Volume 10 (2018): Edizione 2 (December 2018)

Okoh is a prolific playwright whose feminist inclination is not anyway in doubt. In her plays, especially Closed Doors, she addresses issues bordering on the woman question. Such issues include generally sexual injustices against women such as pedophilia, rape, female genital mutilation, forced abortion and unrequited love. Closed Doors focuses on the psychological crises of subaltern women whose lives have been vexed by a complex array of disturbing and thwarting personal relationships, particularly their relationships with their ‘treacherous’ lovers. The play is an expose on the vulnerability of women as a result of unbridled patriarchal arrogance. The main aim of this study is to situate Closed Doors as a feminist theatre. To achieve this, the salient characteristics of feminist theatre shall be teased out to serve as a tapestry against which this study shall posit whether Closed Doors is or is to become feminist theatre. The literary and sociological methodical approaches are adopted here; sociological because the point is established here that there is a dynamic and complex relationship between a work of art and the social realities under which it is produced.

Children’s toys of the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were determined by several criteria: age, gender and social background of the child. They fulfilled several basic functions: ludic, socialization/preparatory, educational and educating. Boys’ patriotic toys influenced the formation of patriotic feelings, both preparing the child for future military service, and developing a love for the history of the country.

The paper interrogates Julie Okoh’s sense of commitment to the feminist struggle. Using her plays as case studies, the paper presents Okoh as one of the most passionate, emotional and bias feminist playwrights in Nigeria. The argument canvassed in this paper includes that in Okoh’s dramaturgy, women are portrayed far better than their men counterpart. The research is fundamentally literary in methodology and qualitative in approach with some of Okoh’s selected plays as primary source materials. The major finding in the study is that Okoh is one of the few Nigerian playwrights that have demonstrated ideological commitments in their dramaturgies. The study also observed that the feminist project, especially as portrayed in Nigerian drama, is unremorsefully hostile to patriarchy. It is in the light of the above that the paper advocates the need for Nigerian playwrights to show ideological commitment in their plays. Nigerian feminist playwrights are also encouraged to always strike a gender balance in the delineation of characters in their plays. It is hoped that such gender balancing would facilitate gender equality which the feminist project sets out to achieve.

It has been observed over the years that child labour has been a trending phenomenon in our society. It has also been noticed that poverty has driven a lot of parents and guidance to painfully force their children into early work. And this has caused a lot of hazards in our society especially Nigeria. It is on this note that this paper explains the reasons why children are forced to work, the effects of child labour upon our society, the causes of child labour, policies that have been made by government to impede it, types of child labour and how Nigerian Dramatist perceive the issue through their works. Lewis’ “Culture of poverty theory” and Stouffer’s “Relative deprivation theory” provide this paper with fibre and framework to interrogate the subject matter and provide the critical consciousness and promoting change of attitude. This research has its root in educating the minds of the people, enlightening the society on the dangers of child labour and creatively proffering solutions. Hence, the thrust of this research is to educate people on the danger of child labour and creating the desired awareness on the issue of child labour and the effects on our society. This paper adopts qualitative method of research since it will be engaged in much textual analysis. Following the methodology, this study summarises a finding which states that the prevalence of child labour in Nigeria is largely an internal problem with poverty, ignorance and bad government as leading causes. To this end, this study draws conclusion that the government, parents, institutions and the general public should cooperate in the best manner to put an end to child labour practice or reduce it to a bearable state. Further suggestions arouse at the end of this study.

Within centuries femininity and its understanding have been the subject of numerous observations and analyses. Over the past decades its shape has been gradually becoming outdated and transformed. This article reflects on the prisms of perceiving femininity. It refers to two theories: essentialism and social constructivism. The aim of such considerations is to show the changes of the role and place of women in society (in the light of current norms, trends, opportunities and socio-cultural transformations).

Studies in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade have received a lot of patronage. Such contributions have been made mainly exteriorly without adequate coverage (detailed) of the interior concerns of same. Here, the research has been focused on one of the numerous local narratives dealing with the very sourcing and underpinning of what can be judged the pivot of the trade within. Oguta was first opened up as an inland port at the advent of the present occupiers of the beautiful land around Oguta Lake which links to the Niger through the creeks on the plains and the Atlantic, same as the Urashi River. The local trade arising from the agrarian economy of the place and the attendant commercial and social activities had gradually developed into something beyond the ordinary and had triggered a chain reaction that cascaded into various dimensions. The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade had just begun and coincided with this latest development in Oguta. But it added to the existing commerce, the nefarious and inhuman trade on humans; for humans were the main stock of the international dealing. The organizers and paddlers at the global level made it so alluring that many took the bait, swallowing it with the hook, line and sinker. The experience in Oguta is one of such particularly with regard to the origin local with the narrative begging for proper historicisation as is attempted below with the sole objective of projecting love as the missing link that is necessary for progressive and meaningful living.

There has been constant resonance of feminine image misrepresentation in most narratives since the (re)invention of video films across African continent. In spite of the binary struggle between the (presumed) chauvinist filmmakers and their feminists counterparts, muscularity always (re)emerge in new trends to dominate femininity. Consequently, there seems a paradigm shift on the (mis)representation of women which (re)enforces Laural Mulvey’s sexual voyeuristic objectification of feminine gender as reflected in near-nude costumes as well as sexual scenes that adorn most Ghana screens. This paper examines Frank Raja Arase’s selected films that are randomly sampled to foreground these voyeuristic imprints.

The picture is an important element of Western Culture. Boldly it can be called a universal means of transmission, an inherent part of social and virtual communication. For this reason, in my text, I have decided to analyze images in socials media, cultural objects that deal with issues of breaking the cultural pattern of gender and sexuality. I will focus on the subversive nature of these images and how they can be put into public discussion. Simplicity, literacy, and above all, the visuality of the message, are the characteristics of the image, that led to its inclusion in the digital communication process. Contemporary man is “homo videns”, communicates with the world, receives the world through images. Language is an abstract message, the image provides precision, versatility. The ease of reading a visual message makes certain cultural content more accessible. The issue of gender, the artificiality of meanings given due to sexual characteristics, is easier to say with images. Due to the photos present in the social media, the academic discussion on the limitations of the sex bureaucracy is becoming more common. Everyone can express their voice, give discussion, confront other people’s opinions. Because of the number of users, the freedom of uploading photos, the topic of breaking the heterodogmat is global. Social media as a tool to undermine cultural gender stereotypes.