"And how will it look when we go to OPEC meetings and it turns out that only Nigeria has a male minister?" he opines, garnering his wife's approval. “They won’t take us seriously.”
Imagine for a moment a world where women are in complete control and men serve as women's subordinates, a world where women are the presidents, lawmakers, and business moguls. This is the plot of Chimamanda's brief but captivating fictional story "The visit.” Although it can be finished in less than an hour, this book is jam-packed with knowledge and insights to ponder on.
In the book, Chimamanda questioned and flipped the gender roles that are often accepted in our traditional human society; males now play the part of women, and vice versa. The book is set in Nigeria and centers on Obinna, a stay-at-home father, in an unspecified near future where not much has changed. The book begins with Obinna watching an event unfold on TV where the American president is a woman and the US Supreme Court struck down the fictional Male Masturbatory Act, a forty-year-old law that stipulated 15 years in prison for men caught masturbating in the US. There are also male protesters holding placards behind the president that read: Respect the bodily autonomy of men; Our body, our choice.
Obinna watches the action unfold on TV with intense curiosity, moderately irritated by the outspoken Americans and their needless hysteria about sensitive but easily resolved matters. He claims that even if masturbation is forbidden in Nigeria, men can continue doing it in silence and in private like he does. It's a defense that makes sense up until Eze, a Nigerian visitor from the US, tells a tale of a man who was imprisoned when his girlfriend secretly recorded him in the act and reported it to the police. This situation is related to the recent anti-abortion laws that were created and adopted by primarily male lawmakers in the United States, and which were also upheld by primarily male judges of the United States Supreme Court.
The Visit also examines a number of issues related to gender stereotypes. As an example, Eze's mother, a doctor who works in the Middle East, maintains a cold, distant relationship with her son, which contrasts strongly with the warm, stoic attitude of Eze's stay-at-home father, who plays the caring, guiding role of a mother. In yet another instance of inverted gender roles, Obinna's wife expresses concern that Nigeria's new oil minister may be a man and, therefore, unqualified for the "sensitive position," a troubling concern he himself shares, no different from the opinions of women who support misogyny in the real world.
Obinna, meanwhile, plays the part of the envious, insecure husband, obsessing over his wife's male secretary, her male coworkers, and their houseboy, all of whom have rock-hard abs. These men are the evil forces threatening the marriage, which he desperately wants to preserve but is helpless to stop.
While Eze tries to resurrect a part of him he's left to dead, buried by his marriage, he laments the early days of their relationship before the professional triumphs and concomitant financial rewards came along.
A part of the book that moved me was when a policewoman behaves like a typical policeman and immediately chastises Eze for dressing like a prostitute before realizing he is "somebody's husband” and because his wife thinks "married men who were actors were considered promiscuous," Eze's father, a professional theater performer, resigned from his position. All shows what women go through in our society.
The Visit explores the ridiculousness of our gendered society, the gendered performance of marriage proposals, and even classism. Its a book everyone should read, but men in particular, because I believe Chimamanda's perspective will influence how men and women view and comprehend women in society and lead to positive change.
The book illustrates the artificiality and foolishness of so-called conventional values and evokes moments of sardonic laughter, thoughtful reflection, and downright annoyance.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is one of my favourite writers! I love her writing for its originality, honesty and style.
What is your favourite Chimamanda’s book?
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