The Struggles of Cultural Assimilation of Nigerian Women in America

This quote by Malcolm X was trying to spark deep internal thought to African-Americans, especially African-American women, audience about why African-American hated themselves and wanted to be white. This self-hatred and desire to be white stems from the pressure to absorb and assimilate to white culture, which calls for African-American women to deny their race completely. This is perpetuated by which is proliferated practices and rhetoric that suggest that being African-American is equated to being inferior. Thus African-American women have sustained an inferiority complex , which has become internalized through the consistent measuring of African-American women in comparison to white women. African-American women’s assimilation into

The collection of short stories ‘The Thing Around Your Neck’ written by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie demonstrates that in Nigeria, men women, boys and girls are treated differently, and these relationship in which gender inequality exists leads to family conflict. And corruption exists in Nigeria and also the violence. These issues have lasting impacts on the characters.

Women have always been partly equal to men in pre colonial Nigeria, having equal but separate roles politically and shared authority in the home. Colonialism changed this form of life of the Igbo culture by imposing Christianity and the idea of the man being the head of the village and the women inferior. Women were also stripped of their rights to have or not have children and forced to be in abusive arranged marriages. Colonialism then ended because the natives felt that self-determination had to replace colonialism and the colonizing nations were bankrupt from World War I resulting in small investment to the colonies. Decolonization was not an effortless trouble, but rather arduous and extensive, especially to women’s rights. Women’s roles in the Igbo culture changed drastically from equal, to less than men and to struggling to get by in each stage of colonialism within the work force, family and rights.

The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie highlights the often challenging lives of Nigerian women living in Africa, but also abroad in the United States. It is however, not the difficulties which Adichie is ultimately focusing on, but the courage and intelligence of women who are able to make ‘small victories’, overcoming various attempts of cultural oppression.

In the novel Things Fall Apart, Nigeria has morals that women are considered nothing compared to men; in Nigerian families when they get a chance to have a child the family is more grateful when it is a boy compared to getting a girl

African society, influenced by its traditional economy, held strict gender roles, and Ekwefi stayed in the home and focused on traditional female tasks. Although African American society in the twentieth century prized women and elevated females to powerful matriarchal positions in the family, pre-colonial Nigeria in no way tolerated women outside the bounds of the home. Ekwefi lives “in perpetual fear of [Okonkwo’s] fiery temper,” and pours herself into raising her daughter, Ezinma (Achebe 13). Because Okonkwo fails to respect the religious customs and “beat” his wife “very heavily” during the “Week of Peace,” others in clan lose respect for him and his family, and Ekwefi can do very little to change this (Achebe 29) . To deal with her husband’s inadequacies, Ekwefi pours herself into Ezinma and raises her to exhibit strength and bravery. Because Okonkwo and traditional Nigerian society hailed masculinity as supreme and despised femininity, Ekwefi knew that in order to appease Okonkwo’s anger, she must raise her child to exhibit these characteristics, despite her gender. Her strategy proved successful, as “Okonkwo was specially fond of Ezinma,” but only showed his “fondness on very rare occasions” (Achebe 44). Furthermore, Okonkwo repeatedly states that Ezinma “should have been a boy,” (Acehbe 64) because he loves her, but continually

Women are often thought of as the weaker, more vulnerable of the two sexes. Thus, women’s roles in literature are often subdued and subordinate. In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, women are repressed by an entrenched structure of the social repression. Women suffer great losses in this novel but, also in certain circumstances, hold tremendous power. Achebe provides progressively changing attitudes towards women’s role. At first glance, the women in Things Fall Apart may seem to be an oppressed group with little power and this characterization is true to some extent. However, this characterization of Igbo women reveals itself to be prematurely simplistic as well as limiting, once

In Nigeria, Aunty Uju is Ifemelu’s role model and influences her regard towards America. In this time period before America is involved in Ifemelu’s life in any capacity, Adichie’s characterization of Aunty Uju is indicative of life in Nigeria and how happy and hopeful it is for both women. There are issues, regarding Ifemelu’s family life and Uju’s financial security through The General, but ultimately they are happy with their lives and their relationship is

In “Heterosexualism and the Colonial/ Modern Gender System,” Maria Lugones offers the idea that gender targets women of color. Lugones brings up the research of Oyeronke Oyewumi, who looked into how gender affected the structure of the Yoruba people, especially since gender was not a concept that was originally part of their culture. Once the idea of “women,” was implemented into the community through colonization, women were identified in contrast to men who were then considered the “norm.” (Lugones). If the women did not have a penis, they were reduced as women, beneath men and they no longer had any power in their communities. The Yoruba men accepted this idea and then collaborated with colonists to further oppress women (Lugones). Paula

Reading the second half of Yoruba Girl Dancing one thing I enjoyed most was the description of the many different cultures that Remi was forced to live amongst. These cultures included the European culture of the upper class Nigerian in Lagos, the culture of being at the private school, the working class British culture, the lifestyle of Germans who wanted well and the culture of the well off Nigerians in London. Remi was able to successfully journey her way through each of these different worlds and it was awfully impressive how she did. Although Remi made it through I was surprised at how some of the adults

Chinua Achebe was a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor and critic. He is mainly known for his trilogy that investigates, using fiction, the history of Nigeria. The trilogy begins with Things Fall Apart, followed by No Longer at Ease and ended with Arrow of God. Furthermore, in this critically analytical essay, through a feminist perspective, a chapter of his second novel, No Longer at Ease, published in 1960, will be discussed. The setting of the novel is Lagos, Nigeria and Umuofia, Nigeria during the 1950s, before Nigeria attained independence from Great Britain. The novel, No Longer at Ease begins with Obi Okonkwo on trial, charged for accepting a bribe. However, using flashback, the author takes us back to the point before Obi’s departure

This novel is set in Enugu, Nigeria West Africa, a central African nation located along the Atlantic Coast. Nigeria is made up of a largely diverse group of people with different ideas and beliefs. In Nigeria there are over 250 ethnic groups, who speak more than 500 languages. Before Nigeria was colonized by Britain, the citizens of the country were doing quite well. “Nigeria contains more historic cultures and empires than any other other nation in Africa” (historyworld.net).

Gender roles govern the way that most of the world’s population interact with one another. Many African cultures uphold deeply patriarchal gender roles which dictate how women and men interact with one another. Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie, a staunch feminist, gives readers a look into Nigerian gender roles in her short story Birdsong. Her writing in Birdsong and her TEDtalks explore and expose how these gender roles are harmful and how important it is for many stories of young women of color to be heard.

In order to get to know my interviewee, E. E., it is important to learn about her distinct heritage. She has such an interesting story that even prior to this interview, I found myself eager to learn more about her and her life in Nigeria. While researching about the Nigerian culture, I gathered information related to traditional language, religion, diet, values, gender roles, and health practices. In doing so, I was able to get a glimpse of what it might be like to live in Nigeria and ultimately, I gained insight to the culture that made E. E. the inspiring person she is today.

More than those of any other African writer, Chinua Achebe’s writings have helped to develop what is known as African literature today. And the single book which has helped him to launch his "revolution" is the classic, Things Fall Apart.  The focus of this essay includes: 1) Achebe's portraiture of women in his fictional universe, the existing sociocultural situation of the period he is depicting, and the factors in it that condition male attitudes towards women; 2) the consequences of the absence of a moderating female principle in his fictions; 3) Achebe's progressively changing attitude towards women s roles; and 4) feminist prospects for African women. In the context of this study, the Igbo people whom Achebe describes will