GENDER EQUALITY AND THE NEED FOR AN EGALITARIAN SOCIETY: A STUDY OF TRACIE-UTOH'S OUR WIVES HAVE GONE MAD AGAIN AND J. P. CLARK'S THE WIVE$ REVOLT

Abstract

Feminism has taken different forms at different times. Some are sympathetic to the women fold, hence seeking to bring some sort of changes in the position of women. This form of feminism challenges the idea of male dominance and the oppressive tendencies experienced by women. Other forms aim to correct the misguided notion of fight for gender equality as propagated by some bourgeois women. These forms of feminism candidly indict the oppressiveness of some materialist women who like their male counterparts have taken to segregate, marginalize and subdue both the common women and men alike. These capitalist women only aim to make a career out of feminism. They misplace the priority of womenfolk for selfish aims. Using Our Wives Have Gone mad Again and The Wives Revolt, this paper seeks to highlight the different forms taken by African playwrights in their presentation of female characters in their fight for liberation. It looks into these two different forms of feminism in order to determine the factors which propelled playwrights to take a particular side in their fight for gender equality. It weighs the actions taken by the culturally propelled patriarchal men and the socially and economically motivated capitalist women in their bids to gratify self through different means of oppression. Based on the research findings, the paper advocates for more unprejudiced plays that will truly seek for an egalitarian society where both men and women would be free of gender oppression.