Nervous Conditions Analysis

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“Nervous Conditions” by Tsitsi Dangarembga follows a young woman in her journey to find herself and break away from the restrictive culture she was raised in. Even so, the young women, named Tambu, faces challenges because of the strong traditions that are prevalent in her community. Through the struggles of poverty and sexism, Tambu manages to still learn a lot about herself and her community. In this book reflection, I will be discussing the implications of living in a traditional society as well as the similarities that modern developed nations have to the traditional society that Tambu lived in. Additionally, I will discuss some methods that may help change communities where women continue to be second class citizens. In the novel, there are many cultural differences between 1960s Rhodesia and modern day America, the culture that I am used to. The first major difference that I noted was the fact that school wasn’t public and mandatory for all children. It still is the case today for many countries where only people with enough money can attend school, but I grew up in the United States where public education was available for every child. This is different than what Tambu experienced because she was…show more content…
Obviously, sexsim is nowhere near as bad in America today, but this is similar to America because of the misogynist society that still exists in the United States. Women aren’t fully treated as equal counterparts to men, which puts women at a disadvantage. For example, women are still expected to be the main caregivers of children in a household, even if they work. This phenomenon is known as the “second shift” and it is prominent in the American culture. This is similar to the culture that Tambu experienced because the women in her family were in charge of household chore, rather than the men helping out
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