Nervous Conditions Analysis

“Nervous Conditions” by Tsitsi Dangarembga follows a young woman in her journey to find herself and break away from the restrictive culture she was raised in. Even so, the young women, named Tambu, faces challenges because of the strong traditions that are prevalent in her community. Through the struggles of poverty and sexism, Tambu manages to still learn a lot about herself and her community. In this book reflection, I will be discussing the implications of living in a traditional society as well as the similarities that modern developed nations have to the traditional society that Tambu lived in. Additionally, I will discuss some methods that may help change communities where women continue to be second class citizens. In the novel, there
Obviously, sexsim is nowhere near as bad in America today, but this is similar to America because of the misogynist society that still exists in the United States. Women aren’t fully treated as equal counterparts to men, which puts women at a disadvantage. For example, women are still expected to be the main caregivers of children in a household, even if they work. This phenomenon is known as the “second shift” and it is prominent in the American culture. This is similar to the culture that Tambu experienced because the women in her family were in charge of household chore, rather than the men helping out
This was historically the view on women worldwide, and is still a reality in many developing nations. The 1960s in Rhodesia gives a clear example of how differently men were treated compared to women in the sense that men were given more opportunities and were expected to do less things, such as housework and childcare, which slowed them in establishing educationally and/or career wise. In turn, women weren’t able to put as much effort into their education and careers which set them back from their male counterparts. An example of the burden put on women is apparent when Tambu describes having lots of guests staying over at Babamukuru and Mairguru’s. The women were expected to cook and clean for everyone even though this meant sacrificing their own needs, “Sometimes we returned in time for the afternoon meal, eaten between two and three o’clock, and sometimes we did not. But whatever time we returned was in time to cook the next meal or was the previous meal’s dishes.” This shows how hard the women in particular had to work just to cater to the men. Tambu continues, “Maiguru worked harder than anybody else, because as the senior wife and owner of the cooking facilities as well as the provider of the food to cook