The Signatures of Saint-Louis and Goree - Case Study Example

Introduction In his essay “The signares of saint-louis and Goree: Women Entrepreneurs in Eighteenth- century Senegal”, the has discussed the life, customs and the multiple skills of African women called signares living in Senegal during the eighteenth century. His essay takes the reader into the depths of the signare’s world of the authority, status, power, business acumen and flamboyance. The essay makes the reader feel that the signares of Saint-Louis and Goree were more forward thinking and flamboyant than the women of today’s modern world. The accounts of the lives of the signares given by people who witnessed their lives during the eighteenth century are stunning and exotic. The signares of Saint-louis and Goree were blessed with strong mind, intelligence, loving heart, bold nature and flamboyance which made them extremely attractive, successful and the most sought after associates of their time. The social position of signares According to Galloway (1974), in the traditional time, women acquired wealth through the trade and were endowed with strong leadership qualities ( Brooks 20). During the eighteenth and the nineteenth century, it was a custom in Senegal to address the women who were respected for their influence, property ownership, wealth and success in trade, with the title of signare (which was “derived from Portuguese Senhora”) (Brooks 20). Due to their social power and strong business sense, they gained respect not only from the African people but also from the Euro-African and European people ( Brooks 20). The interesting part of their social power was their ability to utilize every source available to the maximum. They not only knew how to accumulate wealth through trade but also knew how to utilize their wealth to lead a lavish lifestyle (Brooks 20). They had number of domestic slaves working for them, possessed gold and silver jewelry and wore rich clothes (Brooks 20). Hence, they not only were achievers in the field of trade, but also knew how to make use of their wealth to live a lavish lifestyle (Brooks 20). In short, they were endowed with both, masculine and feminine qualities of strength and grace. Their ability to use their keen business sense to multiply their wealth and to use their grace to attract the men made them ‘complete’ women. The attractive qualities if signare Saint-Louis and Goree were two island settlements founded by the French (Brooks 21). The development of Senegal is considered to be a result of the unique and special entrepreneurial abilities of the African women from these two islands (Brooks 22). Contrary to the other cultures at that time, African women from Senegal enjoyed power and status (Brooks 22). They were independent in their decisions and were sensitive to the economic and business opportunities which opened with the arrival of the Europeans (Brooks 22). The independent nature, strong status in the society, keen business sense and physical beauty of the African women from Senegal made their personality very attractive (Brooks 22). Europeans were attracted towards them for their strength and business acumen (Brooks 22). The Signares of Saint-Louis and Goree were so strongly ambitious about their business ventures that they collaborated with the Europeans to gain advantage on the business front (Brooks 22). The signares were opportunists and were driven by their strong desire for success in trade. The combination of intelligence, business minded nature and physical beauty of the Senegal women was so irresistible that even when the Senegal Company prohibited its employees from having sexual or martial engagement with Signares of Saint-Louis and Gorees, the employees were not able to stop themselves from having clandestine affairs with them (Brooks 22). During 1733-34, General Devaulx, through his reports, attracted the attention of the company officials to the fact that despite the company regulations, the company employees were engaged with the signares and were having personal and business relationship with them (Brooks 23). The accounts given by people who witnessed the lives of the signares bring reveal the multidimensional personality and the magnificent lifestyle the signares had (Brooks 23). The personality of signares Pruneau de Pommegorge (1789) spent 22 years in West Africa and witnessed the varied dimensions of signare woman’s colorful, lavish, flamboyant and intelligent personality (Brooks 23). His description of signares makes it clear that the strong desire of success in trade and commerce had taught them how to make use of their personalities and charms to attract men towards them (Brooks 23). Pruneau de Pommegorge has described many aspects of signare’s personality in his accounts of the signare women. Some of the most important aspects that made the signare women attractive and irresistible are as follows: 1 Signares were strong not only at running businesses but were also good at fulfilling the role of mistress or a personal associate. They were so skillful at winning the hearts of the men that, according to Pruneau de Pommegorge, the slaves working under them would make difficult voyages to bring the gifts of gold for their mistresses (Brooks 23). At the same time, Pruneau de Pommegorge’s accounts clearly show that signares were not mean or selfish by nature. Pruneau de Pommegorge has described how signares would work selflessly to fulfill the needs of white men and care for them lovingly in case of their sickness (Brooks 23). Their selfless care towards the men they were associated with shows that they not only possessed a strong mind but also possessed a loving heart. 2 Their desire for lavish lifestyle were displayed in their clothing style (Brooks 24) .Their clothes mirrored their creativity, varied taste and style (Brooks 24). The signare’s love for jewelry is also evident from the fact that they used to make jewelry out of the gold that was brought for them by their slaves (Brooks 24). Not only that, but signares refused to wear the jewelry made of any other metal than gold or silver (Brooks 24). This shows that they were very particular about their taste for clothes and jewelry. 3 The signares were very stylish and elegant in their appearance (Brooks 24). They were lovers of material possessions and knew how to flaunt their possessions of jewelry, accessories and clothes on their bodies (Brooks 24). They were used to covering different parts of their bodies with different colorful accessories and clothes like the handkerchief, ribbons, bodice, slippers etc. (Brooks 24). 4 The signares were also good at the art of dancing (Brooks 24). They were so passionate about their dances (called folgars) that sometimes they would continue dancing and enjoying the party the whole night (Brooks 24). These parties were made more interesting and colorful by serving palm wine and wine from France (Brooks 24). These accounts of their flamboyant lifestyle show that signares believed in living the life to the fullest and were extremely skilled at arts and crafts of various natures. 5 Signare’s versatile and flexible mental abilities made them “much sought after as slaves” in West Indies (Brooks 25). The signares were well known for their ability to adapt to the foreign customs and languages very quickly (Brooks 24). The French colonists were extremely impressed with their ability to learn French quickly, i.e. within few months of their arrival at Antilles (Brooks 26). The other person to write the accounts of the Signares was Reverand John Lindsay (Brooks 26). He was full of praise for the signares from Saint-Louis and Goree (Brooks 26). John Lindsay described signares as women who were polite in their behavior and speech, neat in their physical appearance and active in their work (Brooks 26). He was particularly impressed with their habit of making their bodies look handsome by following the habits of bathing twice a day and cleaning their hair religiously (Brooks 26). Conclusion The accounts of signares given by two people who were witness to the lives of signares, show that the signares of Saint-louis and Goree were very modern, bold and broadminded in their thinking and lifestyle. Their lifestyle, their quick agile mind, their business abilities and their flamboyance show that they are capable of becoming the role models for the modern women. With their ability to utilize every available resource, to manage people working under them, to accumulate and multiply the money in trade and to attract men by leading a flamboyant lifestyle, they have proved that they were ‘complete’ women. Hence, it is not wrong to say that the signares of Saint-louise and Goree, with their bold lifestyles and strong social status, were the epitome of true entrepreneurship. Work Cited Brooks, George, E. In Women in Africa: Studies in Social and Economic Change. CA: Stanford University Press, 1976. Print. Read More