The Weight of Womanhood

Book excerpt: The Weight of Womanhood highlights the incomprehensible avoidable pressures put on women by societal expectations, male folks and sometimes women themselves. There is this culture of taking women for granted or taking advantage of women. Laban used his two daughters to swindle his nephew, Jacob, the Philistine Kings, and high officials used Delilah against Israelite leader, Samson who had become a pain in the ass for the Philistines’ leadership. King Saul attempted to use his daughters rather than any of his sons to kill David. Certain cultures imply that one of the worst things a woman can do is to conceive and bear a girlchild. They turn a blind eye to the murder of millions of growing girlchild in the womb on yearly basis. Moses’ older sister, Miriam resented and antagonized his wife to the extent that God was incensed to punish Miriam. King Rehoboam robbed his eldest son of his right because he preferred one of his stepmothers to the eldest son’s mother. When Samson’s mother claimed that an angel had visited her to talk about the imminent conception and birth of Samson, his father did not believe her. She had to ask God to resend His angel to attest to her claim before Samson’s father believed her. Most men take women’s gynecological and maternal exigencies for granted. Once Hannah did not conceive and bear him a child quickly, though he was supposed to love her very much, Elkanah opted for a second wife, Peninnah who made life miserable for Hannah once she bore Elkanah children while Hannah remained barren. He did not do anything to restrain Peninnah from worsening Hannah’s miseries.