It may be less prominent than another theme of race, however I still believe that it is intended to be just as much of a main idea. Gender inequality exists throughout almost all of the book, but it can be narrowed down to three main examples, including the dependency of women on men, the strict expectations of body and beauty standards, and the ingrained culture of affairs. All of these examples exist in both of the countries discussed in Americanah, the United States and Nigeria. Each example provides a new insight into how imbalanced the genders are, as well as how they treat each other. The book begins with an imbalanced relationship between Aunty Uju and The General, and it ends with Obinze and Ifemelu finally breaking these expectations to find monogamous, equal love within each other. These are all examples of why the theme of femininity and gender inequality is a main idea in the novel
It may be less prominent than another theme of race, however I still believe that it is intended to be just as much of a main idea. Gender inequality exists throughout almost all of the book, but it can be narrowed down to three main examples, including the dependency of women on men, the strict expectations of body and beauty standards, and the ingrained culture of affairs. All of these examples exist in both of the countries discussed in Americanah, the United States and Nigeria. Each example provides a new insight into how imbalanced the genders are, as well as how they treat each other. The book begins with an imbalanced relationship between Aunty Uju and The General, and it ends with Obinze and Ifemelu finally breaking these expectations to find monogamous, equal love within each other. These are all examples of why the theme of femininity and gender inequality is a main idea in the novel