“Women’s ‘Safe Spaces’ and the Codes of Masculinity in Toni Morrison’s Paradise” [ Fatoumata KEITA ] Université des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines de Bamako (Mali (original) (raw)

This paper examines the tie between masculinity and gender-based violence in Toni Morrison’s Paradise and suggests that certain types of masculinity not only imperil women’s “safe-spaces” but also legitimate femicide. Following Raewyn Connell’s and James Messerschmidt’s work on “hegemonic masculinity’’ and its recent reformulation by Messerschmidt, the paper contends that Morrison’s Paradise revolves around two mutually exclusive types of masculinity. On the one hand, the novel contests and challenges “dominating masculinity” or “hegemonic masculinity” that reinforces gender inequality and condones femicide against women. On the other, it promotes “positive” and “redemptive” masculinity that fosters gender equality, women’s security and empowerment. While hegemonic masculinities stifle women’s creativity, inspiration, nurturing roles, and their cultural and spiritual ethos, “redemptive” and “positive” masculinities in contrast, showcase these qualities because they are dialogic, power-sharing, life-giving, and not life-threatening or lethal. Positive masculinities give a glimpse of the author’s idealized, egalitarian, and peaceful community. Keywords: femicide, women’s safe space, hegemonic masculinity, positive masculinity, Toni Morrison, Paradise