Soukeyna Pitroipa, Grade 11
​UWC Costa Rica

It was the summer after my first year of high school, and between training and resting my 12-year-old bones. I was bored. Living in an African intellectual household, it was inconceivable for my parents that their child was doing nothing. As a result, my mother bought me this book that was 164 pages and asked me to read it, so that we could have a discussion after. She told me that I was old enough to understand this book that has changed her perspectives on the relationships between males and females in households. She introduced me to the person who made me realize how our patriarchal society is oppressing women, Mariama Bâ.

Mariama Bâ was a Senegalese author, feminist, and activist born in 1929 in the capital Dakar, where she lived for most of her childhood. After the death of her mother, she was mostly raised by her maternal grandmother, who was of Muslim confession and strongly attached to Senegalese traditions. However, the conservative environment did not stop her from becoming the first African woman to openly address, in French, the oppression of women in her novel" Une si Longue Lettre" or so-called in English "A so long letter."

The book is a long letter that Ramatoulaye, the protagonist of the book, wrote to her childhood friend, Aissatou, writing about her past marriage, polygamy, the women's conditions during her childhood, and the caste system in Senegal. Some of the events thatRamatoulaye faced in the novel are based on the author's experiences. One common denominator is that they both have many children; This is the most undeniable parallelism between both women's lives. Ramatoulaye had twelve children, and Mariama had nine, raising such a large family worsened the author's health condition, and she was forced to leave her teaching post for becoming a secretary and school inspector. After four years of marriage, she divorced and got married twice, which also resulted in divorces, then she gave up on living a stable marital condition. At this moment, this specific question aroused: How to be a free woman?

In the case of Ramatoulaye, the question was: "how to be free when you have faced a polygamous household with its inequalities?" the fact or custom of being married  to more than one person at the same time" (Cambridge dictionary.org) Indeed, in the story, before Ramatoulaye's husband passed away, he had married a younger second woman without taking into consideration the opinion of his partner. Ramatoulaye accepted her fate in contrast to her childhood friend Aissatou, who chose to divorce her husband when he decided to marry a seventeen-year-old girl as a second wife. This passage of the letter highlights one of the characteristics of Mariama Bâ; she was against polygamy even though she has lived in a conservative Muslim household. According to her: "We don't share with a happy heart a husband." This social practice has been a way to objectify and oppress women, resulting in emotional damages. In her letter to Aissatou, the protagonist share her emotions and pain when her husband took a second spouse. While reading her letter, you can feel that she has felt heartbroken and jealous. The author shows the consequences of polygamy, which can create jealousy, divisions, and unhealthy competitions, intoxicate the women's community and perpetuate the patriarchal system where men have the power to control women. 

One of the great lessons that we can learn from her book is the solidarity between women because at the end of the day, all-female face oppression from the patriarchy. By writing to her friend, Aissatou, a long letter, Ramatoulaye not only shares her experience in a polygamous household, but she also shares solidarity in womanhood. The author expressed that, no matter the circumstances, whether it's your experiences, backgrounds or choices, women should be united to face injustices. We should not let anyone divide us.

I think the great answer to the question "how to be free?" is quite obvious now. We have to stand in unity to fight against oppression. Even if it implies going against our culture and making a change within our environment. These values that Mariama shared in her novel led her to win the first-ever Noma Award in Africa in 1980. She was one of the pioneers of literature in Senegal, and her words in a ¨So long letter" have charmed international communities, and it is even cited in a wide range of feminist work. I admire this woman because, even at 51 years old, she impacted a whole community and country with her feminist ideologies. Moreover, I appreciate her bravery because she took her bad marital experiences as an inspiration for pointing out the patriarchy. Furthermore, she accomplished something at a time no other women had done. She is someone that easily inspires you to carry out your fight for equality. My journey of feminism has come a long way. During this journey, I have encountered accounter my weaknesses, doubts, challenged my culture and thoughts. Mariama already has inspired me by making me realize the underground of our society and challenge my beliefs at such a young age. So what about you?

Feel free to read her book one day.
Bibliography:
Biography of Mariama Bâ on Unesco: https://en.unesco.org/womeninafrica/mariama-ba-0/biography
Biography of Mariama Bâ on encyclopedia: https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/
​english-literature-20th-cent-present-biographies/mariama-ba
Article about Mariama Bâ in French: https://www.africavivre.com/portraits-africains-portraits-
​afrique/mariama-ba-une-femme-une-militante-une-ecrivaine.html
Definition of Polygamy: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/polygamy