Fertility
Fertility
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| Copulation Scene Detail of Pende (Gungu region, Congo-Kinshasa). Chief's chair, influenced by European design. Wood and leather, h. 97 cm. Museum Rietberg, Zurich. |
Was that really the end of the world?
Was she useless to society if she were not a mother?
Was she useless to the world is she were unmarried? Surely not? (Nasta 205)
In African society fertility is extremely important. "Both men’s and women’s significance in life is judged by the number of children they bring into the world. To have no children is regarded as a great human tragedy (Drewal 186)." Boys tend to be more strongly desired since they can help with the physical labor. At the same time having girls is not considered a bad thing. Girls will ensure that the family legacy is passed on through more children.
Preparation for children begins at a very young age. Often times young African girls carry around dolls with them to give them a sense of preparation for marriage and fertility. These dolls are very simple often made from a hollow reed, a maize cob, or wooden cylinder. Other dolls can be made of wood, glass beads and odd pieces of material. These dolls are never meant to be playthings. These dolls are said to contain a kind of magic and must be protected and cherished or they will not fulfill their purpose. Usually women will carry these dolls until they have their first child (Wassing 59).
In Ghana pregnant Ashanti women always carry an akuaba doll in their carrying cloth. This doll is supposed to ensure the birth of a beautiful child. "If they want a boy then the doll has a flat, moon-shaped disc for a face, carved with a delicate nose, close-set almond-shaped eyes and arched eyebrows. The thin neck leads into a cylindrical body with two small breasts and horizontal arms without hands. These dolls are normally black. If a girl is wanted the doll takes another form. The small head is flat, narrow and rectangular and in the lower part the face has round eyes and arching brows. On the top of the head strands of hair stick up, and the doll also has a cylindrical body but no arms. Such dolls are always brown (60)."
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Two akua mma, dolls from Ashanti which express the Ashanti ideal of beauty: a long neck and a round flat face with a high forehead and a small mouth. They are carried by expectant mothers who should not look upon any deformity (even a badly carved figure) for fear their child should resemble it. British Museum. Ht 13, 12.5 in. (Willet 112) |
In the Yoruba culture of Nigeria twins are often desired. It is believed that twins bring luck and wealth to the family. These women will carry twin dolls, called ibeji with them. If one of the twins dies the twin doll of that child will be continued to be cared for as though the doll were the child. When the surviving twin becomes an adult he will care for the doll. "Faces and hair-styles of the ibeji clearly reflect the Yoruba style. Typical are the broad nostrils, large protruding oval eyes with round pupils, the swelling lips, horizontal, scored tribal marks and the round, very high-set ears. Generally the hair is bound together in single strands and tied on, but sometimes it forms a protuberant kind of crest running from front to back (60)."
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Twin figure probably from Ilaro in Yorubaland which was in the collection of Georg Emil Schüz of Stuttgart before 1877 (Willet 90). |