Gender Issues in Postcolonial Literature: A Comparative Analysis - Essay Sample

Introduction

Gender issues are one of the primary themes of postcolonial authors. Most of the literary works of the early colonial and postcolonial era examined the different roles of both men and women in the community. A critical analysis of the western and non-western cultures through literary works indicates several disparities concerning feminism. With this in mind, understanding the gender issues in the context of western and non-western literature in-line with the postcolonial feminist theory forms the foundation for criticizing the two cultures. Therefore, the paper focuses its analysis of the non-western literature and the gender-related issues by comparing Two Sisters by Ama Ata Aidoo to The High Caste Hindu Woman by Pandita Ramabai.

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A Summary of the Two Texts

Two Sisters by Ama Ata Aidoo is a short story revolving around the lives of the two Ghanaian sisters, Connie and Mercy, who happen to be orphaned during the postcolonial era. The two endures different life challenges, including financial constraints, familial issues, relationship issues, and the struggle for survival following the British decolonization of Ghana (Humann 128). The two sisters do whatever ids possible regardless of being ethical or unethical to ensure they survive the postcolonial turbulence. The two main characters, Mercy and Connie, approaches life’s challenges by taking different survival paths and secure financial freedom.

Connie and Mercy support each other financially, with Connie assuming the role of the parents as she was the eldest. She tends to depict motherly care and character towards Mercy. Mercy, on numerous occasions, feels that her sister Connie is judgmental towards her, and she tends to be angry about this act. Both Connie and Mercy relies on the support provided by James, Connie’s husband. Therefore, Connie aligns with the African culture of the settled mindset of a married woman. She has a stable family, a husband whom she loves, a child, and expect a second born. Additionally, unlike other African women who would rarely get formal education during the colonial era, she is well-educated and has a stable official job as a teacher. However, Connie still has to put up with the African culture of enduring and tolerating a philandering husband (Humann 133). The husband continuously forces Connie to face the wall when they sleep to avoid getting in contact with the pregnant belly.

Mercy is less educated in comparison to Connie. Therefore, she has to spend long hours working hard as a typist, the work that has little impact on his living conditions. She does not have to struggle with rent, yet she still has trouble meeting her need. Mercy, struggling with financial issues, has to through away her love for Joe, who works as a taxi driver and engages Mensar-Arthur. She resorts to a relationship with a Member of Parliament with an ultimate aim for financial freedom. She does not care about the extreme age difference and the strings of women that Mensar-Arthur pulls as her main focus is financial stability, government estate house, and special favors, which he can provide. Besides Mensar-Arthur, Mercy has a relationship with Captain Ashley after the coup. Captain Ashley, just like Mensar-Arthur, is a married man. Additionally, he is too old with grandchildren. She provides for Mercy and ensures that she has the most beautiful designer clothes.

The High Caste Hindu Woman by Pandita Ramabai is the 1888 book created initially in Marathi and later on translated to English (Anagol 110). The book outlines several elements of the Manu and Hindu laws and traditions concerning women. These laws and customs acknowledge early child marriages, female education, the widow’s rights, and the issues of abortion. It also offers insights into the effects of these laws and traditions on women in India. Ramabai, being familiar with the challenges that the Indian women experiences, develop a concise account of these gender issue. Thus, the text explores all the stages of the life of the high caste woman. The book accounts for these stages right from childhood to adulthood. It states the role of women in religion and society in general. It identifies the possible blind spots in the traditions that put women in a disadvantaged position. Some of the areas covered in the book include education for the women, lack of independence, and the plight of the high caste widows. The book clearly points out the flaws in Manu’s laws, such as the argument that women “are not fit for independence,” which are some of the elements that need changes in the tradition (Anagol 135).

Women and gender issues are at the center of the book. According to the book, women take the position of men’s possession, just like domesticated animals. Women have no right to access to formal education or learning of any kind. The only way to keep them happy is through ornaments and food. Rambai, categorically states that “…dainty food together with an occasional bow” is the primary gratitude for women (Anagol 140). The book presents the Manu and Indian tradition in the form that little girls with no knowledge of marriage get into early familial relationships. Thus, the children are excited about getting married as a result of the wedding finery, enjoyment, and food. On the contrary, these young girls experience the worst living as high caste women. The Indian tradition, as presented in the book, considers widows and widowhood as an ultimate punishment to the woman for a despicable crime in the past life upon the earth.

An Analysis of the Characterization of Male and Female Roles

Two Sisters characterizes the male and female roles differently in amongst the African societies. According to the text, women are less important to the community compared to men. Unlike Connie, who has formal education, most of the women in the postcolonial era had no formal education. Those who were lucky enough acquired knowledge limited to the basic level like Mercy. Therefore, they only qualified for informal learning. This is evident through Mercy, who worked as a typist, a job considered as low status in the postcolonial era.

Women are dependent on male figures in society. Two Sisters presents women as individuals who depend on women for financial provisions. Connie and Mercy depend upon James, who is the head of the house, to provide for the family. Despite, Connie and Mercy being employed, they do little providing for the family. Mercy, on numerous occasions, had to depend on men for provision. She abandons Joe for being a taxi driver and a person whom she cannot depend upon for her financial desires. Nonetheless, she gets into relationships with Mensar-Arthur and Captain Ashley because she saw them as financially stable individuals to meet her financial needs (Anagol 165).

Aidoo, in the Two Sisters, characterizes women as individuals with no say in the postcolonial African cultures. Men, on the other hand, have an ultimate say on almost everything that has to do with the family. An excellent example is Connie’s marriage. James is the head of the family and forces Connie to sleep facing the wall. The author also presents James as a philanderer. The same is true in Mensar-Arthur and Captain Ashley (Anagol 165). They both maintain multiple relationships, marrying many wives, and having several other young concubines like Mercy. These men view women as chattels by believing that money, food, and gifts are the only things that make women happy.

Ramabai’s The High Caste Hindu Woman clearly differentiates the roles of men and women in the Indian community. It portrays the Indian and Manu cultural and traditional laws as that favoring men as opposed to women. The difference in gender roles is eminent in education, careers, and familial obligations. Just like Aidoo’s text, Ramabai illustrates the gender discriminative nature of the non-western cultures. She demonstrates, in the book, that women, more or less, takes the position of material goods in society. An excellent example from the text is the Indian and Manu laws that restrict women from being independent. Therefore, women do not acquire basic education but instead forced into early marriages. Their husband assumes full control of the women after they have been married off.

Gender issues common in Ramabai’s text include cultural beliefs on the women. According to the Indian tradition from the text, widowed women receive numerous blame for their status. The common notion is that such women get punishment from the gods for treacherous deeds in their past life. Widowhood in the Indian cultures is “regarded as the punishment for a horrible crime or crimes committed by the woman in her former existence upon the earth” (Kosambi 108). Additionally, Ramabai characterizes gender roles as oppressive to women. Similar to Aidoo’s story, women were entitled to serve men. Thus, they never had an opportunity to go to school and acquire formal education that would liberate them and make them financially free. They were slaves to the male figures in society.

Ramabai explores the exploitative nature of the non-western culture where girls are married off at a young tender age to older men. The non-western culture presented in the text demonstrates the selfish and discriminative aspects of personal and familial affairs. Women are there to obey the discriminative laws and adhere to the needs of the men. Thus, it characterizes male roles as that of commanding authority from women. It places men at an advantaged position glorifying acts such as multiple relationships and marriages while women are to stick with one man.

A critical analysis of the two texts demonstrates the feminist view of the non-western culture amidst the postcolonial era. Both texts point out to the traditions and cultural laws as the primary cause of gender issues. They both attest to the fact that these cultures place men in an elevated societal status at the expense of women. Women, on the other hand, ignorantly hid to the oppressive nature of the traditions. They affirm the rights of widows, early marriages, multiple affairs, women chattel treatment, women’s education, and abortion, among others.

A Critique of the Evaluation of Assigned Gender Roles in the Literary Works through Western Feminism as Compared to a Postcolonial Feminist View

The concept of western feminism focuses on the realization of the liberation of women from numerous forms of oppression propagated by traditions and cultures. It deals with gender inequalities on matters of education, career, development, and child care. According to Bayu’s article on the analysis of African and western cultures, women in African societies suffer from oppression and exploitation (55). He notes the challenging areas for gender equality issues, including women education, early marriages, rape, FGM, and the issues of abortion, among others, as the primary areas of focus for feminism. The article resonates well with the gender issues presented in the reading and the postcolonial view of feminism in numerous ways. Additionally, it identifies problems debatable on feminism. Therefore, the text is critically essential in the critique of gender roles and western’s concept of feminism.

African culture, as an example of the non-western culture, has some aspects of the oppression of the women. Some of the forms of exploitation of women and other gender issues include poor education for women, women coercion, and polygamy and child marriages. These issues are present in the assigned gender roles in both Aidoo’s and Ramabai’s text. Women such as Mercy, in Two Sisters, suffers from economic instabilities as a result of unequal opportunities to employment. The root cause of inequality is poor education for women, which makes them lack access to white-collar jobs. They thus end up depending on the male figure for the...