THE INFERIOR SEX; A THIRD WORLD FEMINIST APPROACH TO WOLE SOYINKA’S THE LION AND THE JEWEL

Abstract

Feminism, as a social and political phenomenon, has been controversial in all terms, for there are various types of it and each type is associated with a certain group of people, culture, or society. While the first wave and second wave feminism types are totally Eurocentric and are concerned with the emancipation of the white middle class women in Europe and in the USA, the third wave feminism has based its arguments on the emancipation of the women in the Third World countries since they are abused twice as much as those in the First World countries by the political and patriarchal system, which, apparently, is an unstraightforward definition of double colonization. It would not be right to underestimate the discrimination which women are exposed to in the First World countries, because they are also ill-treated by the system through double standards which are inclusive of womanhood, working conditions, body and sexuality, motherhood, wifehood, and so on. However, women in the Third World countries are overwhelmed both by these components and by the white way of the patriarchal system, which is established by the white colonizers and practiced by the black people in these countries. Third World countries have always been attractive for the Europeans and for the Americans since there are abundant resources to be exploited, which have contributed to the welfare of the First World countries. Colonization has resulted in assimilation of the people in the Third World countries; while the black patriarchal system has found a new definition through whitish way of life; women have suffered from both colonialism and the new patriarchal system, which is why they have been overwhelmed twice as much as the white middle class women in Europe and in the USA. In the light of these arguments, this article aims to analyse Wole Soyinka’s play, The Lion and the Jewel, with reference to Third World feminism, which is a harsh protest against the colonial political design on the underdeveloped countries. As a matter of fact, Soyinka has been critical of both the colonizers and the colonized people in the Third World countries since he believes that while the colonizers are liable to benefit from the virgin and wealthy sources of the colonized territories, the colonized are entrapped in their dreams of the manipulations of welfare, modernization and the Westernization processes, which are believed to have been brought by the colonizers who pretend to be well-intentioned. The play is considerably significant for the analysis of the Third World feminist theory, for it is a life-like and concrete exemplification of cultural differences between the Western countries and Nigeria. Besides, the vicious circle which encompasses the Third World women within gender roles and the patriarchal system is clearly emphasized by Soyinka in a very straightforward and realistic way.