There are lots of theories why women like me exist. Smart, highly-educated, beautiful, sexy, great cook. Also, Type A, neat-freak, no-nonsense, impatient, brutally honest. Unmarried and childless. By choice! They say we had strong female figures in our lives who over shadowed the male figures (if they were around). They say we are jaded because some guy in our past duped us. They say we are ‘apuskeleke.’ They say we hate men. They say we are lesbians. The list goes on. It never occurs to anyone that perhaps marriage is not meant for everyone, nor does it have to have a timeline, nor does the same timeline have to apply to everyone.
Life Beyond the Vacation
A place I hadn't lived in for 16 years. I am taking a big leap of faith dragging myself off to another continent and especially to a country where sexism and homophobia have lunch together every day. A place where any sense of progressiveness is sometimes seen as an adoption of Western ideals and a booting of the traditional homegrown ones. Homophobia and sexism are preached in the pulpit on Sundays at most churches, discussed and prayed about at Bible Study on weekdays, and argued about over Star beer in the local chop bars where men retreat to instead of going home to their toiling wives.
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“They Are From the Motherland!” (International Women’s Day at Bard College, Simon’s Rock)
So I’m doing all the things I imagine celebs doing—shaking hands, nodding yes’s and no’s, thinking up quick answers to various questions ranging from “who inspired this or that story” to “why do you write”—when I glance over and see a group of giggling young women of African descent. Their excited faces give me the … Continue reading “They Are From the Motherland!” (International Women’s Day at Bard College, Simon’s Rock)
Musings of An African Woman 