Female empowerment or the opposite?

Use this forum to discuss the August 2021 Book of the month, "Chameleons" by Onyx Gold
Ailakhu Yusau Aizhebiomon
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Re: Female empowerment or the opposite?

Post by Ailakhu Yusau Aizhebiomon »

I honestly do not think that the book targeted feminism or sexism. Rather, female characters in the book were portrayed by the author as being strong and have the willpower and determination to achieve their goals and ambition.
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Raquel Sojo
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Post by Raquel Sojo »

I see female empowerment in Zia, around her work life where she shows herself capable of acting boldly, and in her sex life where she also demonstrates a lot of self-confidence. It's in these two aspects of her life that she is most confident and determined.
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Post by Neshboy Aburi »

I wouldn't think the author intention was to promote female empowerment through Zia. She is more of a liberal character than she is feminist. On misogyny, there are numerous instances of this here. I think the author was trying to relate to the current state of affairs. The workplace today is an extremely misogynistic environment.
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Post by Elena Nechita »

The things I noticed thoughout the book was the objectification of all female chatacters, while the male characters weren't. It's like the saying "Don't preach what you don't pratice". Yes, the author tried to portray strong women, but they were stereotypical and didn't really empower me.
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Post by Akshobhya B »

I don't think the book had sexist undertones at all. The novel had a relatable female protagonist. Zia isn't a perfect human being and has her own defaults. The language of the story may seem to objectify the characters but its an erotica and its supposed to be like this.
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Post by SamaylaM »

The five-inch heels and aggression do not really bother me into thinking this book did not promote feminism since the definition of strength can be different for every woman. There were some sexist undertones but I can't say for sure whether they were intentional or not.
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Oye Timothy
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Post by Oye Timothy »

Like what most did say. I didn't think the author was trying to portray Zia as been feminist. She has to be bold, outspoken and aggressive for her to keep successful at work.
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Post by the_bibliofile »

Akin to most people's opinions, it had subtle undertones but wasn't intentionally sexist. I think it just happened while she tried to describe certain situations. Sometimes, it doesn't seem sexist until you really start to evaluate it from that perspective so it might have not occurred to the author that certain instances seem a little sexist
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Post by Elon Gathungu »

Describing a woman as aggressive is not sexist if it is meant to elevate her character. I think the author does the female characters justice by expressing their strong, sexy nature in a positive and contextual way. Strong, sexy, and aggressive traits in a woman can be empowering when presented positively.
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Post by Elendu Ekechukwu »

The authors writing at some point was biased. She wrote as if she she had a things against men. Nevertheless, I think that she portrayed Zia as a strong female character. For a woman to stand her ground, she has to be a bit aggressive, and Zia replicated a strong woman.
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Post by Sharill Rasowo »

I actually think this book seems to conform to sexist ideas. You notice that successful women behave just as any man in the same position would behave. However, they are then labeled as aggressive which is definitely meant in a negative way.
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Post by Namuddu Erin »

The author tried to portray women's characters. There is misogynistic scenes in the illustration. Zia is portrayed as a strong young lady, she can struggle and satisfy her needs.
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Post by Dustin Stopher »

It succeeds for me in several ways. For one, it gives us a strong female protagonist, which is always nice. Not only this, but she’s shown to make mistakes, own up to them, and move past them, which humanizes the character and helps her seem more realistic as opposed to a feminine trope. While some stereotypes may persist with Zia, overall, I feel like her portrayal is more empowering than not, especially when compared to female characterizations of other books.
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Post by Rachael S 1 »

In my experience, strong women who enjoy dressing up - wearing heels and make-up, tend to be categorized as promiscuous or tramp or slut as opposed to bold and empowered. The fact that Zia likes to sleep around but is in control of her actual life/work life is very typical of the modern women. Powerful at work and in life, with a health sexual desire and confidence in her personal life. I think the author was trying to convey a balance.
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Post by El_limitless »

I believe Zia was portrayed just fine. Regardless of the sexiest views contained in the book, Zia being an ambitious, strong, independent, unashamed woman will definitely rob off on female readers who before now weren't very confident in their sexuality. So yes, it's female empowerment for me.
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