Same-Sex Tyranny in Lola Soneyin's Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives

SAME-SEX TYRANNY IN LOLA SHONEYIN’S THE SECRET LIVES OF BABA SEGI’S WIVES

EGWU, COLLINS IKENNA

Introduction

In recent times and up until date, there have been an incessant agitation from various groups and organizations challenging some cultural and patriarchal ethos that impedes the struggle or the emancipation and liberation of the womanhood with little or no emphasis given to a major setback in this struggle which is occasioned by the same-sex tyranny, rivalry and the oppression exerted on women by women themselves. In this article, we will use Lola Shoneyin’s The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives as a substance to arrive at this objective. This article will be of immense contribution to the study and movement of feminism in Africa.In the analysis of this work, we will be making use of some of the principles of the feminist, postmodernist and Marxist feminism theories. Before doing so, we will first of all define some of the theories in question.

Feminism

Feminism which originates from the Latin word “femina” means “pertaining to women”, started as far back as the 18th century to the time of the Women’s Lib of 1960s. It is the whole political, philosophical and social ideas that seek to promote the rights of women and their interests in the civil society. It is embodied in organizations whose objectives are to abolish the social, political, legal, economic and cultural inequalities of which women are victims. It should also be noted that there are different forms of feminisms due to differences in cultures, experiences, visions, desires and ideologies. That is why what is now known as African feminisms came into existence documenting some negative aspects of foreign an African religious and cultural ethos that inhibit the emancipation and liberation of the African women such as female genital mutilation, negative widowhood rites, forced and child marriages, infibulations, polygamy, unequal access to education, inheritance of property, among others. We...