An African Feminist Reading of Wole Soyinka

Tracing the works of Nigerian feminists, Nkoyo Toyo and OluTimehin Adegbeye, and South African feminists, Mase Ramaru and Elsbeth Engelbrecht, one quickly observes that gender-based inequality and violence rooted in colonization are intensely woven into the contemporary fabric of African societies and are perpetuated through African patriarchal post-colonial governance. I follow these scholars’ articulation of the importance of African feminism as a crucial framework to contest traditional gender roles and innovate strategies to advance fundamental structural change for women to be full actors in the development of the African continent. Reading the works of Wole Soyinka through an African feminist lens provides a critical perspective on the patriarchal structures embedded within the traditional Yoruba society, the marginalization of women and how women navigate within the constraints of a patriarchal society.