'Miss Independent' : gender and independence on the African continent
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Date
2013-01
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Zululand
Abstract
Modern African societies have emerged from rich cultural heritages and traditions tangled with an ambivalent colonial
experience. One aspect of the rich African cultural heritage that has however persisted in post-colonial Africa is the
perception of independent social living as a male dominated prerogative in which the female is seen as a submissive
subject. My intention with this paper is to show that, over the past two decades, a growing new trend towards a rejection
of this male dominated concept has emerged in African traditional society and is fast growing in social life on the
continent; a trend aptly captured by the pop music of the R&B superstar Ne-Yo in his single ‘Miss Independent’. This trend
strongly illustrates the growing rejection by women of the traditionally held stereotypical masculine role of independence.
Women are increasingly rejecting the submissiveness and dependence on the male as contained in the ‘old order’. This
paper illustrates that there are fast emerging consequences for this new trend with particular reference to family life,
courtship and marriage. The research method used in the study is both descriptive and analytical.
Description
Peer reviewed article published under Inkanyiso, Volume 5, Issue 1, Jan 2013, p. 21 - 30
Keywords
Gender and independence, African Gender, Masculine, Feminine, African Culture
Citation
Imafidon, E., 2013. ‘Miss Independent’: gender and independence on the African continent. Inkanyiso: Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 5(1), pp.21-30.