The shift of gender roles in the democratic Africa: A study of Nadine Gordimer’s <none to accompany me

Abstract

This paper sought to examine the shift of gender roles occasioned by the dispensation of democracy in African societies through  Gordimer’s None to Accompany Me. The aforementioned novel attempts to redefine women’s identities and circumvent cultural underpinnings that often subject the women to oppressive, discriminatory and stereotypical structures such as patriarchy. The advent of democracy has automated political emancipation for everyone that was previously repressed by specifically, colonial perpetrators. Democratisation as portrayed in Gordimer’s None to Accompany Me has empowered women to elude the horrors of the past; gender stereotypes and activate their rights in the democratic space. In the novel, gender roles shifted as the women thrived in what was considered male-dominated worlds and held positions of power such as community leaders and managers whereas their husbands whose career successes were beneath the wives’ were coerced to perform domestic duties in the households. This qualitative paper predicated on liberal feminist assumptions to crystalise the exchange of gender roles inspired by democracy as reflected in Gordimer’s None to Accompany Me. The study has found that democracy has galvanised women to search, find and reassert a new identity that repudiates oppressive systems upon them. Hence, men in the sampled novel for this study subscribe to domestic duties whilst the women are providers and authoritative figures in their households and community. The paper concludes that democratisation has occasioned the shift of gender roles by empowering the previously marginalised women and advocating for equal rights between men and women.