Abstract:
This article seeks through Ejagham women’s experience in the ritual dances of Ngbokondem
and Moninkim to engage the notion of patriarchal control of African women’s sexuality in
‘female genital mutilation’ discourses as postulated by second-wave feminist theorists such as
Daly, Koedt, Hosken and so on. A firmly based patriarchy threatens culture, sexuality and
identity; the article shows how women use varied coping mechanisms, including aid schemes,
sexual insurgency and even breaking of bodies to define their place and identity in a patriarchal
society. However, some Ejagham women’s practices are themselves laced with patriarchal
violence where women postulate as main participants. The article coins the term ‘triple
patriarchy’ to capture this phenomenon. It portrays how Ejagham women, who are interrogating
domination, also act in ways that reinforce patriarchy. Using womanist theological lens as the
hermeneutic framework, the article concludes that women initiation practices are the
foundations through which women grasp the meanings of Christian initiation rituals such as
baptism, eucharist, marriage and so on. Hence, they should not be destroyed but fine-tuned;
for there is more about the women’s practices that need to be engaged than labelled.
