3. "i'm responding this way b/c it's a stupid question" In response to Reply # 2 Fri Aug-14-15 10:46 AM by woe.is.me.
(no disrespect to you at all, i'm being objective)
are there women on an entire continent that are looked down upon? absolutely.
there are women on every continent that are "looked down upon".
there have been female heads of state in africa there are also cultures (some, out of the thousands that are on the continent) where male children may take precedence over female ones in some circumstances.
my point is that this is too general a question to answer seriously.
to say that "____ in africa are _____." is generally inaccurate because africa is a huge place with millions of people who think and treat each other differently depending on where you are.
7. "recently had a convo with some nigerian women" In response to Reply # 0
they were igbo, rivers(sp?), and yoruba for whatever that's worth but apparently there is a LOT of value placed on women being able to attract a husband by a certain age (30-35) the women are all under but approaching 30 and they seemed relatively successful to me (2 MDs and a MBA) didn't matter to their families. one girl was damn near close to tears talking about how her uncles/aunts don't even care about what she's doing in her life first thing they ask is if she has a prospective husband yet we got into some other stuff about how women are encouraged to stay in bad/abusive relationships because of the single woman stigmas and the fact the husband kind of owns you after paying a husky dowry etc i was just sitting back listening kind of in shock
9. "parts of this sound familiar" In response to Reply # 7
and I wouldn't discount their experience. it's also common sense to regard this as their experience, not everyone's. in general, the worst thing you can do is rely on anecdotal evidence to indict an entire society.
12. "From what I've seen, this is true almost everywhere *except* the US:" In response to Reply # 7
>but apparently there is a LOT of value placed on women being >able to attract a husband by a certain age (30-35)
There are exceptions, but marriage & family seem like they haven't been devalued as much in the rest of the world as they have in the US and a few other countries. I'd think the number above would be 20-25, honestly because 35 is a little old to be just starting to get married and have a family, at least from a biological perspective.
17. "irrespective of what else they have going on in life?" In response to Reply # 12
iono about that if we're talking ppl living in some dirt village sure, because that's a survival thing i'm not talking about "africans" per say. if it was some hausa chick from some dirt road i may have understood but "westernized" people making that a #1 priority in peoples lives to the point ppl get depressed and avoid family gatherings yikes we got into a lot of other stuff like the reasons why they couldn't even logically argue or explain that getting a man wasn't their #1 life goal to otherwise rational family members but that cultural norm was a shock to me coming from ppl who are quick to let you know "Africa" isn't all huts and lions
-DJ R-Tistic- Member since Nov 06th 2008 51986 posts
Fri Aug-14-15 12:48 PM
13. "Slightly OT, but in Ghana, I thought it was interesting that they made A..." In response to Reply # 0
the girls keep their heads shaven until they graduated HS. I heard different reasons, but not sure what's true. Tour guide said it's because they want the girls to focus on schoolwork and not have their hair as a distraction. He also said it's to symbolize who's a woman and who's not, based on them graduating HS. Not sure if it's even to deter men who don't know how old the girls are.
My only question was, what if a woman who was 18-30 just wanted to have a low cut? Would people not respect her as much, thinking she was just a high schooler?
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