Danielle Lynch

The role of the “Subordinate” in African Society

Several years ago while taking an undergraduate Postcolonial Literature course, my professor recommended a movie to me that he thought would address some of my concerns when it came to women’s roles in postcolonial African literature. Ousmane Sembene’s 2000 African movie, Faat Kine, proved to address my concerns about women’s roles. In contrast, As we read through Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and recalling another of Achebe’s novels, Arrow of God, I decided to begin my research there on the changing roles of women in African society as depicted in literature and film. I expect my second posting will expand on this same topic.

For me, personally, Africa seems like a remote place I have no personal connection to. Some portions of the Africa are as modern as the United States and some portions show us why much of Africa is considered a Third World Country. 

In Achebe’s novels, we’re shown the African woman who is beaten, despite worshipping a goddess. We’re shown images of a subservient wife is only one of several making sure, in essence, dinner is on the table and the children are cared for, with little else on the agenda.

Faat Kine supports an underlying theme of Tradition vs. Modernity. But more importantly and in contrast, it shows the archetype of an emerging, modern African woman and how greatly she differs from that of the traditional – the way she was raised. Perhaps modern isn’t the right word. For the purposes of the assignment, we could say that the main character and the role it assigns to women is even “ultra-modern.” Released eight years ago, the movie was controversial because people found fault with this “ultra-modern” woman and considered her too western and thus, devalued her.

In Faat Kine, we’re introduced to Kine, who represents the modern African woman. An unwed mother twice over. Realizing that she needed to support her children, she took a job as a gas station attendant and eventually worked her way through the ranks, becoming a gas station manager. According to the Southeastern Regional Seminar in African Studies:

“Women in sub-Saharan African cities work inside and outside the home in a variety of occupations. Whatever the origins of the women, the occupations they pursue tend to fall into certain categories because of women's differential access to education and the constraints imposed by the sexual division of labor, both colonialist and indigenous. Although most black African nations have enacted laws that forbid discrimination on the basis of sex, only very few women have been able to overcome the socio-economic constraints which keep women illiterate, poorly paid, or marginally self employed” (SERSAS 7).

Yet Kine overcame these obstacles, but as the “ultra-modern” African woman, she also took on several masculine qualities, according to African tradition. Socially ignoring women’s standards, she did everything from smoking in public, which was highly discouraged among women to speaking frankly about sex. With approximately 44,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Senegal the year the movie was released, Kine embraced modernity in safe sex as a way of improving both the span and quality of life for women in Senegal. With the onslaught of AIDS in Africa, Kine urged friends to use condoms and handle sex responsibly. When her friends said their partners objected to the use of condoms, citing tradition, she scoffed at the idea of objecting to safe sex in this day in age, demonstrating her modern thoughts.

I didn’t intend on turning this posting into a movie review, but I’d recommend it to anyone interested in feminism or post French colonialism in Senegal. (See, it applies to the course two-fold.)

Ironically, and what I’ve learned through this assignment is that eight years after the movie was released, Kine’s topic of choice is one African women are struggling with right now. Currently, inequality seems to come in the form of the HIV/AIDS virus in Africa. This article, http://womensphere.wordpress.com/2008/02/12/african-women-slam-abuse-of-females-with-hivaids/, shows how women are currently “bearing the brunt” of the epidemic. It’s a worthwhile read. This article goes on to say more on the same topic: http://www.afrol.com/Categories/Women/backgr_abuse_aids.htm.

Perhaps the most shocking piece of information I found in my research of the current treatment of women in African is that three-quarters of all Africans between the ages of 15 and 24 who are HIV-positive are women. Overall, 60 percent of Africans living with HIV are women. Many sources cite “sexual assault and other forms of violence against women” as the cause of this high number (Africa Renewal).

It seems that though Kine embodied this “ultra-modern” woman, we’re again falling behind thanks in part to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Perhaps in eight years, what makes an African woman “modern” has changed. I hope to elaborate more on this next posting.

Works Cited

Africa Renewal. 2008. United Nations Africa Renewal. 20 March 2008. http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/newrels/women-fight-aids.html.

AFROL News. 2008. AFROL NEWS. 20 March 2008. http://www.afrol.com/Categories/Women/backgr_abuse_aids.htm.

Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Fawcett Crest, 1969.

Faat Kine. Dir. Ousmane Sembene. Perf. Venus Seye, Mame Ndoumbé, Ndiagne Dia, and Mariama Balde. California Newsreel, 2001.

Marshall, Kirsten. Changing Gender Roles in Sabar Performances:
A Reflection of Changing Roles for Women in Senegal. 2001. Southeastern Regional Seminar in African Studies (SERSAS). 19 March 2008 <http://www.ecu.edu/african/sersas/Papers/MarshallFall2001.htm#Chapter%20VI>.