Vengeance is reserved for the Lord because some men fail to earn reverence.
At the outset, the statistical probability of women excelling in male-dominated societies is marginal at best. However, the odds improve significantly when one woman is repeatedly scorned.
Contingent on context, “What are You Going to Do?1” is a statement, question, or command for action. Set in Lagos, this story features Tula, an oppressed protagonist annoyed by the realities of systemic bullying and unwilling to yield further.
A homeowner with the financial means to travel and a demeanor that screams unwelcoming, she is a potential transplant to the locale. A career girl with a pet reptile, Tula pops prescription drugs to cope with workplace harassment, manically commutes home each evening, and then smokes weed until she collapses.
Empowered by one additional crude encounter with a jerk superior, she decides to use wit and will to address and correct perceived power imbalances. This isn't mythology or romance written by Adebola Rayo, the self-described writer with a law degree and no idea what to do with it. Instead, it is a modern social commentary on how gender inequality creates acts of defiance, not a fairytale.
The contemporary setting provides a colorful backdrop, and engaged readers will not miss covert references to job insecurity, gender bias, and how advertent cultural/religious restraints impose barriers that clash with the pace of emerging economies.
A nod to the ageless adage regarding doing nothing in anger and everything in due time, this is an up-to-the-minute retelling of a seemingly weaker contender being drug into the ring and defeating a giant-sized adversary.
Newly appointed managers with outdated attitudes, card-carrying members of the He-Man Woman Haters Club, or anyone with the poor taste to assume it is acceptable to touch a woman’s genitals will not appreciate overt references to the need to shed skin. However, feminists and womanists will cherish Tula’s ability to balance the scale artfully.
Rating: 5+ stars
Additional shorts featuring an independent woman behaving bravely:
Minutes of Glory, by Ngugi wa Thiong’o
The Power of a Plate of Rice, by Ifroma Okoye
Part of the Lagos Noir anthology
Another great review of another (seemingly) interesting story