No Sweetness Here

All women are vulnerable in Bamso, deprived of power by the patriarchal structure of their society; a woman alone in the world is especially so. Patriarchal structures and norms, by definition, oppress women. However, to be upheld, they require the complicity of women. The patriarchal dominance of her husband is making Maami miserable. But as a group, women may attempt to claim some power. If Maami’s in-laws had stood by her, she says, it might have been different: “If I had not been such an unlucky woman, his mother and sisters might have taken my side, but for me there was no one” (61). It is not clear why they dislike her, but they have hurt her as badly as Kodjo Fi. She tells Chicha, “Seven years is a long time to bear ill-repute from a man mingled with contempt and insults from his wives. What have I done to deserve the abuse of his sisters? And his mother?” (60). Family structures in many African traditional societies are complex, and clan/kinship ties give female in-laws certain advantages over the wife. Thus, patriarchy also creates hierarchies of women, all meant to keep the lowest in her place. Maami’s in-laws do this to her throughout the story. In parts of Ghanaian society, polygamy is still in practice, and Kodjo Fi’s two other wives also contribute to Maami’s misery. Kodjo Fi treats them both better than he treats her, and they abuse and insult her. Since she is the first wife, this is an even greater humiliation.

When the social structure affords women little to no power, their best chance at protection and agency lies in banding together, but the perverse incentives of patriarchy too often lead women to see each other as rivals rather than allies. In addition to being forced to leave her husband, Maami has been abandoned by her family, who could have afforded her protection. Her parents are both dead. When alive, Maami’s mother was not helpful in her daughter’s distress. Maami Ama states, “When I complained to her about the treatment I was getting from my husband, she told me that in marriage, a woman must sometimes be a fool” (61). In the absence of help and good counsel from her parents, Maami might have benefited from her other family members. But her aunts also scorn her for petty reasons, jealous that her mother left her jewelry to Maami and not to them: “She has her mother’s goods; what else does she need?” (64). Maami Ama’s family is present at the divorce proceedings. At this difficult time, several of them insult Maami Ama to her face, culminating in a long speech from an aunt who calls her a “fool” multiple times and lambasts her for “allowing them to take [Kwesi] away from you” (68).

Maami endures not just her estrangement from Kodjo Fi, the loss of her parents, and her family’s neglect, but also dismissal and scorn in the village. She has bravely separated from Kwesi because she could no longer bear to live with him. As a result, she is not welcomed into the social circle of the other women. Instead, they gossip about her. Chicha first learns about Maami’s separation from Kodjo Fi from village gossip. When Chicha is surprised to hear that Maami’s uncles see her as “a discontented woman,” Maami Ama says that “there are several who do feel like that in the village” (61). Even after Kwesi’s death, they continue to talk behind her back. She has only Chicha, and Chicha, the observer, says nothing. Maami Ama is brave, but her isolation makes her almost helpless. Her society affords her no power, and she is therefore vulnerable to every kind of dismissal, disregard, and spite. Living as a woman without any social ties means that, in Bamso, she is a woman without protection.