Gender Study of Flora Nwapa's One Is Enough and Ifeoma Okoye's Behind the Clouds

Abstract

This paper carefully examines the victimization and marginalization of women by their fellow women, it examines the role of other women play in aiding the oppression of their fellow women in modern African novels: One is Enough and Behind the Clouds by two female literary icons in Nigerian literary space, Flora Nwapa and Ifeoma Okoye respectively: Amaka, the central character in One is Enough suffers dehumanizing treatment from her mother-in-law. In the novel Behind the Cloud the oppression of women by women was also amplified by the inhumane treatment of Ije by her mother-in-law and her husband's mistress Virginia. The present paper depart from the existing ideologies and argues that the elimination of men will not stop the oppression and victimization of women. The article uses the feminist theoretical framework consenting on the Liberal feminist theory as it examines the victimization and oppression of women by women, as it proposes self-development and growth by the oppressed woman as the only solution for the oppressed female self-realization; Amaka's self realization lead to her independence and to a large extent, freedom; this can also be said of Ije, her self-realization after being thrown out of her husband's house. Moreso, the concept of women oppressing women has not received serious scholarly attention, let alone been investigated along the axis of liberal Feminism. The alarming rate at which women oppress themselves is major problem in the society today. The significance of this paper is that it has proposed self-development and financial independence as a way of curbing the challenge. Findings shows that female characters suffered oppression and victimization in the hands of their fellow women. Most men may not have been oppressive towards their wives if they were not negatively influenced. The paper concludes and recommends that women should serve as each other's keeper and that a re-orientation of women against female discrimination and victimization be done so that women can feel safe in the presence of the fellow women.