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In Philadelphia, just before all the pink-cheeked Benin Volunteers of 2005 left for that country, a previous volunteer told us to remove the blue-tinted glasses to observe and learn about the culture we would be entering. No matter what color the tint of the shades were, the idea was that I am not to judge a culture while standing in my own. Every culture has positives and negatives, but I don’t want to compare to find which culture is “better.” <br />With that in mind, I write this not as objectively as I should: <br />To be a Beninese woman. I find it difficult to keep my house swept, my dishes clean, my dog and myself fed, my flowers watered, and my cockroaches dead, and I am only responsible for one human life. How does a woman keep a family and home in Benin? She is amazing, that’s how. And I know she is amazing because she feeds me regularly, and I see her carrying/herding freshly bathed, sweet-smelling babies and children to church. And her husband is well taken care of too. She carries her baby on her back to go to work, and is entirely professional to breast feed while working. Not only is it professional, but it is also assumed. Babies nurse throughout the day, thus babies are always with mom, end of question. Because she lives with her mother or sister or in-laws or someone who keeps the home if she is away, she can leave her older children at home.

Men and Women

Erika Kraus
2006-08-28 19:42:25

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thus with whom I converse. The men I know work, and work hard, to support their family and extended family and friends (and me and my dog…just kidding. Kinda.) He concerns himself with making enough money to feed everyone, paying the school fees, and buying all those things that are necessary to enjoy life.
I respect both the men and the women of this society. I can understand that a strong social role for girls and boys to be filled as women and men helps make a society smooth and functional. As a society progresses, though, and as machines and new methods lighten physical loads and help lighten the feminine and masculine workloads, as I put on slightly tinted glasses, the rigidity of social roles should slacken.
I see women who do not challenge the role she has been taught to fill, and men who, although taking care of family and business, have a lot of fun. Is it because of my privileged American life that I can challenge women to work harder to extend their social power, and to challenge men to accept women’s capability? Whether it was my family, society, or just my personality, I grew up thinking I was capable of doing anything. I also grew up very happily and comfortably, and I think the combination of those elements give people here, and men especially, a new view of a woman. I am happy, laughing, smiling, not wanting to upset anyone, but also doing as I please. Not having fear, and being accustomed to making my own decisions when I have options, is a large part of my ability to act as I want. Luckily, I have a conscience, and the not-wanting-to-upset-others trait keeps my “wants” in check.
I, the wisest, most intelligent, and most startlingly beautiful (“startlingly” being the key word there) 22-year-old from Kansas in all of Athieme will describe, or attempt to describe, my point of view as an American Woman in Benin. (Keep in mind that mine may not be the only opinion, but I am not chasing down the other wise, intelligent, startlingly ...