It is almost becoming a commonplace in discussions of women's roles in Africa to point out that recent modern developments have weakened the status and power of women vis-h-vis men, rather than narrowing the gap. Women are seen as having to contend not only with their own men, but also in the past with the colonialists and now with the neo-colonialists, who may be divesting them of former rights, thrusting upon them new and burdensome duties, as well as withholding access to new resources (Audrey Wipper, 1972: 145). Attention has recently been recalled to the experience of the Igbo women under colonialism, as an example of how European influence could weaken and destroy women's traditional autonomy and power without providing modern forms of autonomy or power in exchange (Van Allen, 1972: 165-181).