Marriage of women in Africa literature - Essay Example

Marriage of women in Africa literature Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Analysis 3 The process of Marriage 3 Wedding ceremony 4 The role of a woman 6 Causes of marriage failure 7 Conclusion 8 Work cited 9 Introduction In Africa marriage is the combination of people who are emotionally attracted to each other and they share the some feelings, idea and understanding. According to African tradition a man can have many wives. An individual was allowed to marry the number of women which he could support. Marriage in Africa was based on wealth those who are rich could get many girls to marry than the poor. The role of a woman in marriage is changing every day because of the change in technology. A woman in African tradition was to remain at home and look after the children but today this is changing a woman can find a job to work. Many things have changed depending on the roles played by married carpals in a family (Chifamba, Karago, and Juve, 20). Analysis The process of Marriage A certain criteria were followed when an individual was getting married in Africa. A number of customs were observed and followed. Each family had to make sure that the process of marriage is respected and all taboos are not broken. Elders were providing education to your men who were about to marry. The older women told younger girls marriage education before they were handed to their husbands. The education provided was mandatory because the roles of a wife and husband were told. Each person was told the rules of their community and the people to interact with after marriage. When an individual got married changed he changed the ways which used to stay (Chifamba, Karago, and Juve, 204). In some clans of African communities the elders identified the girls to be married by their men. They found girls from good and wealthy families. In some occasions the elders could find the wife to be married by their sons. In many clans of African communities the family elders advised their sons before they got married and gave them the bride to marry. When the girl to be married was identified then the elders went to ask for a hand of marriage to the girl parent. After the approval from the girls parents an engagement ceremony was prepared were many people come to cerebrate. All the ceremonies were prepared by the elders from groom’s side (Chifamba, Karago, and Juve, 200). In many communities of Africa like Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana and Kenya among others they treated marriage has a very important occasion and they spend a lot of their property to make wedding ceremonies colorful. They had to spend a lot of their time arranging for the wedding day because if the ceremony was presentable then that family was respected by the entire village. Many communities did not allow intermarriage with people from other villages and clans. Marriage was one way to express wealth and power of a community and every clan made sure that they conduct their wedding ceremoniously and with respect (Chifamba, Karago, and Juve, 210). Wedding ceremony Each community conducted their wedding ceremony according to their tradition. Many communities have differences in their way of doing their wedding but they don’t differ much. The ceremony depended on social class of the community and family which are marrying. The royal families in Ethiopia conducted their ceremonies many days. The wedding for king and queen was to be conducted at royal palace and every body to attend the wedding ceremony. During the wedding days every body in Ethiopia had to stop working and attend the wedding. The royal priesthood declared these days resting days and they were respected by each person. Other communities in African countries respected royal wedding more than commoners. Each individual had to pay attention to the palace wedding (Chifamba, Karago, and Juve, 340). People from different social classes were not allowed to marry only people from the some class could interact and marry. If a man wanted to marry a woman from another social class he had to produce more properties as a payment of dowry to prove that he will be able to care for the woman. If the man failed to pay for dowry then he was not allowed to marry any other girl from that community. This difference was put in many communities to ensure that the class system is maintained and the nobles don’t interact with the commoners during the ceremonies (Chifamba, Karago, and Juve, 8). During wedding ceremonies in most of the African communities there was preparation of the event by elders. The bride was to be prepared before some days before the wedding day by the old women. During this time she was told how to become a good wife and the role of a mother in a family. This period took about two days it involved education, beautification and purification. The bride was not supposed to get out of the house until the wedding day. The people to slaughter the bull were to come from the clan of the man and the cooks from the bride family. The elders of the two families met a day before the wedding to know each other and share a drink. During the wedding day the groom went accompanied by his parents to take the bride. The priest conducted ceremonies for each ceremony and during the wedding ceremony they presented the occasion (Chifamba, Karago, and Juve, 24). The role of a woman A woman played significant role in Africa traditional marriage. Most of the work in the family was cared for by the mother. The woman remained subordinate while the man ruled the family. Each woman had to follow the decision which was made by her husband, and the decision was final and binding. When a woman disobeyed the decision of her husband she was to be divorced and sent away that no other man will remarry her from that village. The girls stayed close to their mother to be told skills and roles played by a woman in marriage. The African woman provided education to young girl. These educations involved marriage issues, interaction with opposite sex and families to associate with among others. The girl child education was provided by a woman mostly the old women and grandmothers (Chifamba, Karago, and Juve, 14). In some African communities the construction of houses was done by the woman. All houses in the compound were constructed by mother assisted by other woman relatives. At no time that a man was to construct a house even if was young boys. The houses were divided among the members of the family but they were allocated by the father. The African traditional families had a maximum of three houses one for the parents, the other two for male and female children. On destruction of the houses the mother was called to repair the house. In any compound were the houses were not repaired the woman was punished and sent away by the elders and she was not allowed to come back until the completion of the punishment (Chifamba, Karago, and Juve, 35). Kitchen jobs were allocated to the women and no man was allowed to enter in kitchen. Cooking was one by the mother and female children and when the food was ready they took it to the boy’s house. The mother of the family waited for the father to come back home and gave him the food to eat. They planted crops during rainy season and cultivated the land until harvesting time. When the crops were ready all the women in the village gathered together and combined their effort to harvest. This was in process of searching what to cook for their families. The crops harvested were exchanged with other products which the family did not have like meet, fruits, vegetables, gum, gold and skin among others (Chifamba, Karago, and Juve, 10). The main purpose of marriage in African tradition was procreation. The woman in the family was given the task of baring children. When a man married his parents claimed that they want grandchildren and the woman was the one to bring forth the child. Women who could not produce they were deemed to as outcaste and they were sent away to evil forest. In some communities if the woman could not bare children was advised to marry another girl who could bare children for with his husband. The woman took care for the born child until purity stage. The mother was given the task of brining up children providing food; breast feeding them and ensuring their security (Chifamba, Karago, and Juve, 25). Causes of marriage failure There are many things which contributed to the failure of African marriage which economic, political and social factors. Many marriages were broken few days after the marriage after noticing that they married wrong person. This occurred because people did not take more time in courtship and sometimes they were not given the opportunity to search for their partners. When one partner failed to perform the role which was suppose to undertake the other partner was loaded with a lot of work and if she was impatient she could divorcer her partner (Chifamba, Karago, and Juve, 20). Impatient caused a lot of separation because those who could not wait for their partners to change they went to look for better people and remarried. There was a council which took care of marriage problems. The council provided advice to the carpals that had problems. The elders advised on marriage resolution. They had powers to resolve a marriage institution and authorize the person to remarry again. If a person divorced her wife he was not allowed to marry again unless authorized by the council of elders. If any person broke marriage taboo he was put in the class of outcaste and he was not supposed to interact with other people (Chifamba, Karago, and Juve 22). Conclusion Most of African communities had value marriages and respect the family system. They conduct ceremonies which are not the some between all communities but they don’t differ a lot. Marriage is seen as the process in which continuity is established. When one got married was respected and changed the interaction group. The person was not allowed to interact or share anything with the unmarried. The tradition marriage has changed completely because today the wedding is one in the church or before the attorney. Work cited Chifamba, Elizabeth, Karago, J. and Ken Juve, Public perception on gender relationship in Africa through literature, Zimbabwe: Township music press. 2007:pp.8-210 Snapshots of a Wedding: Collector of treasures and other Botswana village tales. Pearson, 1977 Read More