Is 'gender chaos' an accurate reflection of how the twentieth century Essay

Is sexuality chaos an accurate reflection of how the twentieth century affected the roles of men and women in African societi - Essay ExampleWith the coming of the compound government however, these roles came to be directly challenged, as it seek to redesign the African itinerary of life according to its liking. The colonial policies tended to result in chaos surrounded by the genders as each strived to maintain the roles that it had traditionally held in the traditional society. Many of the policies that the colonial government instituted were aimed at achieving certain imperial goals plainly these came to be resisted by the men and women in African societies who felt that their way of life was be threatened by the European colonizers. While the initial response was foe, this resistance came to hark back apart as many African societies either adapted to the European way of life or chose to abandon the gender roles, which they had held in the traditional society. Therefore , it can be say that it is indeed true that gender chaos is a true reflection of how the roles of African men and women were affected in the twentieth century. The colonial policies on various issues came to affect the way men and women in African societies be take overd and it can be said that they may have caused gender chaos. The colonial government tended to put limits on some of the traditional practices of African societies in order to achieve one goal or the other. While some of these intentions may have been good, they tended to create a lot of discord in the African communities involved, with some either choosing to ignore the colonial policies dapple others tended to do it the way they were required, and later do it the traditional way. An example of such colonial policies is granted by Lynn Thomas (2003) who in her work states that in order to reduce the instances of abortion in the Meru alliance in Kenya, the colonial government decided that the age of female excisi on was to be reduced. This was done because while it was a normal thing within this community for women to have premarital sex, if they became pregnant before excision, therefore they were required by their communities to abort the child. This requirement came about because those girls who had not been excised were considered not to be real women and their takings were considered not to be human but demons. Such forced abortions were believed by the colonial government to be the reason why there were low birthrates among the Meru leading to low population growth. This colonial policy met with resistance from members of the community especially the women, who saw this as a violation of their traditions. While there was compliance with the colonial requirements, the older women in the society and at times the girls involved, often took it upon themselves to do the excision on the girls at the required age, even though these girls had already undergone the operation. The role of wome n in African societies came to change during the period of the grapple for independence against colonial rule. In many of the African traditional societies, men were the dominant gender being given preferential treatment in the attainment of all the prominent positions in society. Women, on the other hand, were less visible, often concentrating on the management of their own homes and families. This was the custom throughout most of Africa until such a time as Africa came to be colonized. For several decades after colonization, the role of women in society remained the same but this came to change when some women started gaining the