Gender Socializing Agents: An Analysis of Character of Ijeoma in Under the Udala Trees

Abstract

Gender socialization deals with understanding human behavior concerning society. It is the perception of an individual developed by society to behave and perform a certain role in a social setting on the bases of biological anatomy. This study explores the role of socializing agent in the Under the Udala Trees (2015) by Okapranta. The study is focused on the role of agents of socialization during the socializing process. The phenomenon of socialization is being observed from the prospective of protagonist Ijeoma, in the novel. Ann Oakley’s Gender Socialization theory (1972) is applied on the novel. The theory states that an individual learns about his/her gender from society through different agents and she presented four main agents are family peer group institutions and media. The data is collected from the text of the novel through purposive sampling and is analyzed through content analysis.  The study finds out the role of other socializing agents but particularly it brings to the surface the timing and miscommunication are the major aspects of failure socialization process.  

 Keywords: Gender, socializing, agents, behavior, individual

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18556938