Introduction
Gender role expectations exist throughout every culture, community, and ethnic group. Cultural gender roles emphasize how women and men perceive their traditions have impacted their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Gender orientation is frequently conflated with conventional masculinity and femininity and gender stereotypes. The presumption is that males are intended to be masculine, while females are expected to be feminine. Notably, when men and women who do not fit within their designated cultural gender roles are regarded as less of an individual, it becomes a gender issue. The struggle between male and female roles is a socially constructed paradigm that varies not only by culture but also by person, as demonstrated in Things Fall Apart by Achebe and We Should All Be Feminists by Adichie.
Igbo’s Heritage and Views on Femininity and Masculinity
The aesthetic of Achebe’s work is significantly influenced by the Igbo people’s oral heritage, as the author shows communal beliefs in the narrative’s content. Nwoye, Okonkwo’s son, understood that “it was right to be masculine and violent,” but he still likes the tales his mother used to recite (Achebe 45). For instance, the story of the Earth and Sky highlights the interdependence of masculinity and femininity since the earth requires rainfall and sunlight from the sky to thrive. The narrative illustrates the long-ago feud between Earth and Sky and how Sky stopped the rain for seven years, causing crops to wilt and the dead to be unable to be buried. Nwoye enjoys this narrative, but he knows it is “for foolish women and children,” and his father expects him to be a man (Achebe 46). According to this cultural assumption, certain elements should be in order for everyone to appreciate life. Nonetheless, each gender has a specific function to play in the harmony and progress of the community to which they contribute, and each culture has its own set of societal norms.
Worthy Men are No More: Becoming a Real African Man
Essentially, Things Fall Apart is a narrative about a more profound struggle since the fundamental problem is a collision of cultures, between traditional and western, masculine and feminine. Okonkwo believes that traditional males have lost their societal position and are no longer honorable since Western culture has weakened their determination. Okonkwo, for example, claims that “worthy men are no more” (Achebe 166). His greatest challenge is Umofia, a man who appears to have been integrated into colonizers’ ideas since “when he speaks, he moves our men to impotence” (Achebe 166). Because every gender has favorable and detrimental characteristics, Okonkwo’s weak traits may be considered negative machismo attributes. His views transform masculinity into machismo: aggressive treatment of women and children, status reinforcement through fistfights, and violent resolution of any challenge.
Okonkwo urges his sons think like traditional African males since men in Africa have conventional gender responsibilities. He instructs children to listen to “masculine stories of violence and bloodshed” instead of spending time in the kitchen with their mothers since it is a women’s duty (Achebe 45). He affirms that he will not hesitate to kill any male child who looks to be indolent rather than permit such behavior to bring dishonor to him and his family. Okonkwo employs his ingenuity to guarantee that none of his sons reject the traditional understanding of masculinity in favor of the western philosophy of femininity. Thus, cultural conflict causes men’s violent behaviors and stereotypes that women are soft and weak. Western colonists are responsible for the African system’s failure since they arrived unwelcomely and subjugated the natives and their traditions. The conflict between male and female roles is a socially created paradigm that varies from person to person and culture to culture.
We Should All Be Feminists: True or False?
The African perspective on gender and culture differs from that of Europeans, and the attitudes and habits acceptable in each culture fluctuate. Nonetheless, Adichie discusses the role and impact of feminism on cultural gender roles. The author contends that being a feminist entails comprehending and accepting the existence of sexism and gender stereotypes. Adichie mentions a male acquaintance in her native country of Nigeria who states that being called a feminist is an insult. She writes, “he told me that people were saying my novel was feminist,” and he recommends that she should never declare herself a feminist because feminists are miserable women who cannot marry (Adichie 7). Moreover, a Nigerian professor informs her that feminism does not belong to African culture and that Adichie considers herself a feminist because she was inspired by Western literature.
The writer also recounts an incident in her primary school in Nsukka, a university town in southern Nigeria. Her instructor announces that she would give the class a test, and the student with the best score will be the class monitor. Even though Adichie receives the best mark on the test, her teacher begins to argue that “the monitor had to be a boy” (Adichie 8). The selected youngster has the second-highest test score. Adichie describes the youngster chosen as a kind, sensitive spirit who had no interest in monitoring the class compared to her. This demonstration in We Should All Be Feminists is an apparent cultural conflict on gender roles similar to Things Fall Apart. Women are fragile and frail and incapable of taking responsibility based on their cultural beliefs.
Hence, if only boys are appointed class monitors, people come to believe, even if unconsciously, that the class monitor must be a male. If people continue to see only males as corporate CEOs, it becomes logical that only men can take this role (Adichie 8). The author acknowledges that women and men differ because they have distinct hormones, sexual organs, and biological capacities (Adichie 10). Males govern the world, which made sense a thousand years ago. Because humans lived in a society where physical strength was the most crucial factor in survival, the physically superior individual was likelier to lead. Adichie claims that the world is different nowadays and that the one most suited to lead is not the one who is physically stronger (10). No hormones can make a person more informed, creative, or inventive. People are continually evolving, yet their gender concepts remain the same, resulting in gender conflict.
Gender concerns everywhere in the world, and Adichie in We Should All Be Feminists argues that people could plan for a more balanced future. A world where happy men and women are more authentic to themselves. People spend much time teaching girls that they cannot be furious, aggressive, or harsh, which is terrible enough, but then they laud or justify men for the same reasons (Adichie 12). The author requests the readers to consider how much better society would be if gender norms did not burden individuals.
Conclusion
As established in Things Fall Apart by Achebe and We Should All Be Feminists by Adichie, the conflict between male and female roles is a socially created paradigm that changes not just by culture but also by person. Culture significantly impacts gender roles and causes a cultural clash, but attitude and mindset are more crucial. Therefore, when parenting children, people should prioritize ability, motivation, and interest over gender. Gender stereotypes should be eliminated because people feel defenseless due to cultural gender norms.
Works Cited
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1995.
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. We Should All Be Feminists. Fourth Estate, 2014.