Gender and Sexism in Then She Said it and The Missing Face

Abstract

Abstract There is no other subject matter at present that has gained critical and universal appeal like sexism and gender issues. The reason for this is obvious. In different parts of the world before now, there were laws and edicts barring women from macro and micro schemes and programmes that had direct and indirect impact on them. Women suffered disenfranchisement, occupational segregation and other forms of marginalization. However, this ideological battle has been fought and won by men and women, who recognise the inherent potential in men and women. At present, there is hardly any position in the world, whether social, political or religious that the female has not occupied. The concern of this paper therefore is that whereas the afore stated may be true, some writers, especially those who claim to defend the interest of the female still go all out to bend historical facts in their narratives in such a manner as to show disaffection with the male gender or totally undermine it. This has given rise to some kind of gender chauvinism where, instead of attacking the system that fails to entrench gender equity, the male is at the centre of their assault. This paper anchors on womanism-Africa"s version of feminism-which recognizes the complementary roles of men and women in the society to analyze Tess Onwueme"s Then She Said it and The Missing Face. It discovers that, much as Onwueme tries to discourage anti female cultures using drama, she deliberately distorts cultural order and historical facts as a result of gender bigotry. Resume À l'heure actuelle, il n'y a aucun autre sujet qui s"est approprié un attrait critique et universel comme le sexisme et les questions sexistes. La raison pour ce phénomène est évidente. Partout dans le monde auparavant, il y avait des lois et des édits interdisant aux femmes de participer à des programmes économiques qui avaient un impact direct et indirect sur elles. Les femmes ont souffert du désenchantement, de la ségrégation professionnelle et d'autres formes de ...