To Be A Man

The female characters in both Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart and Shen Fu's Six Records of a Floating Life, faced frequent adversity in their lives due to their gender and the structure and values of the societies in which they lived. Despite the barriers and restrictions that society placed on them, the women greatly contributed to their families, despite much of their contribution going without praise or notice. In neither Shen Fu's China nor Chinua Achebe's Nigeria is seen an image of men and women as equals, with both cultures awarding much higher value and respect to its male members than its female members. In following tradition it was typical for males to dominate almost all aspects of cultural and social life, with greater respect, opportunity, and responsibility being given them. The role that women held in both Chinese and Nigerian society is a significant one, from rural women in China working in the fields to help support their families to the women of Okonwko's tribe seeing to endless cooking, gathering, producing and raising children. The contributions that women made to both Shen Fu's and Okonkwo's lives were not to be overlooked, as they played an integral part in their daily lives.
Shen Fu's life was one of financial hardship and struggle. This economic crisis of the educated class was in part due to a severe lack of jobs for men of learning like himself, there were too many educated males and simply not enough available positions for them to fill. While it was a man's 'responsibility' to provide for his wife and family and bring home success, without Yuen Shen Fu would have been much worse off than he was. He describes how 'poor scholars must of necessity be economical about such things as clothes and food, houses and furniture' (70) but does little of the work in these areas himself, relying on Yuen's embroidery to bring in extra money, not to mention her ingenuity and creativity in their living expenses, mending Shen's worn clothes, and finding ways to entertain friends with wine and food when they could hardly afford such things for themselves. She 'thought nothing of quietly pulling out her hairpin and selling it to buy wine, rather than let a beautiful day pass without entertaining,' but rarely does one see Shen making such sacrifices. While a hairpin may not seem like much, it is much more than an accessory, typically an heirloom that was a part of a woman's dowry.
The role of the woman in Chinese society was to keep up appearances, be subservient, polite, to marry, often without her consent, and to produce sons to carry on the family name. While Yuen's case is not particularly appalling, in many cases a wife was like a slave to her husband or her family, bound by society to do anything that was asked of her and having little to no free will of her own. The society of Shen's account is reflected in the textbook's description of society in China, overseen by rulers who 'relentlessly promoted patriarchal values' (Tignor 31). Women's lives 'revolved around the home,' and they were expected to 'lead a 'virtuous' life serving their male kin and family (Tignor 145). Even women who attended the Song Imperial Academy 'had no chance of a public career,' with men dominating 'government, mercantile, and literary spheres' (Tignor 31).
Both Shen and Yuen constantly bemoan that she was born a woman, a majority of their reason for doing being the societal constraints that prevent them from traveling the countryside (or anywhere for that matter) together. After Shen describes the beautiful sights he has seen on return from a trip, she is more envious of his journey than excited by what he describes, ''What a pity I am not a man,' she sighed; 'if I were I could go with you and see it all for myself'' (Fu 19). Yuen is much more strict in adhering to tradition and decorum than Shen is, with him saying 'I am naturally straightforward and easy-going, unhampered by convention; but Yuen, like a pedantic old Confucian scholar, firmly believes in propriety and ceremony, and insisted on observing many old-fashioned formalities in our daily life' (Fu 15). Even when Shen does something for her of his own accord she apologizes profusely, with a 'I'm so sorry to trouble you' (Fu 16) rather than a simple 'thank you.'
In Okonkwo's world we see Shen Fu's same wish that a woman in his life had been born a man, in this case his daughter, Enzimna. He sees in her all of the qualities of a perfect son, and laments that the sons he does have, particularly his oldest, Nwoye, are nothing like her. She understands him better than anyone, and Okonwko realizes their similarities. ''I wish she were a boy.' Okonwko thought within himself. She understood things so perfectly. Who else among his children could have read his thoughts so well?' (Achebe 96). While Shen Fu wishes his wife were a man in a somewhat positive way, praising the qualities that she has and taking more liberties than their culture typically allows, in Enzimna's case Okonkwo sees her qualities almost as unfortunate, knowing that as a son she would have achieved many great things and in turn brought him more respect through her accomplishments. Her intelligence and strength will not amount to near what they might have if she were a son, a regret that is multiplied by Okonkwo's increasing disappointment in Nwoye. As time goes on his wish does not fade but rather grows stronger, 'He never stopped regretting that Ezinma was a girl. Of all his children she alone understood his every mood. A bond of sympathy had grown between them as the years had passed.' The things that Enzimna would have accomplished if her culture did not constrain women in such a way go far beyond the water gathering and food preparing that were designated women's duties.
In both works we see a repetition of Shen Fu and Okonkwo exclaiming how they wish a certain woman had been born a man, a result of the glass ceiling placed over women's heads in both cultures. For Shen in particular it seems odd that he would wish for his wife to be a man, though her education would be greater resulting in more endless literary conversations, and the places they would be allowed to see together would be vastly greater. Both Shen Fu and Okonkwo realize that men with such values as these Yuen and Enzimna would achieve much greater success and respect than a female in their societies ever could. Even a woman with Yuen's intelligence and passion for literature is unable to make anything of it, confined to the home behind invisible bars of iron. Enzimna is in the same position in her tribal village, what the world has to offer reduced to whichever marriage improves her father's sociopolitical power the most. Rather than going against the gender-defined roles and encouraging the women in their lives to take the liberties they are so deserving, both Shen and Okonkwo retire to lament their misfortune.