Undressing Patriarchy to Address Inequality
Socially constructed gender roles manifest in distinctive ways, from differences between men and woman in the workplace to discrepancies in the household. The hierarchy established by such differences has created a division between the genders. Consequently, this division has taken the form of patriarchy where the male dominates and the female succumbs. In both the American and the Igbo culture the value of women depends on the acknowledgement they receive from men. Similar to the American culture the Igbo culture in the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe generates gender inequality by objectifying women through misogyny practices and encouraging the prowess of men by praising their hyper masculine …show more content…
In Hegemonic Masculinity: Rethinking the Concept R. W. Connell and James W. Messerschmidt claim, “Men who received the benefits of patriarchy without enacting a strong version of masculine dominance could be regarded as showing a complicit masculinity” (Connel et al. 832). Complicit masculinity refers to a questionable manliness. Therefore Connel and Messerschmidt argue that those who are treated superior to woman without standing their ground as dominant figures lack masculinity. By masculinity the authors refer to the sexual orientation of men towards woman. This goes to show that in today’s American culture men who do not present themselves as authoritative figures over the opposite sex are labeled as not being man enough. For this reason men who do not enact practices according to the ideology of hegemony are viewed as being feminine. The classification of men as feminine serves as a negative reinforcement that encourages behaviors that are associated with masculinity such as dominance. In other words to avoid being called feminine men often try to be the dominant …show more content…
Achebe reveals, “Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper” (13). This means, that to prove his manliness Okonkwo instilled fear among his partners to establish his superiority as a man. Likewise, dominance is often linked to aggressiveness, and the reference that the author makes to Okonkwo’s “fiery temper” depicts how the method he used to establish his authority was belligerence. Later Achebe also states, “No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man” (53). The previous goes to show that in certain cultures the value of a man depends on his ability to behave in an authoritative manner. Because men are often thought of as the controlling gender they tend to feel the need to live up to the expectations which dictate that to be considered a man they must live according to the characteristics that are associated with masculinity including
Socially constructed gender roles manifest in distinctive ways, from differences between men and woman in the workplace to discrepancies in the household. The hierarchy established by such differences has created a division between the genders. Consequently, this division has taken the form of patriarchy where the male dominates and the female succumbs. In both the American and the Igbo culture the value of women depends on the acknowledgement they receive from men. Similar to the American culture the Igbo culture in the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe generates gender inequality by objectifying women through misogyny practices and encouraging the prowess of men by praising their hyper masculine …show more content…
In Hegemonic Masculinity: Rethinking the Concept R. W. Connell and James W. Messerschmidt claim, “Men who received the benefits of patriarchy without enacting a strong version of masculine dominance could be regarded as showing a complicit masculinity” (Connel et al. 832). Complicit masculinity refers to a questionable manliness. Therefore Connel and Messerschmidt argue that those who are treated superior to woman without standing their ground as dominant figures lack masculinity. By masculinity the authors refer to the sexual orientation of men towards woman. This goes to show that in today’s American culture men who do not present themselves as authoritative figures over the opposite sex are labeled as not being man enough. For this reason men who do not enact practices according to the ideology of hegemony are viewed as being feminine. The classification of men as feminine serves as a negative reinforcement that encourages behaviors that are associated with masculinity such as dominance. In other words to avoid being called feminine men often try to be the dominant …show more content…
Achebe reveals, “Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper” (13). This means, that to prove his manliness Okonkwo instilled fear among his partners to establish his superiority as a man. Likewise, dominance is often linked to aggressiveness, and the reference that the author makes to Okonkwo’s “fiery temper” depicts how the method he used to establish his authority was belligerence. Later Achebe also states, “No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man” (53). The previous goes to show that in certain cultures the value of a man depends on his ability to behave in an authoritative manner. Because men are often thought of as the controlling gender they tend to feel the need to live up to the expectations which dictate that to be considered a man they must live according to the characteristics that are associated with masculinity including