Raising children has never been- and never will be- easy. It is the responsibility of adults across the globe to turn their newborn, crying baby into a fully functional, intelligent, socially competent being in typically less than two decades. In an attempt to universalize this seemingly huge task, many civilizations have established certain criteria to judge a child’s level of social readiness. These criteria are especially prominent in African cultures. From childhood, African children are taught to behave according to the rules prescribed upon their gender by their respective societies. However, children must also be taught that their voice matters, even if what they have to say contradicts social expectations. The novel Nervous Conditions
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In Nervous Conditions, Tambudzai (Tambu) witnessed many examples of how a female in her time period ought to express her opinion. Which is to say that she learned women are not to express their opinions at all. Tambu observes that “for most of her life my mother’s mind, belonging first to her father and then to her husband, had not been hers to make up” (Dangarembga 155). What she sees is that women are meant to passively accept their object-like positions and make the pleasing of males the top priority in their lives. Tambu also senses this attitude in her aunt, Maiguru, when she is describing the acquisition of her Masters Degree. “When I was in England I glimpsed for a little while the things I could have become if…if things were different…But that’s how it goes, Sisi Tambu! And when you have a good man and lovely children, it makes it all worthwhile” (Dangarembga 103). Here, it is made glaringly obvious to Tambu that even if she leaves the homestead and gets a top-notch education, she will always be limited by her gender. She sees this, looks at what consequences this has brought upon her mother and Maiguru, and refuses to accept this fate for herself. By being examples of what not to do, the women in Tambu’s life are providing the fuel to the fire that will drive her to pursue her education with the enthusiasm that she
In Nervous Conditions, Tambudzai (Tambu) witnessed many examples of how a female in her time period ought to express her opinion. Which is to say that she learned women are not to express their opinions at all. Tambu observes that “for most of her life my mother’s mind, belonging first to her father and then to her husband, had not been hers to make up” (Dangarembga 155). What she sees is that women are meant to passively accept their object-like positions and make the pleasing of males the top priority in their lives. Tambu also senses this attitude in her aunt, Maiguru, when she is describing the acquisition of her Masters Degree. “When I was in England I glimpsed for a little while the things I could have become if…if things were different…But that’s how it goes, Sisi Tambu! And when you have a good man and lovely children, it makes it all worthwhile” (Dangarembga 103). Here, it is made glaringly obvious to Tambu that even if she leaves the homestead and gets a top-notch education, she will always be limited by her gender. She sees this, looks at what consequences this has brought upon her mother and Maiguru, and refuses to accept this fate for herself. By being examples of what not to do, the women in Tambu’s life are providing the fuel to the fire that will drive her to pursue her education with the enthusiasm that she