Aunty Uju could not find an opportunity to practice her medical skills until she became the General’s mistress in Lagos.
Through her association with a powerful man she manages to escape her “localized” position of disempowerment and achieves the ability to become global (has access to a passport, takes foreign vacations, can easily immigrate to a foreign country). What does that say about the role of the master category of gender in creating positions of empowerment and disempowerment? On the other hand, Ifemelu finds a job and permanent residency in the USA through her boyfriend Curt’s influence. What does it say about the positions of empowerment and disempowerment in this new context? Is it mirroring a similar situation of gender-based power position as we observe in the case of Aunt Uju’s life in Nigeria? Finally, upon her return to Lagos, Nigeria, Ifemelu finds out that her friend has accepted to become a mistress of a wealthy married man in exchange of a better lifestyle. Once again, the novel provides an example how it is only through a proximity and association with a man that a woman can achieve that global lifestyle.
Compare the three cases and write your inpression about how gender roles are modified in our social evolution from local to global. Use direct quotes to support this paper.
Underline the thesis
Intro should emphasize what is transnational in the book Americanah
Body paragraph
1. How does aunty Uju life move form local to global both in America and Nigeria
2. Ifemelu’s life moving form local to global though Curt
3. Ifemelu’s friend choosing to be a mistress for a better lifestyle and how Ifemelu see it.