Following the American Psychological Association’s Guidelines
Osonye Tess Onwueme’s “Tell It to Women” acts as a time capsule, taking the reader back in time to postcolonial Africa and a time or erratic feminist behavior. The book’s primary purpose appears to show the separation between traditionalism and modernism, as different cultures interacted and blended. However, this is not entirely clear until the end, when a concise meaning for culture is given. Tess Onwueme believed culture was derived from the passion that ignited the very culture’s desire to stay together, it appears. The familiarity of their arts, traditions, customs, and manners were all a part of the culture. Throughout, Tess Onwueme attempts to discuss a woman’s role in the Nigerian village versus the woman’s role in the world at large while attempting to examine whether it is better for this small population to advance with everybody else or stay behind. Her true question is whether it is right to forsake what has made you who you are in order to become who everybody else is for the sake of advancement, or to stay behind in order to hang on to what has made you beautiful, rare, and independent.
There are many narratives throughout Onwueme’s novel. The first begins with Yemoja, who is a very important woman in the village. She is dressed in her native clothing, juxtaposing herself against the civility seen in the home of Ruth and Daisy, two feminist scholars, educated in the west. The two dislike Yemoja and, leading the “Better Life for Rural Women” coalition, wish to inspire her to change. They want her to believe she is equal to a man, but also superior to a man. However, their agenda obviously lies deeper than this as Onwueme begins her examination of feminist ravages . Daisy and Ruth select Yemoja as a facilitator between her village and the western world; she is to be an ambassador. Yemoja is hesitant but the two scholars are desperate to force the coalition on her and her female villagers.
We see here that Onwueme right away wants to address feminism is not only not always the right choice for some women, but sometimes gets out of hand. Yemoja is a vibrant woman, asserting her own brand of feminism by rethinking working with two scholars after they demand her to do so. The scholars, the undoubtedly without meaning to, are acting as forthright as many of the men they have grown to hate, attempting to force entire villages of women to take up a cause they do not believe in. Their vision is so clouded with the idea that feminism will change everything. They believe it is the absolute and only way for women to save themselves from the tyranny of men, that they cannot see Yemoja and her female counterparts were fine without feminism. What is more, they cannot see Yemoja and her female counterparts were exercising feminism before they showed up.
The feminist movement causes a severe disruption in Yemoja’s village. The men and women become upset with one another when peace once reigned supreme. Yemoja’s husband and father also become upset with other, causing her great distress. Even the scholar’s families are beginning to disagree with their movement. Daisy’s husband starts believing she is pursuing it too aggressively, and forcing her beliefs on people that do not desire any change. They frequently fight about her ferocity to change those who did not need to change. Yemoja’s mother-in-law appears to be the only character who can withstand the trials of feminism, encouraging Yemoja to take part in the normal tribal rituals and remain steadfast in her beliefs . Sherifat, Yemoja’s mother-in-law, expresses it would be awful if Yemoja succumbed to the wiles of feminism, changing because others asked her to and not because she wished to do so. Eventually, Daisy’s crusade to convert Yemoja’s village costs her everything, including her daughter, as she begins to understand more of Yemoja’s culture and its purity. Bose understands less of her mother’s desire to conform every woman to the standards of femininity, as to Bose, being a feminist begins to mean being one’s own women, which essentially seems to be what Tess Onwueme is attempting to say throughout the piece.
Tess Onwueme’s novel is a critique in itself on how an excess of feminism can poison a culture from the outside to the inside or, in Daisy’s case, from the inside to the outside. There was no better place to set this example than in Africa, where women were considered so “behind the times” that western feminists would only assume they would be helpless and desperate for guidance. Tess Onwueme used the contrasting backdrop to show that strong women can be found anywhere. She also used the backdrop as a comparison to show that not only is feminism not as it seems, but that the definition and meaning have been distorted from the beginning. Daisy nearly went mad with her efforts to bring feminism to the women of Africa without realizing she was being as oppressive as the men she was attempting to fight. Her judgment so clouded by the idea of “freeing” the African villagers, she was unable to reconcile these women in all of their culturally rich splendor were stronger than she ever could be. The fact that she could not understand why they wanted to remain culturally rich, strong, and steadfast in their ways was of no consequence.
The apt point Tess Onwueme attempted to make was that power can be found anywhere, even in the indigenous tribes of Africa were westerners believed women were tirelessly subjugated. This fact was proven untrue several times throughout the story. The village showed that women wielded power in many societal roles without the help of a man and of no consequence to feminism. For example, African women in the novel held all the power in the marketplace and in their homes. Though men had to display a certain amount of power outside of the home, there were certain arenas that women reigned supreme. The birthing table was another example of the where a woman was in charge. Though it is arguable that the author may have overlooked how little these seats of power actually mean in terms of societal roles. Many women die giving birth, or become ill helping in the process of giving birth, for instance. The author may have gone slightly adrift, assigned the role of ultra-antagonist to the westerners along with their ultramodern titles. However, this may have been necessary to display how deeply the roots of feminism spread. Not all indigenous tribes are known for creating powerful places for women, as Yemoja’s did. In turn, not all western-educated women are crazed feminists. This was addressed relatively briefly in the form of Daisy’s daughter, as she began to understand Yemoja’s tribe, and the true meaning of feminism. Although, Bose’s realizations about feminism still served more purpose toward the anti-feminist movement than toward defeating predetermined notions that these stereotypes were universal. Despite this, the message of the novel is still clear.
In sum, Tess Onwueme’s novel was filled with power, but also a certain sense of irony. Her goal was to show that feminism could often be self-serving. Women, sometimes western-educated women, use feminism as a crutch for their own crusade. In the end, it clouds their vision so much they cannot see that the women in front of them are already powerful, strong individuals who do not need any help. The irony of the novel takes place when Daisy becomes more of an oppressor than any man depicted in the novel does. The author could have represented all sides better, rather than stereotyping indigenous people and western-educated women as she did. Similarly, not all feminists are self-serving; some do have the best intentions of all women at the core of their beliefs and likely would have seen the tribe of women living peacefully and powerfully, and left. However, these aids would not have served the message Tess Onwueme was trying to voice, which was that at times, feminism is more of a weapon than a redeeming feature and in some places, what appears to be a culture stuck in the past is stronger than cultures advancing toward the future.
References
Onwueme, O. T. (1997). Tell It to Women: An Epic Drama for Women. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.
