Gender Equality In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

Gender Equality Collisions Making Things Fall Apart “Are you a feminist?” may or may not be a question you’ve been asked before. In today’s society, the term “feminist” has developed a negative connotation. Many women have argued that they do not need feminism because gender quality has already been achieved. Although different cultures are more susceptible to gender inequality, the clash of different beliefs have caused controversy. All in all, the real question is; are men and women treated equally and if not, should this change? Gender equality in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a much greater issue than it is today in the United States. However, the critical problem is still not entirely resolved. The first moment it was apparent
Likewise, so do the views on gender equality. For instance, in Things Fall Apart, men beating their wives was a usual occurrence. “And when she returned he beat her very heavily. In his anger he had forgotten that it was the Week of Peace. His first two wives ran out in great alarm pleading with him that it was sacred week. But Okonkwo was not the man to stop beating somebody halfway through” (Achebe 37). This implies that beating your wife or women in general was not shamed or viewed as immoral except for one week a year. In contrast, abusing your wife or any woman would be a major offense in the United States resulting in vast consequences. Nevertheless, gender inequality still remains in other forms. For example, “the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) had not yet been passed. This amendment would make it unconstitutional to discriminate on the basis of sex at work. Men already have this right; women do not” (King). There is a profound difference between it being acceptable to beat women and it being acceptable to discriminate them on the basis of sex at work. Nonetheless, this does not change that gender inequality is still present in United States’ society