Small Acts of Defiance

Short story review

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

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Newly appointed managers with outdated attitudes, card-carrying members of the He-Man Woman Haters Club, or anyone with the poor taste to assume it is acceptable to touch a woman’s genitals will not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

1. Part of the Lagos Noir anthology