Gender Roles in Things Fall Apart

Gender Roles? In order to talk about gender roles in Things Fall Apart, we have to understand the difference between three different concepts: – Sex – Gender – Sexuality

Let’s Talk About Sex Someone’s sex is defined by their biological components. One’s sex is (generally) determined at birth. – Women develop breasts that lactate milk. – Men, generally speaking, have denser bones. – Genital differences determine sex. – Usually defined as either male or female (although third sexes do exist [intersex])

Gender Gender is a societal construction. – The characteristics of a gender are determined by the society. Gender determines roles, attitudes, and behaviors that are deemed acceptable for masculine and feminine roles. Many societies recognize third genders (Two- spirit in NDN tribes)

Sexual Orientation While sounding similar to both sex and gender, and often times being related to the two, sexual orientation is related to attraction. It is a way individuals identify themselves, but is unimportant to our discussion.

Sex vs Gender Roles “Male” and “Female” are sex categories. “Feminine” and “Masculine” are gender categories. – What is a “real man?” What is a “real woman?” Gender Roles – In many parts of the world, women do more housework than men. – In many parts of the world, men are the primary money- earners. – In Saudi Arabia, women are not allowed to drive cars. – In Vietnam, men traditionally smoke and women do not. Source:

Why Should I Care? (cuz I say so) Gender roles are a part of society, and conformity/nonconformity influences and affects our lives. QUICK WRITE: in Things Fall Apart, how do gender roles affect Okonkwo? Nwoye? The wives?

Okonkwo’s Greatest Fear QUICK WRITE: 1.What is Okonkwo’s greatest fear? 2.How do you know this? 3.How Okonkwo characterized? 4.How is his father characterized? 5.How might gender roles have effected who Okonkwo became?

Srsly, y should i care??? How do gender roles affect us today? – Politically? At home? At work? At school? In Public? In Private? Economically? – QUICK WRITE: 1.Define a “real woman.” 2.Define a “real man.” 3.Write a solid paragraph describing how gender roles affect you in your daily life. 4.What can we learn from Okonkwo (in regards to gender roles)?

Your Group’s Task Find an advertisement from a magazine that uses gender roles to promote a product (blatant example: AXE commercials) Create a small poster with you ad being sure to answer the following questions – Who is the target and how are they being targeted? – What is the message being conveyed by the advertiser? – Do you agree with the message? Why or why not? – Be prepared to compare to TFA (don’t put this on poster