Transcending Moral Boundaries in Contemporary African Women’s Writings: Feminism and the Disillusionment of the Sexually Autonomous

Maureen Amaka Azuike

Department of English

Faculty of Arts, University of Jos, Plateau State.

Email: amakaazuike@gmail.com

Abstract

This paper articulates women’s unwise resolve to exceed the limits of acceptable moral and sexual behaviour in our society, as reflected in contemporary African fiction. The purpose of this paper is, thus, to re-examine feminist ideologies of old and to give fresh insights on issues of immorality, gender and sexuality in African women’s writings in a world so promiscuous that it has created a disillusioned generation. The paper also focuses on the disillusionment experienced by the sexually autonomous female in African women’s creative narratives, whose radical decisions and immoral choices made in desperate attempts to overcome patriarchal oppression and sexual objectification have led her into a quagmire and into absolute ridicule.  It is on feminist theory that this paper is underpinned. This paper concludes, therefore, that ancient and modern feminist ideologies are threatening to derail the feminist train on a global scale, unless urgent steps are taken to avert the cataclysmic end towards which feminism is headed.

Keywords:  Feminism, Immorality, Gender and Sexual Autonomy, Disillusionment, Contemporary Women’s Writings.