le protagonists in the texts, such as Esi in Aidoo's Changes and Isma in Assia Djebar's A Sister to Scheherazade, have daringly defied conventions to be independent. Essentially, for African women, both African womanism and Western feminism present valid alternative routes for women to pursue. The essential difference is that women now have more choices and are allowed to assert them.
Although most of the male characters are portrayed negatively in this selection of books, there are a few men who deviate from the negative portraits. Elwau and Galal in El Saadawi's God are both representatives of good men. Even though they seem to be minority, they are the vital seeds that can lead to the rejuvenation of a new relationship between men and women. African womanists do not want to relinquish completely this possibility.
According to Western feminists, women's capacity to give birth has resulted in her condition of dependence on the men in their lives (Ogunyemi 8). In contrast, many African women view childbearing as the primary function for women. More than
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