DEVALUATION AGAINST IGBO GIRL CHILD: A CHALLENGE TO SOME FAMILIES

Abstract

It is obvious that most African societies including Igbo operate patriarchal system of male headship and female subordination in social and cultural values, hence, male headship and women subordination is both social, religious and cultural values among African societies. Since values define the position and role of sexes among the Igbo, they equally pose serious challenges to some families who cannot fill the gaps created in their homes by unavailability or incapability of available male children to perform some task. Availability of female children in such families makes no difference as opportunities are denied them merely because of their sex. The inefficiency on the male side most often make the parents to wish the sex can be switched. The objectives of this study are: to highlight the resultant effects of devaluation against the Igbo girl child in some families, to reveal continued segregation and gender bias among the Igbo society despite enlightenment and development level and to proffer solutions to remedy the situation. Again this work is to discourage women hyper-subordination in social and cultural values especially in this twenty-first century. Gender inequality theory is used. The study is expository and survey research. The research used literature materials and interviews posed to some individuals to source data. Among the findings of this work is that gender inequality is merely a socio-cultural construct. It is advised that equal
values should be placed on both male and female children as this would help to harness the natural capabilities of every child irrespective of the gender.