In Mariama Ba’s So Long a Letter, the author utilizes the female characters to depict of the dichotomy present in this Senegalese society. The clear contrast between traditional cultural practices and the modern ideologies present in revolutionary, free-thinking women, create a definitive border between these two polar opposite viewpoints. Ramatoulaye, Daba, and Aissatou are significant figures in the novel that showcase the modernizing roles and thinking of women through the comparison of their cultural norms. They challenge the old older and differ greatly from traditional society; this is emphasized throughout Ba’s diary, revealing on a grander scale the development of the feminist movement in Muslim Africa and how the personal experiences of these women emulate their realizations that these underlying cultural standards have prevented women from progressing in Senegal.
Early on in the letter, the protagonist, Ramatoulaye, communicates her perception of the “working woman” that clashes with the opposing, traditional outlook prevalent among her counterparts. For instance, when she explains the responsibilities they have to her sisters-in-law, their reactions showcase the disagreement they have on the matter. She mentions “to them that a working woman is no less responsible for her home,” but rather “that you have to see to…and do everything all over again: cleaning up, cooking, ironing…The working woman has a dual task, of which both halves, equally arduous, must be reconciled” (20). The reasoning for her sisters-in-law’s opposing view is centered on the belief that women should be the homemaker—they should not be “spared the drudgery of housework,” but rather perform their duties as a loyal wife (20). On the contrary, Ramatoul...
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... life into [her] own hands,” and rather than “looking backwards,” she looks “resolutely to the future” (32) illustrating the changing mindset that women are experiencing as a result of a societal progression.
Ramatoulaye writes this letter to her best friend as a way to cope with the death and betrayal of her husband; however, it is her, Daba, and Aissatou, that create awareness for the audience of how divided the perceptions held by both traditional and modern mindsets are. The author implements these characters to showcase the perpetual transformation of women in Senegalese society, through utilizing these women as liberal, rational women that question the societal norm. They are no longer remaining submissive and accepting the inequalities traditional practice has established; but rather, they advocate feminism and fight for equal rights for both men and women.
Both el Saadawi and Al-Shaykh both show how perception and expression are both affected within the confines of politics, social opportunities, and male privilege depicted in their stories. Whether the reader is a follower of the feminist movement or not, it is very clear and easy to see that these women are not being treated with the respect that any human being deserves. The misogynistic stranglehold on society, especially in this part of the world, is excessive and avoidable in today’s world but it is very likely that the traditional, conservative ways of the past will continue to control and inhibit women from being able to be fully treated as equals for many years to come, perhaps even after this generation has
In the novel Segu, Maryse Conde beautifully constructs personal and in depth images of African history through the use of four main characters that depict the struggles and importance of family in what is now present day Mali. These four characters and also brothers, by the names of Tiekoro, Siga, Naba, and Malobali are faced with a world changing around their beloved city of Bambara with new customs of the Islamic religion and the developing ideas of European commerce and slave trade. These new expansions in Africa become stepping stones for the Troare brothers to face head on and they have brought both victory and heartache for them and their family. These four characters are centralized throughout this novel because they provide the reader with an inside account of what life is like during a time where traditional Africa begins to change due to the forceful injection of conquering settlers and religions. This creates a split between family members, a mixing of cultures, and the loss of one’s traditions in the Bambara society which is a reflection of the (WHAT ARE SOME CHANGES) changes that occur in societies across the world.
Thesis Statement: Men and women were in different social classes, women were expected to be in charge of running the household, the hardships of motherhood. The roles that men and women were expected to live up to would be called oppressive and offensive by today’s standards, but it was a very different world than the one we have become accustomed to in our time. Men and women were seen to live in separate social class from the men where women were considered not only physically weaker, but morally superior to men. This meant that women were the best suited for the domestic role of keeping the house. Women were not allowed in the public circle and forbidden to be involved with politics and economic affairs as the men made all the
... to the domesticated woman urging her to care for her family providing food for the body but to also care for herself in providing food for her mind: A house is no home unless it contain food and fire for the mind as well as for the body” (602). Murray, also makes suggestion for reform, encouraging women not to abandon their familial roles, but, rather tend to their family’s domestic needs dynamically saying “while we are pursuing the needle, or the superintendency of the family, I repeat, that our minds are at full liberty for reflection; that imagination may exert itself in full vigor” (405). In saying this she encourages women not to be passive but to be active and dynamic in their supposed roles as women, to defy the notion of the archetypal woman who tends to her family and has nothing that pertains to her solely and enrich the mind and subsequently herself.
In the article, Cult of True Womanhood, the underlying theme is of what society thought was the ideal woman. Women of that time where thought of as homemakers “deeply shaped by the so called “cult of womanhood” a collection of attitudes that associated “true” womanhood with home and family.” Women were supposed to stay home and clean and take care of the children while men worked and provided for their families. The misconception that housework was not hard and that even these women didn’t work as hard as paid labors was a strong opinion of the time. “With economic value calculated more and more exclusively in terms of cash and men increasingly basing their claims to “manhood” on their role as “breadwinners,” women’s unpaid household labor went largely unacknowledged.” Many married women ran their households and took on extra work to support their families and many in underpaid positions. Many of these were even in the service of other’s houses working in “true womanhood”
In “Monique and the Mango Rains”, Holloway describes her encounters with the difficulties of the women in the village of Nampossela and childbirth practices of midwifes in Mali. As a young white woman from Ohio, Holloway uses her unique perspective to write a description of her experiences of the rural midwifery practices of Monique and the hardships of the women she meets in Mali. Holloway uses her knowledge of the later events to enhance her description of her time as a Peace Corp volunteer and her observations of the village she lived in.
Awa Thiam speaks on the topic of the daughters of black Africa trying to find themselves. She also states the comparison of the black women struggle with the European women. Thiam is arguing the point that the European feminist imposed the false argument “Rape is to women what lynching is to Blacks” (Thiam 114). Women in the text suffered from double domination and double enslavement by the colonial phallocratic. Thiam explains the false consciousness of the black women as well. The goal for the women is to achieve total independence, to call man bluff and all alienating influences.
...present powerful characters, while females represent unimportant characters. Unaware of the influence of society’s perception of the importance of sexes, literature and culture go unchanged. Although fairytales such as Sleeping Beauty produce charming entertainment for children, their remains a didactic message that lays hidden beneath the surface; teaching future generations to be submissive to the inequalities of their gender. Feminist critic the works of former literature, highlighting sexual discriminations, and broadcasting their own versions of former works, that paints a composite image of women’s oppression (Feminist Theory and Criticism). Women of the twenty-first century serge forward investigating, and highlighting the inequalities of their race in effort to organize a better social life for women of the future (Feminist Theory and Criticism).
Aldridge, Delores P., Carlene Young. "Africana Womanism: An Overview." Out of the Revolution: The Development of Africana Studies. Lexington Books, 2000: 205-217. The University of Missouri-Columbia. Web. 11 April 2014.
We must also understand the exclusion of gender from revolutionary discourses as being part of patriarchy that is not challenged in certain revolutions. The exclusion of gender equality from what Lumumba struggled for is where there is a certain patriarchy, and this kind of patriarchy is evident in almost all revolutionary anti-colonial writing.
In the novel Woman at Point Zero the author, Nawal El Saadawi, retells the life story of Firdaus, the main character, a tragic hero who rebels against the social norms within her oppressive culture seeking the same respect and prestige that is bestowed upon her male oppressors, only to be executed for her attempt to obtain the same privileges as men. This essay will demonstrate how the aspects and expectations of Egyptian culture influence Firdaus’s decisions as she struggles to be her own woman in a society controlled by dictatorial political and patriarchal structures all while exposing the evident discontentment she has with the way Egyptian society views women, and the glorification of things that go against ideal societal structures.
The family is the stereotypical farming and labour father who wants to enlist his son to take over while the mother is the homemaker and is looking for the help of her daughter inside the house. The narrator and her brother, Laird, are fighting when the narrator “[uses] all of [her] strength against him” when her brother catches her arm for a second her father “[laughs], saying ‘Oh, […] [Laird is] [going to] show you, one of these days!’ Laird [is] getting a lot bigger. But she [is] getting bigger too’ (Munro 4). The story is set at a time where women do not fight back against men and are expected to act with poise. Though the narrator is holding her own against her brother, her father still knows that one day he will be the one fighting and getting stronger. Additionally, it is believed that the man’s work is of more value and importance over the woman’s. Among the family it is known that “work in the house [is] endless, dreary, and peculiarly depressing; work done out of doors, and in [the] father’s service was ritualistically important”, the farm work and labour done outside is of more praise and honour than the housework and work of a female (Munro 3). This due to the fact that the male figures in the family are the breadwinners and leaders of the household at this time, the females work, though maybe not as tough as the male’s job was not as important
Mariamma Ba’s So Long a Letter and the role women and impact of western culture on Islamic women in post-colonial Senegal: A critical analysis of Aissatou.
Chinua Achebe’s book, Things Fall Apart, was based on a story and the culture in Nigeria, Western Africa. Women’s roles and responsibilities have transitioned over several of years. The book arises a situation of how the Ibo women were treated and looked upon. In the Ibo culture, the women did not only suffer a great loss of their dignity, but also their pride as women. The whole role of women in the Ibo culture is different in various ways compared to the female race in modern society. The modern society in Nigeria, women are not so powerless, and also have the opportunity to work alongside the opposite gender.
Ogundipe-Leslie, Molora. "The Female Writer and Her Commitment." Women in African Literature Today. Ed. Eldred Durosimi Jones. Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press, 1987. 5-14.