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The Image Of African Women In A Patriarchal Society
[A CASE STUDY OF BUCHI EMECHETA’S THE JOYS OF MOTHERHOOD AND AMMA DARKO’S BEYOND THE HORIZON]
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0 Background to the study
Traditionally, African women have played several roles- from peace-making to peace-building across different pre-colonial African societies (Amadium, 1997; Ngongo-Mbede, 2003; Mohammed, 2003). The existence of African women and their power in the pre-colonial African societies were based on ethic of care that was rooted in their motherhood and their nature, which was tolerance, non- violence and peacefulness. According to Nwoye (no date) women engaged in peace-building through childcare, responsible mothering and nurturing of children in ways that prepared and socialised them towards peaceful co-existence. In most pre-colonial African societies, a culture of peace, tolerance and anti-war traditions were imbedded in and transmitted through folktales, proverbs, poetry, songs and dance. Traditionally, women are often seen as transmitters of these cultural values to their progeny and to future generations through such artistic expressions.
It must be noted that because of the important role women play in our African societies, Mohammed, a Somali poet for example uses Somali stories, poetry, songs and proverbs to depict the importance of African women which is transmitters of knowledge and builders of a stable social fabric. Mohammed (2003:102) thus says:
Mother! Without you
It would have been impossible to utter the alphabet
Mother! Without you
It would have been impossible to learn how to speak
A child deprived of your care,
Sweet lullaby
And soft touches
Would not grow up.
Mother! You are the source of love
The epitome of kindness.
To buttress the pivotal role that African women play in our society, a popular Somalian proverb says ‘before becoming adults, we attend a basic school and that school is mother’. Even in the pre-colonial patriarchal cultures like that of the Zulu, women were traditionally able to stop fights by falling over the person being beaten and according to Rakoczy (2006) Zulu women’s ability to stop fighting in this way may be due to respect for women as the persons who bring forth children.
From the foregoing, it could be seen that African women were metaphorically referred to as basic school and as a basic school, they had the arduous task of preparing young children for their adult lives.Again, African women in pre-colonial societies played active roles in conflict mediation. The elderly women were respected by all, and they played a key role in the management of crisis. Among the Tudors of Cameroon for example, the ‘Wog Clu’ (old women) were responsible for conflict mediation and as a result they were consulted on problems which disturbed communal peace (Ngongo- Mbede, 2003). In effect, according to Amadiume (1997), there are two unique contributions that African women have made to world history and civilisation: matriarchy and dual – sex character of African political systems which is directly related to the matriarchal factor. She is of the opinion that African matriarchy was fundamentally and sociallyand ideological and it was based on this that Kinship and wider moral systems rest.
However, this fundamental, social and ideological base was opposed by the imposition of rule by rich and powerful nations which rule Africa, and the imposition of patriarchy which is masculine in ideology and therefore celebrates violence, valour, conquest and power in various degrees. On this note, Diop (1989) holds the view that patriarchy denies women their rights, subjugating and making them properties in a strict hierarchical system of family where the man( husband or father) was supreme and had power of life and death over women. In the face of imperialist patriarchy, traditional African women in post-colonial Africa appear to have lost their image, myth and sacredness that represented their being and social existence. This is because apart from being marginalised socially, economically and politically (Amadiume, 1997; Nzeogwu, 2000; Rehn & Johnson-Sirleaf, 2002), they have become victims of assorted physical abuse and sexual violence based on a warped understanding of African patriarchies which has produced negative masculinities in the continent( Isike and Okeke- Uzodike, 2008).
The oppression of women is fostered in Africa and globally through patriarchy which is one of the cultural tools in the society. Africa is predominantly a patriarchal society and it is engineered by her traditional culture: “inAfrica, female subordination takes intricate forms grounded in traditional culture, particularly in the “corporate†and “dual-sex†patterns that Africans have generated throughout their history†(Mikel, 1997:9).In patriarchal society ofAfrica, men dominate the socio- economic, political machinery and organisation of the state. Men are regarded as natural leaders who are superior and they are believed to have been born to rule over women. The women are considered weaker vessels and according to the society, they are just the extension of men. As a result, Maseno&Kilonzo (2011) say that many cultures in Africa always view women as not equal to men. Men are generally viewed as overseers and women mostly engaged in menial jobs. This unequal power relation between men and women is highlighted by Coetzee (2001) when she presents the way power is distributed between men and women in South Africa:
…our society is a patriarchy. The fact is evident if one recalls that the military, industry, technology, universities, science, political offices, and finance in short, every avenue of power within the society, including the coercive force of the police, is entirely in male hands (p.301).
Under patriarchy, men and women are socialized to view themselves and the world through different lenses. While patriarchy in most instances results in the oppression of women, men have been given a stake in the system. Women in patriarchal societies do not have any choice than to accept patriarchy with its associated problems and as Foucault (1980) puts it aptly: “individuals, who do not comply with the social norms of the dominant discourse in society, are branded as ‘abnormal’ †(p. 7).
In patriarchal society of Africa, male privilege begins during his mother’s pregnancy when his family expresses the age-long preference for a baby boy, especially if he is the first. In some communities in Africa, it is said that every married woman stands with one leg in her husband’s house until she gives birth to a male child. To show the seriousness with which much premium is placed on a male child in a patriarchal society, Wentworth (2005:4) has this to say:
In many cultures, if a man does not father a son his virility is questioned. The patriarchal system makes a daughter a liability since it requires that she be married, a status that normally affords her no long – term possibility of economically benefiting her family of origin. Male privilege also means that a son stands little chance of having his life snuffed out at birth.
In literature, African women have also been stereotyped, marginalised and projected in bad light. This stereotypical way of presenting women has been echoed by Kolawole (1997) who says “male writers in the early phase of African literature encouraged the marginalisation of African womenâ€(p.9).To buttress the negative imaging of African women in literature, Fonchingong (2006) states “African literature is replete with writings that project male dominance and inadequately pleads the case of African women†(pp. 135- 146).
In African literature,women have been presented as ancillary to men thereby making them look like objects in terms of motherhood and wifehood. For instance, Mariama Ba’s widely read novel, So Long a Letter written in French in 1981 and translated into English in 1989 also concentrates thematically on the negative effects of polygamy on women in patriarchal Senegalese society. The appropriateness of this text in treating the abovementioned issue has made Harrow write the vision of Ba at the preface to So Long a Letter as: “she believed that the ‘sacred mission’ of the writer was to strike out ‘at the archaic practices, traditions and customs that are not real part of our precious cultural heritageâ€. So Long a Letter thussucceed admirably in its mission of bringing to the fore some of the negative cultural practices that are detrimental to the well-being of an African woman.Ba uses epistolary form of writing to bring out the condition of the African woman in post-colonial Senegal. Through a long letter, Ramatoulaye, the first narrator writes to her girlhood friend, Aissatou and brings out the effects of Islam and tradition on women. In this book, Ramatoulaye writes this letter with the view to coping with the four months seclusion mandated by Islam, for widows.
Ramatoulaye loses her husband eventually through death and she has to contend with series of suitors including her late husband’s brother, Tamsir. In this state of distress she has no choice than to retort “my voice has known thirty years of silence, thirty years of harassment. It bursts out, violent, sometimes sarcastic, sometimes contemptuous†(p.60). Accordingly, Ramatoulaye is fighting the culture of a man marrying more than one wife and wife inheritance in an Islamic society. Therefore, So Long a Letter succeeds in painting a vivid picture of the struggle of African woman in post-colonial Senegal that it affects students and readers alike. On this footnote Williams (1997) advances this:
While So Long a Letter is concerned with the lives of two women in post-colonial Senegal,this novel spoke to the needs and struggles of the women in my class. As members of the first generation in each of their families to attend college, these students faced tremendous obstacles to gain an education. Some were single mothers working at demeaning jobs during the day and attending school at night (p.142).
Likewise Mariama Ba, her compatriot, Aminata Sow Fall has written Beggars’ Strike to give a picture of the power of men in post-colonial Senegalese society. Mour Ndiaye, the central character of this novel, loses his job and decides to get involved in Senegalese politics and when his party eventually takes over the mantle of leadership in his country he is offered the enviable position of Director of Public Health. His fame in consequence grows like wide fire and he accumulates considerable amount of wealth:
Now that he has everything he can wish for: a house, two cars at his disposal, domestic staff paid for by the state sometimes he is worried by his competence especially at official ceremonies when he has to be careful that the buttons of his dinner-jacket don’t burst (p.19).
Prior to Ndiaye’s rise to prominence and affluence he has lived like a beggar and his wife, Lolli has no choice than to support the family through the sale of almost all her belongings such as best cloths and jewelleries. She often falls down on her relatives to ensure that Ndiaye and the children do not starve.Now that Ndiaye is famous and rich he takes another wife, Sine who is as young as his daughter, Raabi. Though both Raabi and Lolli oppose Ndiaye’s second marriage, characteristic of a patriarchal society, Ndiaye does not stop with the excuse that as “head of the houseâ€, he can do what he wants: “Just think that I am the one who feeds you, keeps you, aren’t I? And justtell me what contract I am tied by that prevents me from taking a second wife, if I so desire?†(p.31).
From this it could be deduced that the power relations between Ndiaye and his wife is premised on economic factors. Ndiaye eventually lives home, stays with Sine and neglects his family totally. The behaviour of Ndiaye is in line with how Napikoski (2013)describes patriarchy:
A patriarchal society consists of a male-dominated power structure throughout organised society and in individual relationships. This means that in this society men hold the positions of power: head of the family unit, leaders of social groups, boss in the workplace and heads of government (p.15).
Ironically, unlike Lolli, Sine is more educated and very sophisticated so she rejects the idea of stopping smoking, wearing pants and making up. Thus she rejects any patriarchal control from Ndiaye when she asserts “If you think I am prepared to be stuck here like a piece of furniture… then you’re making a mistake! … I am a person and not a block of wood! … I am your wife so treat me like a wife†(pp.95-96). In the end Mour Ndiaye becomes so consumed by patriarchal norms that he thinks that everybody must obey him and never challenge his authority. In doing this, he forgets that some traditions are gradually loosing grounds in Senegal hence he thinks that by holding on to patriarchal tendencies he will exercise considerable power over men and women.
Similarly, Dagarembga’s Nervous Condition is replete with patriarchy as a subject. This novel which is written by a Zimbabwean female writer examines the various ways in which patriarchy broadly manifests itself regarding the subordinate position of women.
Nervous Conditions focuses on the colonised African clan (Sigauke clan, part of the Shona people) in the then Rhodesia during the 1960s. The novel explores the exposure of the Sigauke clan to westernisation in various ways. At times this westernisation would be at loggerheads with traditional customs, practices and beliefs, with disastrous consequences. In this novel colonialism is seen as a double-edged sword: on one side, it is the ‘carrier’ of western modernity which emphases on education and democracy, that gives the opportunity for challenging African patriarchy. On the other side, a colonial education alienates its African subjects from their culture, with disastrous psychological consequences.The novel examines unequal power relations between men and women in the Sigauke clan which is largely steeped in tradition. Women in Nervous Condition, Nyasha, Maiguru, Lucia, Tambu and MaShingayi challenge the practices of male domination in various ways, usually unsuccessfully. Each of these women makes an effort to question some of the decisions that are the prerogative of the patriarch. The women also attempt to break out of the role of domesticity and servility to the surprise of the men. Although, the novel appears to be the story of Tambu and her ambition to educate and develop herself in the face of a myriad of obstacles, it is very much about Nyasha, one of the central characters of the novel, who is alienated from her own clan by virtue of her ‘Englishness’. The truthful manner through which Dagarembga depicts patriarchy in Nervous Condition has made writers likeRimmon-Kenan (1987) affirms:
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