GENDER IDEOLOGY AND SOCIAL CRISES IN IFEOMA OKOYE’S BEHIND THE CLOUDS AND MEN WITHOUT EARS

CHAPTER ONE

1. General Introduction

Generally, literature is not developed in a vacuum. Literature is a

simulacrum of reality and every work of art is a product of its social and cultural milieux. Consequently, every writer is a product of his/her socio-cultural and historical milieu. The African novel as a medium of literature is not an exception because the society remains the material that inspires writers. Every society has gone through one experience or the other; such experiences are what writers depict in their writings. The purpose of such depiction is either to appraise or criticize the trend. Mostly common in Literature is the depiction of the unpleasant realities of life. It is in this light that a discussion of the works by Ifeoma Okoye becomes relevant.

The works of emergent writers have ceased to give attention to patriarchy as the only system that subjects women to oppression. Consequently, their works show a great deal of consciousness, serious concern and interest in their political, economic and social environments. Okoye’s state of social consciousness is depicted in her novel; Men without Ears (1984) as she identifies the ills in the society and thus makes an attempt to correct the perceived socio-economic and

political imbalances. The most frustrating of these societal ills is the issue of money ritual making with human blood and flesh as exemplified in the novel. Also, women serving as subordinates to men in their private life of familial setting are common phenomenon in the African tradition. Abuse of the female gender (especially wives) has been in existence for centuries and it would continue to exist, if not curtailed by emergent actions of the female writers. The issue of childlessness in matrimonial homes has also captured the attention of female writers. Such writers see these structures and manipulations as constituting danger to both the female and male members of the society. As it is often witnessed, wife is always blamed for any discrepancy and her reaction to this could be detrimental to the sustenance of her matrimonial home.

Definition(s) of Terms

Ideology: According to oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (Sally Wehmeier), “Ideology’’ is a seen as “a set of ideas that economic and political system is based on: Marxist and Capitalist ideology”. In another sense,

“An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things as it is in the common sense and several philosophical

tendencies, or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to all members of the society” (a received consciousness or product of socialization.) (Wikipedia:2010).

The main purpose behind an ideology is to offer change in a given society, and also to provide adherence to a set of ideas where conformity already exists. For instance, one of the social issues that have generated concern in Africa as an ideological concept is that of prevailing patriarchy in the African society and this needs to be changed. This is the reason Ifeoma Okoye like other feminists has made her stand known in a bid to correct the ugly situation. For academic exercise of this nature, there is a need to define patriarchy. According to the Merrian Webstar’s Online Dictionary, “Patriarchy” is defined as a

“Social organization marked by the supremacy of the father in the clan or family, the legal dependence of wives and children, and the reckoning of descent and inheritance in the male; control of disproportionately larger share of power by men.

Now, issues in gender ideology would be discussed.

Gender: It is a sociological term that has more than one valid definition. In ordinary speech, it is used interchangeably with “sex” to denote condition of being a male or female. In the social sciences however, it refers specifically to socially constructed and institutionalized differences such as gender roles. However, the World Health Organization (WHO), for example, uses “gender” to refer to “the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women” (Wikipedia:2010).

Gender is a socio-cultural construction and ideological determination, a way of representing and defining “others” contingent on sexual differences. Gender is therefore, at the core of power relations and social representation in the society such that it becomes imperative in literary discourse. This differentiates gender from sex. (Wikipedia:2010). As Lizbeth Goodman et al (1996:vii) observe, “Gender refers to ways of seeing and representing people and situations based on sex differences while sex “is a biological category: female and male”. (Wikipedia:2010). This perspective is corroborated by Sara Mills (1989:242) who also sees gender as “a socially constructed masculine or feminine as opposed to the biologically determined difference of sex. Such contours of difference, to

Homi Bhaibha (1995:32) are “agonistic” but also have two potentials of “shifting and splitting”.

The major components of gender are masculinity and femininity. According to Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary (Sally Wehmeier), Masculinity is defined as “the quality of being masculine” while femininity is also defined as “the fact of being a woman; the qualities that are considered to be typical of women”. The feeling of belonging to a gender, masculine or feminine, has different meanings: First, a biological meaning that refers to primary and secondary sexual characteristics; Second, a sociological meaning that has to do with real and symbolic roles that society attributed to men and women, and finally, psychological meaning that consider the ensemble of traits belonging to either gender. This has to do with individual mind as they consider the differences between man and woman in any society with their minds. Ifeoma Okoye has presented the woman as being psychologically disturbed when they are attacked by childlessness and this makes them suffer the defeat of being the second to their husband. This is how Ije feels herself to Dozie in Behind the Clouds (1982).

According to Lorber (1994:30), gender ideology is defined as “the justification of gender statuses, particularly, their differential evaluation. Kroska defines gender ideology as “the attitudes regarding the appropriate roles, rights, and responsibilities of women and men in society”. Gender ideology about the family, in the African society is seen for example, as men fulfill their family roles through instrumental, breadwinning activities and women fulfill their roles through nurturing, homemaking and parenting activities. It also refers to attitudes regarding the appropriate roles, rights, and responsibilities of men and women in the society. (Amy Kroska:2007).

Gender ideology is a much debated and pressed subject in literature. Globally, the role of gender plays out as such that the male figure acts as the sole provider, while also conducting himself as the head of the household, making major decisions that are only allotted to the paternal figure while female figure acts as maintainer of the household. The domestic responsibilities constitute ideology in the sense that it is the expectation of the African society that females should be responsible for domestic work as ideology itself is a set of ideas that constitute someone’s goals, expectations and actions.