I need to be exorcised of these demons, they push me beyond my limitations, breaking boundaries dredged up from ancestors long gone. I need to shut these voices, telling me I am different. What do they know? This intelligence, of what use is it to me? I don’t need it in the kitchen, where my hands have been trained to cook onugbu soup as rich as my mother’s. How can this frail waist and skinny arms birth and cuddle a child? Of what use is my head if it cannot bow in submission.
I need to be exorcised, to fall back in line, before society notices that I am different. This madness I call imagination, I need it doused. Of what use is my hand, holding a pen while the broom lies neglected. These legs, I need them to stop. Pursuing career, outrunning suitors.
I need, need to be exorcised till I am just another African woman.
kosikeme
January 11, 2014 at 8:05 pm
Awesome…..impeccable. I love it. Nice one,Kemy
geemgbenka
January 12, 2014 at 7:15 am
This is deep…I like
Chimdalu
January 12, 2014 at 7:35 am
wow! What an awesome piece you’ve got here Kemy.
C.I.A Babe
January 12, 2014 at 9:10 am
Hmmmm,
This is deep and it raises a some questions…
Who exactly is this African woman?
Is the African woman stereotyped?
Are Intelligence and African woman mutually exclusive?
Why must imagination in the african woman be doused?
Does marriage define the African woman or is it just for fulfilment? Should it?
Nkem answer me oo…
Hahhahaha.
ubermindlessness
January 12, 2014 at 11:46 am
This is a fucking beautiful peace.
*drops pen and resumes sweeping*
Morenike Jupi-Igbeka
January 12, 2014 at 7:41 pm
Lol @ outrunning suitors. God help us all- this intelligence and self-awareness will be the death of African Women, just wait and see.
yummy nomyq
January 13, 2014 at 12:59 am
Thank you so much Nkem for this piece
“…….These legs, I need them to stop. Pursuing career, outrunning suitors.”…….
Whether we like it or not the african woman is constantly being emancipated
Its ok for a “fufilled” 30 to 35 year old to marry a 21 year old
Who is just starting out on life
Its ok to abandon your dream job n let ur husband open up a shop for you
All in the name of marriage
After all the years in uni and numerous certifications
Its ok to go from happy n content to suddenly marriageable
At the completion of nysc (please is it an overnight process)
Thank you nkem
Emmanuel Oputa
January 13, 2014 at 3:01 pm
Can love be orchestrated? Is your career more important than your love? The question shouldn’t be when, but who. But then again, everyone (African Woman) deserves the right to be who they want to be (either typically African “broom sweeping” or emancipated “career woman”)
Ifeanyi
January 13, 2014 at 6:35 am
Exorcism is such an interesting way to think about this issue! As far as I know, you nailed the African housewife identity crisis. Well done, woman!
Emmanuel Oputa
January 13, 2014 at 3:07 pm
Beautiful piece. I think everyone (male and female) have been given a choice. To marry at 21 or at 41. To work for 45 years of your life or to nurse kids for 20 years of your life. To build a home or to build a career.
An who says you can’t have it all. Must one be neglected for the other? Personally, I love the pen wielding, broom totting, house warming, goal getting, child nursing, pace setting, and foundation laying woman; who I know All African women are inately capable of being.
ken iheanyi amadi
January 23, 2014 at 7:57 pm
Hmmm..in ma opinion i think both sides are highly important but gettin it right wud mean striking a balance btw career n family/luv, work n play, etc etc..
Hardwork o buh very feasible
Lady tee
July 15, 2014 at 5:17 pm
Beautiful. Short and concise. Spritely. Refreshing sarcasm, I think. Thought-provoking. ‘Finding the balance’ is tricky for the African woman, akin to a circus clown riding a bicycle on a suspended rope. We press on, that’s what humanity is about. We try to try. Well done, Nkem!