The lock on my lips

DJENGUE DJENGUE HELENE PAOLA

16L76678 BILI III

A GENDER ORIENTED ANALYSIS OF THE PLAY The Lock on My Lips

This text makes a rediscovery of a system in which we live. The Lock on My Lips illustrates the issue of gender in a context of traditional law. We walk through the world of women in todays society. And we find that the question of gender goes beyond the sexual identity, but based around social constructions, stereotypes given the action of women in society.In this context, tradition has the hand on the destiny of the human being, it determines who is who in relation to his sex and on this basis declares who can do what and how but without valid consideration. To do a gender analysis is to first highlight the image of the man and the woman in Kibaaka; then show their scope, their limitations, their consequences. And finally, identify some solutions to this problem.

Tradition in Kibaaka is the institution, this patriarchal society presents the land as a sign of power and authority, and therefore only men have the right to own land. The role of women is to work on these lands, bring back crops and husbands sell them. What this tradition wants us to believe is much more than it is. Through Mrs Ghamogha and the MANDJARA association, the author shows us that the woman in society is subject to many injustices which are the risks of polygamy with her lot of diseases, the refusal to recognize that the woman is capable to work elsewhere than in the fields. Also the refusal to recognize that she has the potential, the intellect that can be put at the disposal of the society. Here, Mrs Ghamogha explains it to her daughter who thinks she can not understand mathematics because her boys classmates  convinced he it is not girls' business; and they go along with that argument and make fun of their answers in mathematics classes. This is a stereotype because a woman as a man are human beings although different in certain physical traits(and not always) are provided with intellectual abilities to understand, acquire, investigate and so on. There is also the reduction of the woman to the level of sexual object. Many times, Ability considered his reproductive organ as a "disciplinarian" and he even proposed as a sentence to the grouping of women in the palace, a cessation of sexual activity that he believes would allow to recover the reason. What the Hon S Wirkitum sees as a bad decision and instead proposes dialogue. Indeed, the dialogue allows to know and understand the thought of the other. Especially in a case of discord, the dialogue refocuses the debate and leads to the solution. Something Shey Ghamogha did not understand when he said in Scene II,Act I : "Honourable Shey Wirkitum, if the time to relinquish your grip on the steering wheel of power has sounded its departure bells, I am not ready to crash with you." We see that it was from the moment Tarhnteh gave the floor to Mrs Ghamogha that things took a  certain extent. What is also important to note is that during the traditional court, the Shufais did not give importance to the complaints of women, they were just  relying on the fact that Mrs Ghamogha disrespected them. They were preoccupied by the land, whether the woman is happy or not. Next to this discrimination of the women, there is the image of the man who wants the power but does not acquire it validly and does not hold his function. This is the case of Ability who once at the head of the Vigilante Group will incite its members to commit crimes: the theft of the "Sale Certificate" by Dinka and Mbiame, the trouble in MANDJARA's land and the rape of Mrs Ghamogha. This proves that power is not to be given to anyone, especially not based on sexual identity. It will be necessary to gauge the capacity and the potential of the person before granting him any responsibility. Another important element that Shey Wirkitum noted while replying to Ability is that having many children does not make someone a man. If someone have children and is not able to take care of them, it simply means he is irresponsible and he is not a man. If having a colony of children is a sign of wealth, their education and their education and their future are more than it. To procreate without educating creates prostitutes, illiterates, delinquents like Dinka and Mbiame.

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