Degree Name
MA (Master of Arts)
Program
History
Date of Award
5-2023
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
Constanze Weise
Committee Members
Henry Antkiewicz, John Rankin
Abstract
This thesis discusses how the gender dynamics and religious festivals of the Yoruba people in Isaga Orile were not affected by colonialism. The study draws on various accounts, particularly from the Church Missionary Society’s journals, to attest to colonialism's restructuring of male political hegemony. Focusing on two major festivals, Gelede and Oro, the study argues that men's inclusion in Gelede reinforces female supremacy, while the Oro society shows men's hegemony and restrains women from its activities. The study found that gender dominants in these festivals played complementary roles by mirroring female and male roles within the Isaga Orile political system. The study concludes that these festivals strengthened political and gender dynamics in pre-colonial times and continued to do so during the British colonial regime, providing opportunities for women and men to assert their dominance and complement each other's roles in society, despite the restructuring of male political hegemony by colonialism.
Document Type
Thesis - embargo
Recommended Citation
Olatunji, Olusegun, "Powerful and Powerless: Reconfiguring the Agency and Supremacy of Women in Selected Festivals in the Yoruba Town of Isaga Orile, 1900-1958" (2023). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 4199. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/4199
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.
Included in
African History Commons, Cultural History Commons, History of Gender Commons, History of Religion Commons, Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Social History Commons, Women's History Commons, Women's Studies Commons