African Masculinity And The African Continent - 916 Words

The African continent has been riddled with western ideologies and stereotypes for centuries. Even before the institution of colonization was implemented across the continent, western visitors who saw the world through their western ideologies and â€Å"eyes† labeled African men, women, and societies as barbaric, and inferior. These ideologies of Africans continued from slavery, to colonization and even into the ideology of western nations today. Africans today are working to change the ideologies placed on them by westerners and create their own definition of what it means to be an African. Through photographs, African artists such as Rotimi Fani-Kayode are working to dispel ideologies about African masculinity that is now ingrained in the minds of many westerners. His photograph Adebiyi (1989), which translates to â€Å"crown like this† is one example of art that counters western ideologies about African men. He uses a striking image of a masculine man in a feminine pose to defiantly resist western ideologies of African masculinity and sexuality. His photograph is among the set of tools being used by many Africans to reimagine Africans in media across the world and redefine western ideologies about African men. In his essay â€Å"The White of Their Eyesâ€Å" Stuart Hall defines ideology as â€Å"a socially created idea that is reproduced† (1990). Ideologies are present in every society and as they are repeated, they can generate and produce relationships of inequality. An â€Å"us† versus â€Å"them†Show MoreRelatedAfrican Americans During The Age Of Exploration1568 Words   |  7 PagesExploration, Africans did not designate themselves as Blacks; however, Europeans used the term â€Å"blacks† to differentiate themselves. At first, there were a number of competing images of Africans, eventually those images crystallized into a small set of overly simplified, negative stereotypes widely shared in the west (Battle Wells, 2006). Early on, Africans were regarded on a relatively equal level to the Europeans. However, by the end of the eighteenth-century images of Africans as inferior wereRead MoreChinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart: Exploring the Ibo Culture 1743 Words   |  7 Pagescritical attention than any other African writer. His reputation was soon established after his novel Things Fall Apart. He made a considerable influence over young African writers. It is seen as the archetypal modern African novel in English. It seeks to discover the cultural zeitgeist of its society. Critics tend to agree that no African novelist writing in English has surpassed Achebe’s achievement in Things Fall Apart. Things Fall Apart is a milestone in African literature. It is considered toRead MoreThings Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe Essay1203 Words   |  5 PagesMost Africans lost what they had called home for many years due to Europeans, who took their land for monetary gain. This was a dark period of time for Africans that live there. The U.S. Civil War and The Great Depression both can be related, in this instance, to how down their people were because of what happened. Chinua Achebe said it best, â€Å"I would be quite satisfied if my novels...did no more than teach my readers of their past...was not a long night of savagery from which the first EuropeanRead MoreHeart Of Darkness And Things Fall Apart1580 Words   |  7 PagesHeart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad shows Africa through the perspective of the colonizing Europeans, who tend to depict all the natives as savages. In response to Conrad s stereotypical depiction of Africans, Chinua Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart through the point of view of the natives to show Africans, not as primitives, but as members of a thriving society. Things Fall Apart follows Okonkwo s life as he strives for prestige in his community. When European missionaries come to Umuofia, Okonkwo sRead MoreGood Governance and Human Rights1107 Words   |  4 Pagesfew, if any, politicians and political scientists alike, would deny that democracy (good governance and human rights) and economic development are correlated. This link has long been argued as indispensible to the development of the African continent and that the African countries should embrace the â€Å"Rule of Law† in as far as good governance and human rights within their constitutional orders. However, others would argue that countries such as China, Saudi Arabia and Russia and few others have notRead MoreA Vey Brief History fo South Africa803 Words   |  3 PagesSouth Africa for thousands of years and were members of the oldest surviving people of the land, the Khoisan language groups. With just a few left in South Africa mostly located in the sections of the western region. But mostly today black, South Africans belonged to the Bantu language group, which migrated from central Africa, settling in the Transvaal region around 100 A.D. (South Africa: History, 2012). Also the Nguni people who were ancestors of the Zulu and Xhosa occupied most of the easternRead MoreThings Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe993 Words   |  4 PagesIn African villages around the continent and even in other countries around the world women s roles were always subpar to men. Whether it was in Niger like in the Chinua Achebe’s book Things Fall Apart or America in the 20th century women’ s role was always below men’s. In fact in some cultures being called feminine or female was an insult. In Things Fall Apart it is difficult to compare the roles of man and woman. It is deeper than just women serve their husbands and cook. The word â€Å"female† itselfRead MoreA Single Story Of Africa1955 Words   |  8 Pagesto ethnocentrically characterize Africa as an uncivilized continent filled with savage habitants. Furthermore, in the beginning of Things Fall Apart, Achebe introduces the kola nut tradition as a sign of respect of the Igbo people for foreign visitors (Achebe, Things 124). Again, in Image of Africa, Achebe emphasizes that his depiction of Africa is â€Å"not through a haze of distortions and cheap mystifications but quite simply as a continent of people† (Achebe, â€Å"Image of Africa 256). Ultimately, ThingsRead MoreThings Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe2166 Words   |  9 Pagesin African inferiority has existed since at least the 16th cent ury. The 17th and 18th centuries saw European scientists going to great lengths to find scientific proof of the inferiority of Africans, even the theory that Africans were the descendants of apes who raped white women was accepted during the 17th century. Europeans used their belief that Africans were primitive, cultureless subhuman beings to justify the enslavement of what UNESCO estimates to be between 25 and 30 million Africans betweenRead MoreChinua Achebes Things Fall Apart1601 Words   |  7 PagesDuring the mid 1800s and 1900s, the continent of Africa was being invaded by European superpower nations such as Great Britain, France, and others. The proper act was named as Colonialism which according to my lecture notes means: â€Å"a racially based system of political, economical, and cultural domination forced on an indigenous majority by a technological superior foreign minority† (Zeitler). For instance, many European nations enforced imperialism on the continent of Af rica because of its recently