A Celebration of Life / At 50, Levittown Contends with Its Legacy of Bias / Confessions of Economic Hit Man - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages This Mama proves to be a cut above others in terms of the vivid description of the qualities she possessed in various facets of life in the society. She set a positive social precedence to her children by showing high standard of respect, mutual trust and complement to the husband. This is actually in line with the biblical and even the society’s social definition of a wife material that any man who wish to succeed in life would want . The attributes of Philomena describes the class of a woman who encourages the husband besides support and this as the biography goes made the whole family prosperous. The mode of balancing her competing roles and the tricky gender in which she belongs put her ahead of the pack and sets her as a role model to the womenfolk. It is worth noting that the writer says that the Mom revered the Dad and gave him peace of mind with virtually zero space for petty disputes and bedroom quarrels if there was any. African culture does not limit the ownership of a woman to the husband but it declares her as a common property to the extended family and the entire community at large. This is a scenario which is well explained by Mama Philomena’s character through her unrestricted social, moral and economic support she gave beyond her on family members. In the definition of an ideal woman, Mama Philomena qualifies under this classification .2. In the larger social fabric Mama Philomena earned a name in the community due to her great contribution to the economic stabilization of the area. Here is a case where She begun and sustained Tobacco business that not only attracted the locals but went beyond the borders of Nigeria. She presents a good example that supports the old say among many African communities that “raise a woman and you have raised the entire community, raise a man and you have raised a single person” which simply states that a woman covers the interest of the entire society but actions of men and hidden interests are limited to their wife and children only. The entire community in regard to the message delivered by the writer exposes how Mama Philomena introduced and nurtured many people to the booming business of tobacco without any form of discrimination3. It is quite interesting that she did not just stop at that but also broke the culture of skewed economic empowerment on women by the society. She attained this through staging a historic legal duel against the male chauvinists in the society who wanted her relinquish the tobacco shed in the newly constructed market. It is evident that through her positive and peaceful influence she made a sober approach and won a number of supporters against the male dominated protagonists’ and won the case to the jubilation of the entire community. This marked the beginning of the formal recognition of women rights and the significant economic contribution they can make if given the opportunity. On this account she actually earned a name “Win” and stood tall among fellow women as a dependable, reliable and true women rights’ activist. Even in the contemporary world there has been a raging debate on what men can do and what women cannot do. Mama Philomena proves this belief otherwise by offering a service that is glued in people’s mind that only men can measure up to. Considering the case in which single handedly shouldered the cost of the funeral ceremony of her mother-in-law to the surprise of the predominantly patriarchal community. This was a boost to the potential of any woman which is just sat on by men. That notwithstanding, the woman ...Download file to see next pagesRead More