Identifying Perceived Patriarchal Practices Perpetrated by Female Characters in Sesotho SA Leboa’s Two Novels: A Liberal Feminist Perspective

Abstract

It is presumed that an African culture perceives women as inferior, to be controlled by a man, unable to be autonomous, and lacking status in society. Culture dictates how people may live and interact with others as men and women. Which means there are certain ways in which one is expected to live and interact with others in a society. This paper’s central argument is that African women subsequently abandoned their cultural norms and adopted imported practices. Therefore, it is the interest of this paper to identify patriarchal practices perpetrated by female protagonists in the two Sesotho sa Leboa novels, Ke Nako Ya Ka by Molefe (2001) and Ra tla ra Lokologa, Eye! By Mabye and Makobe (2009). This paper employs the feminist method as a research methodology because its objective centers around women. The paper’s underpinning analytical framework is liberal feminism, which is grounded in feminist ideology. This paper anticipates finding that the authors introduced a community of female characters who represent liberal feminist ideas that are too extreme and do not struggle for free and independent lives. The fight for freedom is clear and visible, and appears to be taking full control of their world. This paper’s findings suggest that female protagonists succeeded in coming out of marginalisation and alienation at the expense of putting their male counterparts into marginalisation and alienation. This paper seeks to promote the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Goal 5 of gender equality, as a liberal feminist strives for equality in the existence of men and women. Furthermore, this paper aims to contribute to the critical debates around women’s marginalisation and empowerment.