The Theme of Male Chauvinism in African Traditional Poem - Give Me the Minstrel's Seat

in #poetry5 years ago

kid-431662_1280.jpg
Give Me the Minstrel's Seat is a popular traditional African poem that originates from the Swahili people living in modern day Kenya. Therefore, the poem cannot be attributed to any particular author except that it was translated into English by only-God-knows-who.

Basically, the poem discusses the importance of companionship in human life, how a person who has companions is better than one who lives a solitary life. The poem further states that the troubles of life can easily be overcome when a person has good friends. Here are powerful lines from the poem:

As man goes through life soon he is pierced by the thorn, or the sand-mote enters his eye and he needs a friend to remove it.

However, having originated from a patriarchal society, it appears that the poem Give Me a Minstrel's Seat has some elements of male chauvinism embedded in it. In this regard, the poem stresses that women are nothing without men.

This portrays women has a pot of soup which needs the presence of man to add salt and flavour. There are many women all over the world who are successful and powerful without having men in their life. Hear the chauvinistic lines of the poem:

Let me ask for what reason or rhyme women refuse to marry?
Woman cannot exist except by man, what is there in man to vex some of them so?

The poem does not only project man as the pillar in a woman's life, it latently questions the motive of organizations that are advocating for the liberation and empowerment of women. The poem wants to know why women are finding it difficult to submit to their man.

In conclusion, I believe that, while the poem is great for stressing the importance of friendship and companionship in human life, it relegates women to the background. This is not good for the advancement of gender equality and liberation movements across the globe.

Give Me the Minstrel's Seat (Full Poem)

Give me the minstrel’s seat that I may seat and ask you a word, my friends.

Let me ask for what reason or rhyme women refuse to marry?

Woman cannot exist except by man, what is there in man to vex some of them so?

A woman is she who has a husband and she cannot but prosper. Cleave unto your man and his kinsmen will become jealous

His kinsmen have planted cocoyams but the fruit they reap is dum-palm nuts

We think you plant the borassus palm, the teak, the mnga and the solanum tree

When man goes on the road he goes with a friend, for he who walks alone has no good fortune.

As man goes through life soon he is pierced by the thorn, or the sand-mote enters his eye and he needs a friend to remove it.

Likewise I give you advice, the rich man and the poor man

Join hands across the shroud

Better a loin cloth without disgrace than the fine flowered shawl of shame.

Image sourced from Google

SUPPORT CORNER

Kindly follow the peerless vocabulary lessons presented by @majes.tytyty, and get rewarded with upvotes for your participation.

          Vocab-Ability – "Introduction to Vocab-Ability"  

Are you a minnow and you're already thinking of giving up on Steemit? Please don't quit. Kindly follow @Steemitcentral and use the steemitcentral tag in your posts to get some upvotes.

IMG-20180606-WA0005.jpg


I am @gandhibaba, the young man who goes about carrying his magical pen, not his gun, in his pockets.

Gandhi banner (925px, 25fps).gif

Gif courtesy of @artzanolino


Thanks for visiting my blog. I appreciate your precious time.

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.39
TRX 0.12
JST 0.040
BTC 70463.21
ETH 3549.83
USDT 1.00
SBD 4.87