Feminist Criticism In Birdsong By Adichie

Each story has many perspectives: the ones of women, men, children, the powerful, the powerless, the conqueror and the conquered. A different side of the story is brought to light by each new perspective, all of them immensely influenced by culture and society. In societies all over the world, women are seen as inferior to men with minuscule powers or rights. Strongly influenced by culture, these ideals are set in society as gender roles. While some societies grow by taking into account new values, attitudes and behaviors, other societies still place weight on traditional gender roles. This is shown in “Birdsong” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The narrator is in a regressive society where she defies the set gender roles for a false sense of power …show more content…
This approach to literature is controversial, in that some scholars say that the feminist criticism does not exist. Another critique is the lack of “a rigidly defined methodology” in feminist criticism. Some critics claim that the study of sex roles and stereotypes “can become a shallow survey of existing types and no more than that” (Schweickart). While there are no specific rules, there are some common ideals in feminist criticism. Patriarchy has different connotations for both genders. For men, patriarchy is associated with masculinity and male dominance. For women, patriarchy is oppressing in a social, political, economic and psychological aspect. It also marginalizes women by defining them as a deviation from masculinity. Literary texts mirror the constructions of life and due to their impersonal nature, they allow for free discussion of societal problems. Western civilization is especially rooted in patriarchy and gender issues are extremely prominent in society and …show more content…
She is in traffic when she catches a woman staring, really looking, at her. Through a series of flashbacks, more information about the narrator’s life is revealed. She and Chikwado are the only females that work in the community-relations unit of the company. One day at work, she meets a man with whom she starts a relationship. The lover, however, has a wife who lives in America. As their relationship progresses, the narrator realizes the different treatment that she and her lover receive is far better than what she alone receives. Eventually, she realizes that she is invisible when going out with her partner; everyone treats him with more respect than they treat her, as they ignore her. She also notices the same treatment in her workplace when Chikwado and her are serving cake. As she becomes aware, her lover gets increasingly angry and frustrated with her leading to the end of their