More Than Being Housewives: Images and Roles of Women in Folk Music and Its Performance in Northern Nigeria‪.‬

Custom and social convention in northern Nigeria limit women's freedom of speech and leadership roles in politics, education, the military and religion. Men publicly exercise authority and are associated with work in the public sector, while women in this predominantly Muslim region tend to be associated with the home and mothering.(2) But matan arewa (northern women) of both Muslim and Christian faiths understand themselves and their social roles differently than custom and convention dictate. And in the context of folk music and its performance, women's views can be heard and they can express their perspectives on social, religious and political issues in both private and public with some degree of freedom. During my fieldwork in northern Nigeria over the past ten years, I noted that the women who assemble in church at least twice a week to learn new songs and to rehearse for upcoming performances form a community of women and use their religious and social roles to create a social space in which they can feel free and relaxed. These church women also realize their personal potential and develop leadership qualifies which they would stifle in the presence of men. Today, women's involvement in national politics and other public sectors has been strengthened partially through their musical activities.