FEMINISM FROM THE VIEW OF AFRICAN
WRITERS
By
Monju Calasanctius Matsiale
Feminism is a
social movement aimed at emancipating the woman, enabling her to know that she
is not what men take her to be, not only a fool in the hands of the men, not
only a child bearer and child rearer, but also somebody who is equal to the man
and can do what the man can do and even better. Feminism is also to boast the
values that are inherited in a woman, socio, political and economic,
empowerment, the participation of the woman in disciplines and decisions making
process, the need for respect, care concerned for her personality and the
contribution she makes towards growth of her individual home and community.
Looking at what Oger Kabore says her book entitled Parole de
femmes to an extent it is a true assertion and to an extent it is not when we
look at An African Patriarchal society where
a woman to matter is marginalized. For the purpose of this question two
novels will used for references – Footprints of Destiny by Azanwi Nchami and
Perpetual and the habits of unhappiness by Mongo Beti.
The first point to illustrate or demonstrate what Oger
Kabore is true when we make reference to the going of Martin Paul to kribi so
that he might make something of himself. In this, the mother Ekodi refuses by
saying that “Which other father here have you seen taking his son away to put
in school? His husband rejected her idea but she kept on insisting. But at the
end she abandoned her idea and allows her son to go to Kribi. Here a woman is
seen as somebody who can withstand her decision. Thus she could have continued
to insist and refused totally that he Martin Paul should not leave. Thus she is
not a master to her words.
Furthermore, another point to show that women are not
masters of their word can be seen in Footprint of Destiny by Azanwi Nchami.
With this we see Sonia who refuses to talk to anybody after her mother’s death.
When her mother died she blames her father for abandoning them. But now that
the mother is death, hr id pretending to be broken hearted in this she says: -
“Why are you shedding crocodile heart, where were you when she needed you?
Where have you been all these years when she was sick and alone”. She decided
never to speak to anybody even her father. But after pains for a long period of
time she now came back to herself and started life as usual. Thus she abandoned
her solidarity life. All this is to prove a woman is not matter of her words
she could remained her solidarity state for example.
Again, another point to illustrate this same assertion of
Kabore can been seen be seen in our daily life. An example is the story of a
man who had an ass two pairs of ears. This man had kept this secret to himself
for quite some time. So one day he decided to tell his wife about his ears. This
woman accepts to keep the whole thing as a secret. She even swears to the
husband that she will never tell any body. But after a period of one year, it
seems as if the secret was not disturbing her. So she decided to go by a river
side all alone and shorted “My husband have an ass ear” while saying this a
woman came passing who now took the story and spread it like “wild fire”, thus
the saying that woman hardly keeps secrets, thus a woman is not a mistress of
her mouth. (words)
Although, a woman is not a master of her words there are
equally certain aspects that shows that the woman though not master of her
words, is oblige to behave that way and this depend in the society that she
lives. We see that in patriarchal societies men have the upper hand in the
society. So whatever thing that a woman does, the man is obliged to intervene
in her decision making. In this the woman is marginalized. Thus has to succumb.
An example of this can be seen in footprints of destiny by
Nchami. In this we see how Martin Paul Mother Ekodi that refusal that her son
should not be taken to Kribi. In this after some rambling beside the husband,
she is given a resounding slap by the husband that sent her sprawling in the
drying mud. And the husband continuous
“For the last
time Ekodi, I am telling you. This child is being taken to Kribi so that he
might make something of himself”,
After the entire slap, the woman has no option but left to
accept that her son should go to Kribi.
Another point to show, that if a woman is not a master of
her word is again seen in Perpetual and the habit of unhappiness by Mongo Beti.
In this novel we come to see how perpetual is maltreated, abandons by the
husband through pregnant. And she has to die without the husband concerned.
Conclusively, if a woman is not the master of her words is
due to the society where she lives. This is because she is marginalized by the
men.
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Posted at 11:35 am by monjucal
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