Work

Men's perceived powers to destroy or rebuild women's lives: Analysis of gender stereotypes portrayed in Uthando Lungumanqoba

Year: 2018

Type: article

Abstract: This article is aimed at challenging gender stereotypes portraying men as a powerful species that can either destroy or build the lives of women. Using the critical approach to literature called feminist literary criticism, which embraces pluralism of feminist ideologies, this investigation depicts how gender stereotypes and the abuse of women nearly destroyed the life of a young girl in an isiZulu novel titled Uthando Lungumanqoba [Love Conquers All], by Maphili Shange. This woman author allows the character of Phindile, a young girl who lost both her parents at the age of 17, to be rescued from the clutches of poverty and prostitution by a man named Thulani-which shows how gender stereotypes have equally infested the psyches of both men and women.

Source: Educational Research for Social Change

DOI: 10.17159/2221-4070/2018/v7i2a6

Author: Sicelo Ziphozonke Ntshangase

Institution: University of KwaZulu-Natal

Language: English

Topic: Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies

Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Gender equality

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $217