Double Yoke

I'll begin by stating the obvious. Double Yoke is almost synonymous to double standard. What I mean by this is this. Both genders of this Nigerian society have two standards to uphold. For women, they are obligated to be good wives or to become educated women. For men, they are taught to view women as beneath them or they can choose to become more aware of the individualistic characteristics that females too can have. The most impressionistic scene I got from this reading was the conversation between Nko and her mother. Nko first talks to herself, saying she "would work hard at her studies," then later being conflicted by asking herself "for what is a woman if after all her degrees and what have you, she is not married?" (92-93). She then turns to her mother for advice. She wants to become an "academician" but also an "obedient wife" (94). Her mother is the first person to bring up this idea of a double standard or double yoke. It's almost ironic how women need to make this decision in the Nigerian society. Just thinking about this logically, wouldn't a nation want all its people to succeed? It's hard to immerse myself into a world that says you can't do both. Speaking of irony, Professor Ikot just crosses the line. I believe he was the one who gave Nko an advantage to coming to this particular college. He did this to try to show Nko how special and how bright she really is. THEN, he says that women can't get ahead unless they basically do sexual favors. I don't understand what kind of message he is trying to convey to Nko. He seems like he wants Nko to appreciate her intelligence, and to truly grow intellectually. However, he then tells Nko that she can't get far without exploiting her gender. This plays a role in the double standard because it shows, in a concrete way, that women (in this culture) virtually can't have best of the both worlds. Women cannot become an academician without exploiting themselves. Women who become wives, give up their ability to think by becoming an obedient wife. Think about the word obedient. It's a word that's almost used for animals. This connotation almost expresses how women are only as valuable as an animal, not a person.

Women face a double standard, and so do men. (However, I am less sympathetic towards the men!) On the last page of this book, Miss Bulewao states, "The community burden of going home with the person we care for to bury her dead, and yet the burden of individualism - that nowing that we are happier in somebody's comapny, however tainted...Women do have to make these decisions too you know" (163). What she means by this is this. (This is my interpretation of course). The fact that Ete went back to the home village of Nko, shows how he is willing to serve Nko. When I say serve I mean, Ete is willing to be with Nko because he knows she needs him. She needs him to be her strength and support. The fact that Ete did this, to help (or serve) Nko, he sheds the image of men always needing to be superior. Ete's double yoke is that he either becomes someone who needs to help someone else, or to be 'individualistic' and not serve. What I mean by this is that he could have chosen not to have been there for Nko. This would imply he doesn't truly care for Nko that he wouldn't shed his pride to be there for Nko. Both female and males have this double yoke, but I honestly can't sympathize for the men.