Anowa “advocates Moral Superiority of Women in a Male-Dominated Society.” Discuss

Anowa “advocates moral superiority of women in a male-dominated society.” Discuss

In a world that is often deemed patriarchal, women have unremittingly struggled to assert themselves as equal with their male counterparts, establish self worth and construct a space or medium by which they can comfortably exist. The quest by women is to find liberty. There is an unwavering need for autonomy and independence that is typical of all women. There is the emblematic servitude mentality, resulting from the colonial way of life that has been communicated to women. Oftentimes, this idea that women are inferior and should be submissive to men is transmitted through the mothers. Women’s roles should be limited to being perfect mates, child bearers and domestic figures. This thinking has led to a number of issues that live daily in the minds and bodies of a lot of women. Women struggle with the idea of isolation, loneliness, breakdown in moral values and family relationship as well as a lack of love.

        The idea of females asserting themselves and distinguishing what it means to be woman is adroitly presented in Ama Ata Aidoo’s play “Anowa”. The female characters, Anowa, Badua, and Old Woman whether clinging to traditional African customs or accepting modernization all display a desire to avow their moral superiority. Aidoo unearths a feminist awareness in the presentation of the female characters in the play. According to Carole Boyce Davies,

...African feminist critics seek to make writers conscious of unrelenting,

uniformly, undesirable stereotypes and other short comings in female

portraiture. Included here also is making visible the invisible woman, or

audible, the mute, voiceless woman, the woman who exists only as

tangential to man and his problems. Additionally it explores the

idealization of women and motherhood in the Negritude vein-woman as

super mother, symbol of Africa, Earth as muse, how this supports or

distorts the creation of a female mythos and how it conforms to the

realities of women’s lives. (15)

The play advocates for the disconnection from the hegemonic thinking that males are to be superior to females. Anowa negates the traditional roles that are expected of her and chooses her own destiny in life. Badua remains in the confines of the traditional female role, yet she still manages to be an authoritative figure within her home. Old Woman maintains her traditional function and serves as a griottes upholding her moral role in the society. Contrary to this, the men are presented as ineffectual; Kofi usually gives in to Anowa’s requests without opposition and Osam always seem to redirect the decision making to Badua. Also, the Old Man seems to be taking on a more compassionate role towards Anowa than is expected of men in the society. Through this representation, Aidoo presents conflicts that African women have to deal with in the modern world on a daily basis. The female characters flout the stereotype of the submissive African woman despite surviving in a patriarchal society. Stratton posits,