Ngugi Wa Thiongo's Wedding At The Cross

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Gender relations has always been a problem throughout history and also in today’s society. Gender relations is defined as “the social and economic relationships which exist in any family, community, workplace or society between males and females”. In the past, women were only seen as objects and in addition to being perceived below man and his needs. Throughout literary history, there have been numerous authors attacking the issue of gender relations and weakening the ideological thinking of woman not being able to have the rights that men do. In Ngugi Wa Thiongo’s “Wedding at the Cross”, he illustrates how women in the story are treated and obliged to do what either the father or husband tells them. Junto Diaz’s “Drown” and “Fiesta” also exhibits …show more content…

Women were either taking care of the kids or staying at the house. In Diaz’s work “Fiesta”, he shows various forms of gender relations that include infidelity, mistreatment, and specific gender roles. In the story, the father of the story “Papi” runs he house and makes sure that no on in the family disobeys him. He hits his children when they are out of line or disrespect him. After Yunior threw up while riding in the car, Yunior describes his father’s punishment by stating “he was pissed, though; he jammed his finger into my cheek, a nice solid thrust. That was the only way he was with his punishments: imaginative” (pg.30). Papi is the stereotypical husband/father in the Dominican Republic during the middle and late 1900’s. The mother or “Mami” is also the stereotypical women/mother in the Dominican Republic. Mami always takes care of the kids when they are sick or in need of something. “Como te sientes? Mami asked over my shoulder when Papi pulled onto the turnpike. She had her hand on the base of my neck. One thing about Mami, her palms never sweated” (pg. 27). Mami is reserved and obeys anything that her husband tells her because she’s afraid of him. She’s also very religious which demonstrates how women were in the Dominican Republic. Yunior says “Mami handed me four mentas. She had thrown three out her window at the beginning of our trip, an offering to Eshu: the rest were for me” (pg. 28). Mami gives her offerings to “Eshu” and always retains her religion throughout every

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