Preview

Examples Of Gender Inequality In Americah

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2095 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Examples Of Gender Inequality In Americah
Gender Inequality in Americanah The novel Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is well known for its relatable, realistic look at the racial and cultural divide between the countries of the United States and Nigeria. The story follows multiple characters as they attempt to navigate the changing expectations and cultures that surround them. Even though this book puts the main focus on race, it manages to support other themes that can be seen throughout the entire novel, such as the idea of feminism and gender inequality. I would define feminism as a topic relating to the female gender, as well as the expectations that come along with being a female. There are some minor differences between both cultures in regard to how they treat gender, but the main point of the book is that, despite the changing locations, the genders are never seen as equal. This can be seen in three main examples, which include the idea of women depending on …show more content…
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

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Suggestion for The Reader: How are women portrayed in the novel? Why might this be?…

    • 345 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Gender Gender discriminations, such as sexism is evident in Lucy. During her mother’s time period women where encouraged to stop attending school and become a nurse. However, when Lucy left the Caribbean society she learned that she was not interested in this field. She states, “Whatever my future held, nursing would not be a part of it... I was not good at taking orders from anyone, not good at waiting on other people” (Kincaid 92).…

    • 547 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Research Paper

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages

    While the balance between male and female roles is imperfect in ways, there is also evidence that males could not survive without female roles in their lives and vice versa. Examples of this in Things Fall Apart are apparent when Okonkwo returns to his motherland as it seems “pre-colonial Igbo society, while largely patrilocal and patrilineal in its formation, held a special place for children of a matrilineage, called nwanwa, who, while members of their fatherland, or umunna, retained special rights and responsibilities towards their motherland”(Krishnan). Also, a female role in the tribe is…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    unit 7 p1

    • 1140 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Feminism is based on the social experiences from a women’s point of view. Feminism looks at society from a viewpoint of males, making females visible within the society. Feminism has two main bases of roles which are, redressing the balance and study society from a female…

    • 1140 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Prejudice is unfortunately a common theme in today’s society, especially in America. Certain races and ethnicities are immensely affected by the inequity. America is supposed to be the land of the free where everyone is equal and there are no judgments based on your past or where you live or even who your relatives are. However, that is far beyond the truth. In reality, your wealth and your opportunities depend on the color of your skin and even your name. America is not the best, it is a work in progress with the potential to be the best.…

    • 656 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Inequality is Contaminating America Currently in the United States, many may see that there is inequality, but have yet to do something about it. In the article The Toxic Tap by Josh Sanburn, he blatantly discusses Social Stratification that exist in America, more specifically, Flint Michigan. Sanburns’ article expresses the discrimination that Flint’s people faced during the change of the water supply from Lake Huron to Flint River. The Toxic Tap is referring to the Flints local river that has been the cause for many problems.…

    • 1124 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Still to this day, slavery and the following inequality in race have brought down the African race in America. Examples like the Freedom Train in the 1940s that made concessions to white Southerners, and even as far as today in Hurricane Katrina where government support took incredibly long to respond and aid the people of mostly poor African communities that were flooded. Another example is of the differences in home ownership. “Equity in Owner Occupied Housing is most of the wealth for most Americans” (Course Slides p. 26), and this created a discrepancy in race due to the government’s unwillingness enforcing laws to prohibit housing discrimination in the 1950s and other times. Through the Freedom Train that only seemed to represent the…

    • 1491 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Study

    • 325 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Feminism is the ideaology aimed at achieiving equality in political, economic, social rights and equal opportunities as the opposite sex. It opposes domestic violence and sexual assult.…

    • 325 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Feminist believe that there is a clear difference between men and woman. There are three types of Feminism one of the three is Marxism they look at class and believe that society is controlled by men and Capitalists (the wealthy ruling class) and also think that the cause of women’s oppression isn’t men but is capitalism they think that women’s oppression produces many functions for capitalism to work these are there that women do unpaid work at home for example cleaning or as cooking (domestic labour) and receive lower income making them financially dependent on the man also they bring up and socialise the children while the men are out working socialising means teacher the children the norms and values from a young age. Women also prepare men for work as they absorb all…

    • 1071 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Feminism is a large part of society with many large groups of girls, with the support of some men, coming together to get the equality they deserve. With patriarchalism having a patriarchal government, still to this day has the United-States never had a female president and with the majority of the Congress being…

    • 1169 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the modern United States of American society, there has been a huge disagreement on whether there is still inequality between men and women. From the late 1840’s till 1970’s woman have struggled to be counted as equal among men, to have the same rights that they have. Even still, to this day there are plenty of inequalities between men and women. One example of this would be in the workplace. It is said that women earn only 77 cents for every dollar that men make. Another statistic claims that women earn “only 72 percent as much as their male counterparts” (The Biggest Myth About the Gender Wage Gap- The Atlantic). From these facts alone, it proves that there is most definitely a system of inequality in the United States. This system of…

    • 167 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the many things that American society has always struggled with is equality. Due to America's diversity, this is not surprising. Discrimination or stereotyping exist in all aspects of society. America has always dealt with this issue of inequality, dating back to its early beginning. Some of the most renowned examples of this are mistreatment of Native Americans, African slavery in America, and women's rights.…

    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There have always been inequalities in America, but the most shocking inequality is gender inequality because America is known for being a modern society due to it’s accepting nature but it is a paradox to have gender inequality embedded. These inequalities affect the peoples’ jobs, lives and wages. One of the roots of gender inequality is discrimination. Discrimination is… In other words society judges people on their external appearances. America is notorious for gender inequality.…

    • 589 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Feminism is the movement that aims to gain a better understanding of gender inequality, politically and sexually. Feminist fight on issues such as domestic violence, sexual harassment, and discrimination. Feminist also argues that they are treated unequally with issues that include stereotyping, oppression and patriarchy. When looking at pieces of literature such as Chopin “Story of an Hour,” Gilman “Yellow Wallpaper,” Williams “Streetcar Named Desire,” Henderson “Trifles,” and Mina Loy “Feminist Manifesto you see the actuality of how poorly women and even married women were treated throughout the years. Feminism represents the next step in the evolution of the feminist movement.…

    • 185 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    (C) The women in this novel are dependent on men to handle political and economical duties. Today there are some countries were they prohibit women from attending certain events or doing certain tasks. In the novel, they demonstrate that females don't have certain power and that men do obtain. For example. in India and some countries in Africa , it's the female's task to stay at home and take care the children or not even attend school.…

    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays