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The age of gender equality is upon us. In Kenyan literature, high school students are reading two significant books to catch up with the Age of feminism. The books; A Doll’s House (1879) by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen and Blossoms of the Savannah (2008) by Kenyan writer H. R Ole Kulet mix the old and the new in the quest of gender equality which has proven to be a costly affair in the East African Country.
With such pivotal works of literature, it seems the focus on gender equality is now on young people, thanks to the landmark release of Black Panther. Black Panther is built on ancient gender neutral Kingdom of Wakanda. I have no idea why the makers made such a kingdom fictional when several African Kingdoms have been existing including the biblical Sheba whose queen Makeda visited Solomon. However, maybe banking on the plot of Wonder Woman, a fantasy movie of an Amazon princess Diana, the makers decided on a fantasy African kingdom- Wakanda as opposed to Sheba or any other realm.
Black Panther was well received by Kenyans and the Wakanda hand-crossing sign that forms an X became a popular symbol. But it is the exploration of the 21st-century Blossoms of the Savannah and the 19th Century A Doll’s House that will really evoke the magic of Gender Equality.
A Doll’s House talks about the story of a woman- Nora who is treated by her husband as his favourite toy or the favorite child. Her husband Torvald Helmer believes that Nora is incapable of making life-changing decisions apart from household chores. Oblivious to Torvald is the fact that his wife had borrowed money from Nils Krogstad. Nora had borrowed the money purposely to save her husband’s life. In the quest to secure the loan, Nora had committed an unpardonable offense. She had forged her ailing father’s signature.
The only person who knew about Nora’s deceit was Nils Krogstad. Now working with Torvald in the same bank, Krogstad is known for his untoward behavior. When Torvald is promoted, he plans to fire Krogstad. In order to secure his job, Krogstad threatens to reveal Nora’s treachery to her self-righteous husband unless Nora convinces her husband not to.
Torvald finally learns of Nora’s misconduct and instead of standing by her, reprimands her like a child. It is this altercation that makes Nora realize that her marriage to Torvald was nothing but being caged into a doll’s house. She was just a plaything.
In Blossoms of the Savannah, Ole Kulet tells the story of two urban girls who are confronted by the traditions of their rural community of Nasila. The girls –Resian and Taiyo- struggle against the strong forces of Male-chauvinism, materialism, and tradition in order to escape Female circumcision and pursue their further education dreams.
In A Doll’s House Nora fights against the male-imposed self-righteousness and female subjugation while in Blossoms of the Savannah the two girls fight against the age-old tradition of FGM. In both men are viewed as individuals who set the standards and moral dictates of the society and family. Men are also the key decision makers while women are objets d’ art and a source of wealth.
In order to explore Feminism well, we need to understand Male Chauvinism and its origins. Male chauvinism otherwise known as patriarchy has a long history. There are various schools of thought on where patriarchy came from. Firstly, theorists believed that patriarchy was born with Adam. Being the first man on earth, Adam, after the fall of man was given the power by God to rule over the woman. This is a type of patriarchy that Bob Thomas Pierik in his MA Thesis refers to as Traditional Patriarchy. According to the paper, patriarchy was mostly used to refer to the authority of the father over the household and its members. However, it would be Max Weber who would use patriarchy and patrimonialism to refer to domination beyond household to political territories. Another applied usage of patriarchy outside the family set up would be brought forth by Robert Filmer. In Filmer’s view, kings had divine power to rule over a kingdom without the consent of the people. Drawing from Adamic lineage, Firmer observed that Adam was the first King and so men with power and influence had the prerogative of inheriting leadership.
In as much as patriarchy was confined within the family set up, it blossomed into one humongous force taking over the economic, social and political privileges until the rise of feminism. In her book ‘The Evolutionary Origins of Patriarchy,’ Barbara Smuts postulates six hypotheses to explain its rise. According to the book, male domination is a characteristic that is well developed in humans than in other animals especially primates. Various anthropologists observed that male coercion was predominant where females lack social support from relatives and friends. Also, in cases where females were subjected to controlling mates, their resistance reduced as observed when female olive baboons are released into an area controlled by the dominant fierce hamadryas males. Smuts walks us through the journey of male domination until when males became the key decision makers on literally everything including reproductive health and the concept of virginity.
The growth of patriarchy is well explained in the Blossoms of the Savannah, but in this context, it is enveloped in the traditions of the Maasai. When the girls, Taiyo and Resian settle in Nasila, Joseph Parmuat is selected to be the man to educate the girls in the ways and the traditions of the people. According to the legend, as told by Joseph, the Maa women chose circumcision to resist the charm of the masculine Ilarinkon. The legend goes that the Ilarinkon attacked the Maa people and subdued them. Thereafter, due to their lustful ways, the Ilarinkon forced the Maa women to do such things that were despicable and humiliating. In order to resist further abuse, maa women agreed to meet and undergo the cut in order to reduce their vulnerability. Therefore, the painful ordeal was a reminder of their weakness and resolve to remain, like the olive baboons, at the mercy of their menfolk. Though male aggression begun with sexual mutilation, it developed into decision-making rendering women mute in all matters pertaining to them. Since the women were unable to resist the Ilarinkon, their say became irrelevant. No wonder, Mama Milanoi has no say in her husband’s endeavors to provide for the family and decide the way forward. She remains mute even when her daughters are threatened with female circumcision and early marriage to Oluisuduri- a man whom Kaelo considers a fit for his daughters due to his vast wealth.
Henrik Ibsen, on the other hand, explores economic humiliation of women. Nora and Mrs. Linde face serious challenges in their quest to achieve economic freedom. On one hand, Mrs. Linde is forced to marry a rich man in order to provide for her family on the other, Nora had no legal right to borrow money, forges her father’s signature in order to borrow money.
The two books explore female humiliation on both the social and material fronts. In Kulet’s work, women do not have a say in who to marry and what should be done on their bodies. Their mutilation is a priority to the menfolk as seen in the case of Oluisuduri who refuses to marry Resian until she is circumcised. Resian also suffers in the hands of Olarinkoi when she resists his advances which leave her for the dead. Were it not for the strength to resist male domination, Resian could not have survived the male onslaught on her. She survives two rape attempts and her father’s plan to be married to oluisuduri.
It is noteworthy that it is not only the menfolk who subject women to male subjugation. In Nasila, the strongest advocates of the cut are the women led by the enkamurutani. Possibly based on smuts six hypotheses, this could be due to constant humiliation that has made the womenfolk less volatile to the onslaught on their own sexuality and independence. However, despite the strong grip of culture on the liberation of the womenfolk, like-minded women and men led by Minik Ene Nkoitoi (emakereri) are making headway in liberating the women.
In the Doll’s House, Nora after sacrificing a lot for her family and her husband realizes that in the many years she has lived in matrimony; she has always been the husband’s toy. Although she had known from the very beginning, she did not grasp exactly the extent of her husband’s moral standing. When Helmer reprimands her like a child, she realizes her rather flimsy position in the life of Helmer.
In discussing the two books, it is imperative to understand patriarchy, its genesis, and development to what became to be known as total women servitude. Though it started from the family set up where a man was the head of the house, its growth became both physical and psychological until women were rendered impossible at making important decisions that may influence the world economic, political and social growth. To this day, patriarchy can be seen in the way women are handled in clubs, on the roads while driving in places where male domination is still very prevalent.
As we explore patriarchy in A Doll’s House and Blossoms of the Savannah, let us explore both the traditional patriarchy and contemporary patriarchy and their impacts on the characters within the two books. Just to clarify, ‘contemporary’ patriarchy explores the general male domination and female subordination outside of the family. In this case, the society at large looks down upon women and exploits them for their sexuality both for economic e.g. dowry and social or political gain. It is imperative that we identify both these types and assess them for better exploitation of how the authors have extensively covered the theme of patriarchy.
Further Reading
Bob Thomas Pierik; A History of Patriarchy
Gerda Lerner, Ph.D.; The Creation of Patriarchy
Barbara Smuts: The Evolutionary Origins of Patriarchy
H.R Kulet; Blossoms of the Savannah
Henrik Ibsen: A Doll's House
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