Abstract

Our concern here is on gender sensitivity in the Igbo culture. We tried to examine the levels of gender sensitivity in the traditional Igbo society and in the contemporary Igbo society. Our startling discovery is that we had a higher level of sensitivity in the traditional setting than we now have in this contemporary period. The reason is that the irrational approach to the gender question is fast obliterating the differentiation that should exist between the male and the female.By gender sensitivity, we mean the level of awareness, appreciation of the need to maintain at reasonable levels the gender differentiation between the male and female. It is true to some extent that what a man can do, the woman can equally do, but it is not expedient that women should insist on doing everything the man does even at the expense of nature’s assigned honorific roles of wifehood and motherhood. At the same time we stress that all the rustic are atavistic male chauvinistic character of domination, oppression and marginalization must be done away with. Other wise, when gender differentiations are completely obliterated, gender sensitivity will also disappear with it. This will lead to some un-naturalness. To remain gender sensitive, we have to keep the gender peculiarities in focus to a reasonable limit