Are these two the same???
"Who is the father of your children?"
"You are just being stubborn. That is of no importance any longer. I was not betrayed by that man. He thought that he was possessing me, but it wasn't true; my flesh was calling out to be satisfied, just as his was. I knew that he would abandon me, and in my heart I had already abandoned him. We will be in Dakar soon, and I shall stay there. I will be among my brothers, the beggars, and with my child, who will always be mine. A child may not know it's father Penda, but what child can question the body in which it lived for nine long months?" (p. 296)
This excerpt from "God's bits of wood" sheds light on a perspective that seemingly is becoming a pandemic amongst mothers in the U.S. as well as in Africa. In this passage Maimouna exudes this attitude of independence and sovereignty from the father since she is the one giving birth to the child. She expresses that she wanted to be intimate just as much as he did, in order to make it known that she did not fall victim to this man; but instead she had some control. I've noticed through media, people I know, etc that women have no problem with men not being in picture and fulfilling their role as the father. Perhaps this lackadaisical attitude stems from a history of men not being there for their children. I think that idea was implied in the paragraph above when she said that she knew he would abandon her. This type of behavior is now expected, and women now have responded accordingly.This type of attitude strikes me as feministic, which is a common theme throughout the novel "God's bits of wood." The author Sembene Ousmane also released the film "Faat Kine" which has a similar underlying theme of women becoming more independent and less dependent upon men.
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