Offspring’s experiences and paternity crisis: creative writers and same-sex marriage in Igbo culture

Abstract

ABSTRACT Same-sex marriage among women is used to bridge the gap created by the challenges of the socially and culturally constructed gender roles in Igbo culture. ‘Male daughters’ and ‘female husbands’ become sons and husbands to wives to solve the problems of procreation and continuity of the family’s lineage. ‘Male daughters and ‘female husbands’ are as old as Igbo culture and the culture is still in practice today. This study aims to unearth supposedly ‘hidden’ facts about the private nature of sexual relations in Igboland and reveal that it is different from the common western practice of same-sex marriages. Using Feminism and Psychoanalytical approaches to literary criticism, it exposes the ‘female husbands’ and ‘male daughters’ offspring’s paternity issues in relation to Igbo worldviews and ideologies as represented in literature.