Re-Read Book Club: Things Fall Apart
Book: Things Fall Apart
Author: Chinua Achebe
Times Read: 3
What I found compelling about Things Fall Apart this time around was the focus on gender roles. Okonkwo, the main protagonist, has precise definitions of masculinity and femininity. He rejected his father because he viewed his irresponsible and lazy behavior as effeminate and weak. In an act to compensate for his father’s lack of masculinity, Okonkwo asserted his hyper-masculinity over his three wives by beating them regularly and threatening to kill them. When British missionaries come to the village, Okonkwo tells his sons not to get involved in this new religion being introduced called Christianity, as it will make feminine. Christianity, in Okonkwo’s view, is the opposite of the masculine Igbo traditions.
I happen to have started reading the book when the new FX program Pose premiered. Sure, Things Fall Apart’s plot in pre-colonial Africa is an entirely different concept and light years away from the 1980s gay ballroom scene in New York. However, it made me think about how we view gender roles today. I saw this woman who claims to be a “gender expert” on TV the other day saying that societal gender is now a social construct. I’m not sure if I agree with that, but I understand what she is saying. I guess societal gender is different from biological gender as, according to this woman, focuses on how society views the two sexes. But she was saying in light of all the new concepts that have recently come into the lexicon, like transgender, non-binary, genderfluid. I think I am pretty progressive on gender issues. I remember going to a dinner party a couple of years ago with other liberal-minded folks, and an attendee said she was cisgender. At the time, I didn’t know that meant, and apparently, everyone else in the room didn’t either. We were all in a state of bewilderment when the attendee said cisgender was the opposite of transgender. I seriously learn something every day!
Regardless of these new identities, there are still A LOT of rules about what masculine men can and can’t do, like eating a whole banana, lollipops, popsicles or any other phallic foods in public. I used to date a Ghanian guy who didn’t like eating ice cream cones in public.
“Now that we have all these different genders accepted in America today, there is no longer a need for what is masculine and feminine or creating gender roles,” the TV gender expert said.
Tell that to Okonkwo.