Introduction

Women and men are the oldest neighbors and rivals in this world. Together, they build, maintain, and destroy everything, even each other. Which makes them the rulers of the world. But, as the French proverb says, “A ship can only have one captain”. While conquering the whole universe side by side, women and men have been the biggest rivals for each other since the beginning of their existence one would say. As Simone de Beauvoir explains in her book The Second Sex, there is no historical event that can be considered as the cause or the beginning of the competition between men and women. Instead, it is a phenomenon inherited by every single generation of humans from their elders. And women are the ones suffering from it. In her book, Mme. de Beauvoir says that “… [women] have always been subordinate to men; [and] their dependence is not the consequence of an event or a becoming…” (8). In fact, men’s power over women is being cultivated and amplified by every generation of humans. To reinforce their control over women, men use religion, tradition, culture, and even language.

Historical and Cultural Roots of Gender Inequality

With regard to religion, Islam, for instance, is considered as on of the most misogynist religions by those who don’t know its core teachings. It takes a little history to see it clearly. While Islam strongly claims to give women more importance and voice than they were given at the time before the prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon him) came, the Western world argues that Islam is reducing women to slaves. Why? First, let’s not forget that women’s objectification began before the prophet. Especially in the Arab communities where daughters were buried alive by their fathers because they thought of them as a shame. Men had obviously no consideration for women at that time in the past. Then, after the Prophet, most written hadiths, which are the Sunna, telling the tales of the life and behavioral examples of the prophet, come from his wives. One hadith for a Muslim is like the Pythagorean theorem for a mathematician. And those teachings are still being applied by men and women. More importantly, fathers now in Arab countries don’t bury their daughters, but raise them. That’s one of the examples that proves that Islam is not misogynistic, since women went from being buried alive to being counted as heads of religious teachings. If Islam is not diminishing women, then the people who claim to be Muslims are the ones doing the discrimination. Mme. de Beauvoir says that “[men] have put philosophy and theology in their service … Delighted in depicting women’s weaknesses” (11). In short, no God created women as men’s slaves, instead men take benefit in claiming it.

Insights from Simone de Beauvoir and Mariama Bâ

Meanwhile, in Africa, girls are being taken out of schools and locked in houses to serve as wives. African men pretend that females don’t need school, but a household and a bunch of kids. Those males also dare say that females are not intelligent and that a female doesn’t think rationally. As Mme. de Beauvoir states, males pretend that “[a female] thinks with her hormones” (5). Thus, women need a guide, and who is that going to be? A man. To support their opinions, African men use their different cultures and religions. However, the main reason is not that of women being weak or incapable of succeeding in school. Instead, educated women are “… becoming [economic] competitors” (12). The more women learn either from normal schools or religious ones, the more they understand their rights and men’s obligations towards them. Not to mention that getting a degree frees a woman from men’s grief – men can’t control or lie to her that easily. Moreover, hiding knowledge from women is not a new thing. Consequently, African communities are known for a large number of instructed males against generations of females who have either never been in a classroom or dropped out after getting married, or because their parents thought that going to school was a waste of time for females. The worst scenario is when a husband takes his wife out of school simply because he doesn’t want her to have the same degree as his – they say that it brings trouble. Again, no culture or tradition is unbiased when it comes to sharing chores between men and women. Instead, men take laws and norms as granted, and make those fit their objectives. So, it’s not solely a culture or a tradition that defines women as men’s servants, but men themselves use all available means to keep women below them. And, keeping females far from knowledge, which is the key to everything, is very efficient.

Furthermore, in the Western world language plays a huge role in men’s control over women. The most recent and popular languages, like English, are built on a very sexist basis. In fact, English words describing women make them less important than men. For instance, “wo-man” derives from the word “man.” Women are thus subconsciously forced to believe that men are superior. Since men create and control languages, they control the thoughts of people who use those languages.

“If there is no such thing today as femininity, it is because there never was”, Mme. de Beauvoir says (4). Femininity is a stereotype for females, but the role and place of an African female in Africa are different from the one of an Asian female. Moreover, two different tribes in the same country are more likely to have different meanings of what is being feminine or female. For instance, the Indian females dress very differently from French females or Americans. Females play different roles in each society. Thus, it’s not a universal thing to be feminine. Instead, it’s a set of beliefs each culture in the world has. The one thing that is very common is that females are victims of verbal and physical abuse by males. In short, femininity is a cultural construct that only stands for one community according to their worldview. There is not one standard role or characteristic that defines being a woman for all the women in the world.

That’s why Mme. de Beauvoir, in her book, goes deep into the roots of that sexual discrimination, which no one can remember. Then she tries to cast how the oppression of females is carried on both sides. In fact, a female “… often derives satisfaction from her role as Other” (10). That is to say that, females enjoy being treated as subordinates. For instance, many are the females who complain about not having a male who can take care of them and cherish them. Furthermore, females like to be in the category of feeble people when it comes to dangerous and risky situations. For instance, females complain and get angry if one of them is left behind in such circumstances. Males get the benefit of being the top sex as well because it makes them the rulers of their communities. More importantly, males rule females in all aspects of their lives. Therefore, females as well as males are contributing to the oppression of females.

Not only does Mme. de Beauvoir “… [attacks] conventional male images that [depict] women as inferior” as Helen Rappaport states, but she also blames women for playing a role in it and “… [urges] women to exercise their free will and fight back…”. For example, Mme. de Beauvoir points out that, “[a] woman does not think of herself without man”, while a man does think of himself with no reference to a woman. In other words, women are convinced that they can’t survive without men. They plan and live their lives according to men’s decisions and actions, instead of their own. First, Mme. de Beauvoir states that men use language and culture to support their unfairness toward women. For instance, she says that laws, history, religions, etc. are written by men since they are the rulers. That assumption can be verified with English, which is recent and completely sexist. Also, history always shows the woman as the servant of the man. Plus, in many African cultures, a woman and her children are like the property of a man. However, women appreciate the fact that they don’t go to war or do hard work because men do it for them. Not to mention that men do whatever it takes to get wealth and share it with a woman. That’s somehow the good side of sexual discrimination, but not the only one or even the largest aspect of it. Hence, women have their part to play in order to gain their freedom from men.

However, men are central to the sexual discrimination against women. Men have all things set up to hold women captive as shown above. There are men who realize that women are not inferior and must be treated as equal to men, but the majority are the ones who are benefiting from the oppression of females. Under those circumstances, no one can predict when females are going to be treated fairly in their communities. The situation may be getting better, since women are now working in all sectors and have a voice in politics, but “… is this change a good thing?” (10). Right now, a woman is not forced to stay home and cook, and she can dress like a man and act like a man. However, females are victims of verbal abuse in their workplaces and along the streets. For instance, some males sexually harass their female assistants and coworkers, and the way males address females on the street as if women are sex tools is very disrespectful. To sum up, males are abusing females in various ways. Most of the time, men act like they want to be fair to women, while it’s just a trap. Thus, men must be the first to be condemned for sexual discrimination.

Mme. de Beauvoir and Mariama Bâ were living in the same period of time. Facing women’s oppression in different terms and conditions. While Mme. de Beauvoir didn’t want a husband, Mme. Bâ was married and had children, which makes their ways of dealing with the problem even more distinctive. Mme. de Beauvoir was in Europe, which was considered more developed and enlightened than Africa, where Mme. Bâ lived. However, the two were fighting the same oppressor which was the man. Their approaches to the subject of sexual discrimination against women were a little different, but they all did show their opinions through their works since they had been to school and written documents. In fact, Mme. de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex was not only a denunciation of the evil done by males against females, but also a call to rise against the tyrant man and a demonstration that the problem was not really a problem, but an illusion. In other words, Mme. de Beauvoir dug deep in order to show the world that not much connection can be found between females and women. As a matter of fact, femininity was not really a thing since each community had its own definition of the character and place of a woman – this fact didn’t change. So, Mme. de Beauvoir called for an awakening. She wanted the females to be enlightened, and the males to be aware of the nonsense of their beliefs of superiority. Whereas, Mme. Bâ’s novel, So Long a Letter, is less attacking and more of an illustration of the pain through which an African went throughout her life and a way for a common ground between males and females. In her novel, Mme. Bâ wanted to show the lives of a mother, a wife, and a co-wife could be. Then, she brought the attention to marriage and love. She also demonstrated the strengths and capabilities of females and advocated equality of the sexes. All things considered, time and space didn’t matter. Females were objectified, disrespected, and reduced to silence everywhere in the world.

In So Long a Letter, Mme. Bâ illustrates all the aspects of being an African female from childhood to adulthood with all the different states of mind. Up to the present time, giving birth to a female is not as joyfully appreciated as giving birth to a male, which makes the female gender look like a burden from the child’s first seconds. Like racism, sexual discrimination is based not on the choices or behaviors of the discriminated people, but on the things those people don’t have control of. That is to say that, females are discriminated for being what they are, human as males. But the difference from males is perceived as being bad, since all things can’t be the same for humans, there has to be the opposite of everything. As a result, males choose to be the bright side of humanity and call the females the dark side of it. That perception is deeply rooted in humanity’s history and culture and it is somehow accepted by both females and males at some point. Even though advocating women’s rights and equality to men, Mme. Bâ says that she “… [envies another woman] for having only boys!” and that she “…[faces] terrors … in dealing with the problems of [her] daughters” (92). In short, as Mme. states, “social constraints are ever-present, and male egoism resists” (93). Perhaps females are treated as weak, dark, and evil because the human being’s mind perceives opposition in everything and that the females at the beginning of human existence failed in the competition for the strongest sex. From that point of view, one can assume that it is either male rulers or female rulers with maybe the same outcome. What we know is that females are not judged for their decisions and actions, but regardless. And that is, from the beginning of each female’s journey in this world to the end because they are the “other”.

Furthermore, Mme. Bâ, in her narrative, describes the unfairness in which women are treated when it comes to marriage in Africa. She writes that “… all women have the same fate, which religions or unjust legislation have sealed” (93). In other words, females are like toys and follow rules that are nothing but ways to keep them quiet and obedient to men; and trying to change or add something to those rules is considered as committing the biggest crime ever. For instance, women are told that “God will punish [them]…” if they disobey or refuse a man’s offer, whether good or bad for the women (72). In fact, women are treated like dolls which every man chooses according to his tastes to decorate his house and life, or just to make look more powerful than his fellow male, because he has the most beautiful doll. In a sense, women are chased like deer. When a man finds a female he likes, he doesn’t care much about what she needs or wants, but is focused on the impact of having her next to him: is his family going to like her? Are his friends going to give him respect for having such a beautiful woman? Is she capable of giving birth? Beautiful kids? While “A wife must understand, once and for all, she must forgive” (Bâ 35). For example, a single mother has more difficulties marrying or going on a date with another man, whereas a single father doesn’t feel any constraint if he wants to start a relationship with another woman. In fact, the man is even encouraged to find a partner, while the woman is perceived as responsible for every bad thing that happened to her in the past and is considered to be incapable of keeping a man. Moreover, especially in African cultures, a child’s success is credited to the father and all failures are credited to the mother. Again, the woman is victimized for the one thing that she can never gain control of, which is coming to earth. In a like manner, she is given all the reasons to believe that she can only be wrong since the man is always right.

But, what hurts the most, is to know that women are so accustomed to being segregated that they now define their own selves the way men do characterize them. Women tend to be the first to complain about loneliness and abandonment. Sometimes, what a woman asks for, shows that she is accepting to be the “other”. For example, when a woman complains about the time she spends with her husband or boyfriend, she actually shows that she needs that she needs the love and attention of a man to be happy. And, when a couple breaks up, the woman is the one who is most likely to try desperately to find out what she did wrong. That being the case, the fight for women’s rights, even though supported by some men, is not an easy one to win. For the simple reason that “If men alone are active in [seeking for leadership positions and taking decisions], why should they think of the women?” (Bâ 64). In a word, as a result of centuries of physical and mental abuse, women, somehow, accept and are persuaded to be the wrong human beings, and that men are the perfect ones.

Eventually, Mme. Bâ also gives her opinions on how to solve the issue between females and males not exactly like Mme. de Beauvoir, and probably because of their different lives since one is a wife with children while the other is not. Perhaps being a mother softened the pain of Mme. Bâ. While advocating for “… [the] right to equal well-paid employment…”, she also believes in “… the complementarity of man and woman” through love which she describes as a “… natural link between these two beings” (Bâ 63, 93). Then she adds that “a man’s success depends on feminine support” (Bâ 59). In other words, Mme. Bâ’s solution is not a separation of the two sexes, but a balanced union between the two. For Mme. Bâ, the best way to deal with sexual discrimination is to value the alliance between men and women and live as equal partners.

The Progress Made in Women’s Rights

Currently, there is a lot going on in the fight for women’s rights. From the Declaration of Seneca Falls in 1849 by Elizabeth Cady-Stanton to Hillary Clinton’s candidature for the Presidency in the United States of America, there is an evident change in the way a woman is viewed by the world. Now, we can see a lot of women working in offices, driving their own sports cars, living in their own houses, and owning businesses that some men can’t afford. That’s a big change that is the result of many years of protests and actions done by both men and women. Right now, young girls are populating schools and competing with boys for better grades. Moreover, in most Western African countries like Guinea, NGOs are fighting for the betterment of women’s employment and private companies are starting to be more open to females seeking jobs than even males, in a sense. In sum, women’s fights for their freedom are not in vain. Women are gaining territory in their march towards equality of the sexes in all domains.

Currently, there is a lot going on in the fight for women’s rights. From the Declaration of Seneca Falls in 1849 by Elizabeth Cady-Stanton to Hillary Clinton’s candidature for Presidency in the United States of America, there is an evident change on the way a woman is viewed by the world. Now, we can see a lot of women working in offices, driving their own sport cars, living in their own houses, and owning businesses that some men can’t afford. That’s a big change which is the result of many years of protests and actions done by both men and women. Right now, young girls are populating schools and competing with boys for better grades. Moreover, in most western African countries like Guinea, NGOs are fighting for the betterment of women’s employment and private companies are starting to be more open the females seeking jobs than even males, in a sense. In sum, women’s fights for their freedom are not in vain. Women are gaining territory in their march towards equality of the sexes in all the domains.

However, men on their side don’t take the change in women’s situation as a lost battle. Instead, in a man’s mind, women are just allowed to do such and such to keep them quiet. Males think that they are fooling women by giving them a little place to play around. For instance, men usually make a mockery of a woman who aspires to higher positions of responsibility, whether in her family or at her workplace. Some women are persuaded to be doing what they want while they are doing what men want them to do. If we take a look at the fact that, while men wear more or less layers of clothes to look “fancy”, women are supposed to show about eighty percent of their body to look good and attractive whether during cold weather or not; it’s clear that this dress code works at the disadvantage of women. Another big issue is the verbal and physical aggression against women. Most men don’t see women as humans but as tools made for pleasure. For instance, in schools, teachers date their female students in exchange for good grades while it’s in all schools’ codes that a teacher is not permitted to date a student, but they get away with that crime. Plus, many girls are hired because of their physical appearance, because the boss wants to be in a relationship with the woman in question. In short, women shouldn’t view the progress they are making as if they have achieved their goals, because there is still a lot of work to do. That is to say that women are not really treated the same way as before. The one thing that has changed is the means used to oppress women.

Conclusion and Future Outlook

To put it briefly, females are not weak or incapable of doing things men can do. The reason is that women and men are built differently, both mentally and physically. Each has some unique abilities and strengths while also having a lot in common. That doesn’t make one better than the other. Females are the only ones who can give birth, which is part of what makes them unique. Females, nowadays, dress like males and do former men-only jobs, and, some of them, even like to behave and talk like the stereotypical male. Are some of those aspects related to the thinking that being viewed as a female is wrong? Or are they rooted in nurture? Males need females as much as females need males. One doesn’t have to be better than the other or subjugate the other. They are not comparable but equal in terms of importance. There needs to be equal respect for each person’s uniqueness and their strengths when it comes to common abilities.

Bâ, Mariama. So Long a Letter. Waveland Press, 2012.

Beauvoir, Simone de. The Second Sex. Knof, 2009.

Rappaport, Helen. “Beauvoir, Simone de (1908–1986) France”. Encyclopedia of Women Social Reformers, ABC-CLIO, 2001. Credo Reference, https://search-credoreference-com.butlerlib.butlercc.edu/content/entry/abcwsr/beauvoir_simone_de/0.