Unlocking the land lock for women: A study of Lola’s The Lock on My Lips (2014)

Abstract

This article analyses land ownership and conflict in Pepertua Nkamayang Lola’s The lock on my lips. It focuses on degendering stereotypes with regard to land ownership. The argument is that though the conservative traditional African society did not accommodate the idea of women owning land, the progressive and evolutionary African society warrants that with the changing roles of women, women should own and use the land for the growth and development of women in particular and society at large. Thus, for women to be able to engage in transformative processes that assure African futures with less gender inequalities and conflict, Lola in the play encourages equity in land ownership where women can feel comfortable to own and use land. In achieving this, female bonding will definitely play a significant role. Also, rather than pitting men against women in such conflict resolution endeavours, Lola advocates for dialogue between the two parties because there is a need to engage men since they are most of the time the perpetrators of actions against women. The postcolonial feminist theory is used for analysis. The paper concludes that women need to be recognised, acknowledged, and encouraged to own land which is a metaphor for property, and to use such land to positively transform society, especially without violence as violence only begets violence and the vicious cycle continues, leading to unstable societies.