“The Women Who Wanted to Govern the Land”

22 February 2012

Normally I would expect a kids’ story to guide their morals and give a model of good behavior using themes such as “honesty is always the best policy,” “happiness cannot be purchased” or “be generous to those who have less than you.” Having said this, you can imagine my surprise when I read this Ethiopian folklore story in a children’s book.(disclaimer: All grammar is true to the original text I copied it from)

“The Women Who Wanted to Govern the Land”

People say that once upon a time women rose up against men. The women said that men were prejudiced against them.

“We are oppressed and downtrodden” they declared.

“We are only allowed to attend to household affairs otherwise we are completely ignored!”

They discussed this among themselves, getting more angry, and decided to go to court and protest so if they went in a body.

When they reached the court, they were welcomed by the noblemen and the high officials of the government, who politely asked the reason for their coming.

“We are protesting” said the women “We have never been given any responsibilities but minding the house and cooking and bringing up children! We want to have great responsibilities and important work to do, as you have! We want all sorts of positions in the government! We are no weaker than you! Give us your work and we will do it as well as you do!”

The high officials and the noblemen listened to the demands of the women and they were much surprised. They said they must have time to discuss the matter privately, and so they did.

On one thing the men were all agreed. They said the women could not possibly be trusted to run the government, for what did women know about law and the court procedure? But the trouble was that if the men did not meet the women’s demands, the women could make their lives miserable at home. Husbands would be henpecked. Wives might even refuse to cook the means or mind the children. So what was to be done?

At last the high officials and the noblemen hit on a plan. They called the women before then and said, “You must go to the king’s palace. Only the king can decide whether your request should be granted. But we are going to give you a heavy responsibility. You are to deliver a secret message to the king. The message is enclosed in this box, which must on no account be opened.”

So the high officials and the noblemen gave the women a small box tightly closed and sent them on their way to the king’s palace. They were proud to have such a responsibility and they carried the box with care. But as they journeyed on and on for it was a long road to the king’s palace, they grew more and more curious about what was in the box. Some thought they heard strange sounds coming from inside. Others said they heard no such thing. At last they decided to take a quick look in the box to find out who was right.

“Just a quick look would do no harm” they said “The kind will never know.” So gently and carefully they opened the box and out burst a beautiful golden bird! They sprang to catch it, but the bird flew up and away, high in the sky.

The women were terrified. They did not know what to do. Then one of them noticed that there was a sealed letter lying in the bottom of the box. “Look! The secret message is safe!” she cried. “the king will never know about the bird!”

So the women closed the box and went on their way with joy when they reached the palace, the king received them graciously, opened the box, and read the letter. Then he looked down from his thrown at the women and spoke in a voice like thunder “this letter tells me you were to bring me a bird of great rarity and beauty. Where is that bird?”

Then the moment they knew had no escape. They confessed what they had done.

The king looked at them severely “You have broken your promise” he said “you have not obeyed orders. How can we give you great responsibilities when you cannot even bear a small one?”

And the women had nothing to say. All they could do was go back to their cooking. THE END!

Now when my head starts to spin about gender inequality issues in Ethiopia I have an idea as to where it all begins. How many thousands or even millions of Ethiopian children grew up listening to this story and what ideas did it give them? Maybe as a PC project I should write my own children’s stories about how women’s empowerment was the secret to a country’s development, or how about the society that ruined all their natural resources and met their own demise. How about when all the abused animals started noticing that they outnumbered the people and retaliated? I am getting cynical but it is difficult not to because in my culture this overt chauvinism is wrong, and here it is the norm.

On a final note, a friend of my family’s, Rachel K, is in the final stages of adopting a girl from Ethiopia. It would bring me great pleasure if this little girl grew up to be a influential and radical politician that rallied for women’s empowerment. She’s not even 3 years old yet so maybe someone will beat her too it, but from what I’ve witnessed, Ethiopia is far from recognizing and respecting the importance of gender equality.