In many ways, American writers have used literature as a means to promote equal rights for women; however, these writers are often white women or even white males. While these authors are certainly able to reveal a variety of aspects that American society must change in order to maintain or achieve equality for women, they often fail to shed light on the trials that women face in countries that possess much more less acceptance of a woman's independence. Part of the reason there is not a wide range of novels written about women in other countries, such as Africa, is due to the difficulty women face in publishing their works; for example, if their works are overly feminist and reflect African society in a negative way, then African males are less likely to publish their works. Consequently, African women writers must be intelligent and subtle in exposing the injustices of their society. Undoubtedly, Tsitsi Darangebma's Nervous Condition and Mariama Ba's Scarlet Song pave the way for African women to fight against patriarchy and the gender stereotypes that constrain them, and they do so by writing about female protagonists who learn to defy society's expectations. Say no to plagiarism. . Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Dangarembga partly exploits Tambu's desire for education under nervous conditions to expose how women in Zimbabwe are provided unequal opportunities compared to men. In Thompson's “Common Bonds from Africa to the US: Africana Womanist Literary Analysis,” she regrets the idea that “African women around the world, in their daily acts of survival, reflect a different paradigm because their problems are unique and more disparate." than those of any other group of women in the world” (Thompson 178). Women from countries like America or England may not even fathom the idea that men might deny them certain freedoms, such as getting an education; these progressive societies simply imply that women can seek the highest level of education they desire. However, this is not the case in some African countries, which is why Dangarembga has so much to report regarding inequality in Zimbabwe. In Dangarembga's Nervous Conditions, it quickly becomes apparent that female characters face obstacles that aren't so common - or globally common. all- in other countries; Firstly, Dangarembga shows that women in Zimbabwe are not encouraged to get an education. When Nhamo leaves to gain an education at the mission school, Tambu is not afforded the same opportunities as her brother. With limited fees, the family finds it more important that Nhamo, as a male, is the one who gets an education. Although it could be argued that Tambu's parents ultimately allow her to get an education, the patriarchy is still present because she is only allowed to get an education due to her brother's death. At that point, his father realized that one of the children needed to be educated, and with Nhamo's death, it now had to be Tambu. Demonstrating the extent of the obstacles Tambu faces simply to acquire an education, Dangarembga exploits Zimbabwe's failure to provide women with opportunities to reach their full potential as members of society. To change the way African society sees women - and the way women see themselves: Dangarembga describes Tambu as a young woman who, through perseverance,gradually proves that society's perception of a woman's ability level is incorrect. By analyzing how African women writers today work to transcend the traditional form of writing that she says male writers often use, Uwakweh uncovers the flaws in most works created by men. She suggests that, in patriarchal literature, there is a “recurring tendency in men's fiction to emphasize traditional or conventional images of the African woman as wife and mother or to make rebellious women suffer the tragic fate of the nonconformist” (Uwakweh 75). Undoubtedly, this tendency to portray women in stereotypical roles and the implication that women, who step outside the norm of patriarchy, are ultimately punished, profoundly sets African women back in their pursuit of freedom, independence and progress. Fortunately, Dangarembga's nervous condition challenges these stereotypes of a traditional woman by using Tambu as an example of a strong female protagonist. Although Tambu's father tries to hinder her independence and knowledge by initially only providing her brother with an education, he is unable to stop her from taking the initiative to achieve her goals. Tambu's initiative is evident when she spends her time growing her own vegetables for a profit. It is only because of Tambu's self-made business that Mrs. Doris, feeling sorry for a young girl who has to work so strenuously, offers to pay for Tambu's education. Once she is given the opportunity to get an education, she immerses herself in her studies and does not take them for granted. Using Tambu to overcome her culture's expectations as an African woman, Dangarembga challenges audience members to change their pre-existing perceptions of how much a woman should be allowed to live her own life. Dangarembga's challenge is particularly significant because, when stereotypes that women are only capable of carrying out household chores are continually demonstrated in literature, it reinforces society's idea of ​​African women and, therefore, further works to trap them within boundaries of patriarchy. Just as Dangarembga uses Tambu's character to expose patriarchy, Ba uses the song Scarlet for a similar purpose; however, the difference is that Ba's protagonist, Mireille, does not come from an African society. While on the surface Ba's novel appears to be about romance, it is much more intended to illustrate how a patriarchal African society places unrealistic expectations on women through the assignment of gender roles. According to Berndt in his “Hotbeds: Black-White Love in Novels from the United States, Africa, and the Caribbean,” “Bâ looks after the interests of a white woman married to an African man”; as a result, Ba can be placed in the lowest percentage of authors whose protagonists do not reflect both the gender and race of the author (Berndt 221). While Ba is a Senegalese author, her protagonist is Mireille, daughter of a French diplomat, who moves to Senegal when she marries Ousmane. It is Ba's portrayal of a French female protagonist that allows her to publish such an anti-patriarchal novel; in a way, it insinuates itself into the idea that it is justifiable for Senegalese women to stand up for themselves, using a white woman as a metaphor for Senegalese women who share her struggles. Along the same lines as the idea that Ba takes a swipe at the patriarchy by tricking the audience into not noticing that she's doing it, Ba partly justifies Mireille's rebellion against the patriarchy by originally creating her character to be one who does everything a stereotypically African wife should do.