https://padlet.com/nicolek07996/190007996nkf Various interpretations of masculinity and power within a culture or family can distance oneself from reality, truth, and unity en-us 2019-04-26 16:34:14 UTC 2026-03-25 22:54:15 UTC hello@padlet.com https://imgglb.padletcdn.com/v13/image?t=g_auto&url=https%3A%2F%2Fpadlet.net%2Ficons%2Fpng%2F1f30d.png nicolek07996 https://padlet.com/nicolek07996/190007996nkf/wish/356963492

Okonkwo, despite his pretentious manliness,  is ruled by fear – a profound fear of being deemed weak and feminine, like his father. The author describes him in the text how, “Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness. It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic, the fear of the forest, and of nature, malevolent, red in tooth and claw.”  Okonkwo seems to have a certain contempt for the feminine, which is mostly due to his father, who had failed in his manly role and brought shame upon the whole family. Due to his failure Unoka was frequently called an Agbala, which is a word that means a woman or an insult that describes a man that has taken no titles. Seeing his father inability to provide for the family Okwonko devoted his life to hard work and to hate everything his father loved.

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Okonkwo and Nwoye's relationship was never a loving one. He believes in traditional gender roles, and it pains him that his son Nwoye is not more aggressive like he is. He considers Nwoye feminine and weak, routinely abusing him because of this. “I will not have a son who cannot hold up his head in the gathering of the clan. I would sooner strangle him with my own hands.” His father would rather kill his own son than live with a weak and some what effeminate one. Okonkwo only thinks of his own reputation as a man, which he doesn’t want tarnished by a soft son. He saw too much of Unoka, Okonkwo's dead-beat dad, in Nwoye and was terrified he would end up like his grandfather.

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Okonkwo became fond of Ikemefuna and treated him like a son he never had. Okonkwo's mistaken concept of masculinity often leads him to foolishness. The way he ruled his house with a heavy hand lead him to hurting his beloved family. When the time comes to kill Ikemefuna, Okonkwo reacts like, "Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak" Every nerve in Okonkwo tells him this is wrong, but when the moment comes, he kills his adopted son. Okonkwo fears losing his sense of masculinity – an internal fear which he could control, but instead gives into.

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Okonkwo’s guilt over killing his adopted son haunts him. When he reflects over this he refers to himself in the quote, “When did you become a shivering old woman,” Okonkwo asked himself, “you, who are known in all the nine villages for your valor in war? How can a man who has killed five men in battle fall to pieces because he has added a boy to their number? Okonkwo, you have become a woman indeed.”  Okonkwo feels guilt and compassion for the boy and shuns himself because he shows signs of weakness and femininity – two characteristics that are despicable to him. .

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Even crimes are gendered in Igbo society, with male crimes considered more severe and pre-meditated than female ones. The punishment for female crimes is less severe than for male ones though. "The crime was of two kinds, male and female. Okonkwo had committed the female, because it had been inadvertent." His exile provides him with an opportunity to “get in touch with his feminine side”, but instead, he reassures himself that his manliness is his virtue and that all his unmanly children are the ash from his roaring fire. He also grows contempt for the more diplomatic nature of his maternal tribe, and stubbornly refuses to accept the need to change his attitudes.

]]> 2019-05-05 19:10:38 UTC https://padlet.com/nicolek07996/190007996nkf/wish/356970755 nicolek07996 https://padlet.com/nicolek07996/190007996nkf/wish/357039689 The ad dovetails with current events and is an entry point for deeper discussion about shifting gender roles and gender identify. Some men feel threatened by this and by the narrative that it portrays. Towards the end of the ad,  you see men as change agents. We don’t see a barrage of images of men who are caring and sensitive because that hasn’t been the narrative. We see a lot of stereotypes of masculinity, and that points to, as we move along in the advertisement, the ability to change. These stereotypes are also seen in Things Fall Apart. Specifically chapter 1 and how Okonkwo describes his father as weak for playing music and relaxing, which is usually seen as effeminate. Men are not seen as real men if they are nurturing like a woman, in the real world and the culture of the Umuofia. "He had
no patience with unsuccessful men. He had had no patience with his father."
https://youtu.be/koPmuEyP3a0]]> 2019-05-06 03:53:29 UTC https://padlet.com/nicolek07996/190007996nkf/wish/357039689 nicolek07996 https://padlet.com/nicolek07996/190007996nkf/wish/357189686 In this New York Times article, it explains the term "toxic masculinity" which is also prominent in the Umuofian culture. The article explains how, "Toxic masculinity is what can come of teaching boys that they can’t express emotion openly; that they have to be “tough all the time”; that anything other than that makes them “feminine” or weak." The idea of bravery and heroism emanates from an accomplishment attained by overcoming of the ‘feminine’ by the ‘masculine.' In a meeting towards the very beginning of the book, Okonkwo insults a man without title by calling him a woman, demonstrating how much masculinity is valued when ranking those in Umuofia society.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/22/us/toxic-masculinity.html]]> 2019-05-06 14:04:07 UTC https://padlet.com/nicolek07996/190007996nkf/wish/357189686 nicolek07996 https://padlet.com/nicolek07996/190007996nkf/wish/357280403 Okonkwo has been exiled to the woman's side of his family. He thus feels that this transition is an extraordinary challenge to his manliness.  Uchendu states this in the quote, "But when a father beats his child, it seeks sympathy in its mother’s hut. A man belongs to his fatherland when things are good and life is sweet. But when there is sorrow and bitterness he finds refuge in his motherland. Your mother is there to protect you. She is buried there. And that is why we say that mother is supreme.”  Okonkwo should use the nurturing quality of his motherland, accept his situation. The mother figure offers her child something the father never could – unconditional compassion. His opinions of what masculinity should be prevent him from caring for those who are most important, and his stubbornness may never allow his family to return to their village, Iguedo. ]]> 2019-05-06 16:46:29 UTC https://padlet.com/nicolek07996/190007996nkf/wish/357280403 nicolek07996 https://padlet.com/nicolek07996/190007996nkf/wish/357853376 Although women contribute just as much to the functionality of the Umoufian clan, they are treated with much less respect than men. Okonkwo states this belief in the quote: "No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and his children he was not really a man" Okonkwo defines men by their behavior and action towards women --controlling and tough. You can not be a real man unless you can force a woman to do your own bidding is how Okonkwo sees the world. He also sees his wives as objects; things he can control with a clench of his fist and a bark at his tongue. He never cares for them as real individual humans, but rather only what they do for him and what they do not do for him]]> 2019-05-07 23:32:09 UTC https://padlet.com/nicolek07996/190007996nkf/wish/357853376 nicolek07996 https://padlet.com/nicolek07996/190007996nkf/wish/357855362 he book "African Masculinities" by L. Ouzgane, R. Morrell explores what it means for an African to be masculine and how male identity is shaped by cultural forces. The book goes onto explain how by the time boys begin attending primary school in South Africa, they have already embarked on the  process of constructing their masculine identities. Masculine identities in school and family and, in turn, the social location of these families plays a major part in the early processes by which masculinities are formed. Boys, black boys in particular, are vulnerable to violence, but at the same time, they learn that might is right. Very similarly in Things Fall Apart in Okonkwo’s world and culture, masculinity is to a large extent the most prominent factor. He is particularly unable to attain satisfaction in his son Nwoye. He conceives that as tragic because if Nwoye does not walk in line with cultural expectations, then his entire life will be a failure. In both the non-fiction book and fiction book, masculinity --particularly toxic masculinity -- controls every factor of society and life around young boys and men.]]> 2019-05-07 23:44:54 UTC https://padlet.com/nicolek07996/190007996nkf/wish/357855362