Womanhood in the Bible and in Yorùbá Tradition: Toward the Elevation of Women in Nigerian Society

This study examines the status of women in the Nigerian society with a view to determining the viability or otherwise of the clamour for a change in women’s role within the society. In an attempt to justify the position of women, the study looks critically into what Christian religion and the Yoruba tradition say about the position of women as compared to their men counterparts, within the Nigerian society using the Bible, the Yoruba tradition as guide and the feminist approach as our theoretical framework. We examined both “the good’, ‘the bad’ and ‘the ugly’ as presented by both traditions namely: the Jewish tradition as recorded in the Holy Bible and The Yoruba tradition as found in the Yoruba oral Literature respectively. The aim is to determine whether the present clamour that women should be given equal rights as their men counterpart is against the creator’s established norm or not, that a man is the head of the woman and should be seen as so. After a careful examination, a conclusion is drawn and thereafter, suggestions are made as to what our women should do to effectively elevate their status within their various societies.