperadas expectativas de ser o segundo pai em casa.

Palavras-chave
Sociedade Patriarcal Igbo; Inu nwunye; Egwu omugho; Desmistificação do filho do sexo masculino; Personalidade humana.

DOI
10.21438/rbgas(2020)071514

Full text
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