Things Fall Apart Gender Roles Essay
Gender Roles and Beliefs: Domestic Violence
Globally, violence against women is a pervasive issue in society. Domestic violence is characterized by aggressive, forceful behavior towards one’s spouse or partner. Cultural identity dictates the responses of communities towards gender violence. Chinua Achebe explores many facets of Igbo culture through the life of Okonkwo. Okonkwo’s family life demonstrates the societal norms of gender roles and beliefs in their culture. In Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, the Igbo socially degrade women by economically and culturally leaving them dependent on their husbands, while Indian culture regards domestic violence as an imbalance of the pure and impure specifically in relation to gender, revealing the lack of respect for female life in both societies. Igbo culture relies heavily on the idea of the superiority of males, which creates the predisposition for domestic abuse. For example, during the trial of Uzowulu versus his wife's family, their cases are presented to the egwugwu, the ruling members of society, but the elders fail to see the importance of the domestic violence case: “I don’t know such a trifle [as beating one’s wife] should come before the egwugwu” (Achebe, 94) The elders’ disregard for such severe violence against females illustrates the engrained idea that women are property, …show more content…
Indian society is quite hypocritical in their treatment of women as people idolize female deities, but then victim blame women when they are attacked. Likewise, traditions cast women to be weak victims through traditions like securing “safety ties” around their brothers’ wrists as a symbol of protection. Women are expected to be submissive, feminine, and obedient to their husbands. Therefore, when Indian women break their prescribed gender role, they are deprived of the right to freedom and independence without
Globally, violence against women is a pervasive issue in society. Domestic violence is characterized by aggressive, forceful behavior towards one’s spouse or partner. Cultural identity dictates the responses of communities towards gender violence. Chinua Achebe explores many facets of Igbo culture through the life of Okonkwo. Okonkwo’s family life demonstrates the societal norms of gender roles and beliefs in their culture. In Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, the Igbo socially degrade women by economically and culturally leaving them dependent on their husbands, while Indian culture regards domestic violence as an imbalance of the pure and impure specifically in relation to gender, revealing the lack of respect for female life in both societies. Igbo culture relies heavily on the idea of the superiority of males, which creates the predisposition for domestic abuse. For example, during the trial of Uzowulu versus his wife's family, their cases are presented to the egwugwu, the ruling members of society, but the elders fail to see the importance of the domestic violence case: “I don’t know such a trifle [as beating one’s wife] should come before the egwugwu” (Achebe, 94) The elders’ disregard for such severe violence against females illustrates the engrained idea that women are property, …show more content…
Indian society is quite hypocritical in their treatment of women as people idolize female deities, but then victim blame women when they are attacked. Likewise, traditions cast women to be weak victims through traditions like securing “safety ties” around their brothers’ wrists as a symbol of protection. Women are expected to be submissive, feminine, and obedient to their husbands. Therefore, when Indian women break their prescribed gender role, they are deprived of the right to freedom and independence without