In a world where unmarried (unclaimed) women are mandated by to go about naked until they are married (claimed) and covered with ‘wife-cloth,’ Ejem finds herself in the middle of this repulsive tradition. Ripped off of ‘father’s-cloth’ by her father who must do it or face innumerable sanctions, at an age when she was both unwilling and unready, Ejem comes to terms with the painful reality of the world she is born into, as she is forced to abide by a senseless tradition that tends to contradict what it tries to portray.
She sojourns the world, dazed, seeking out enclaves, in a society where men are Lords and women mere items to be claimed and covered and used. She loses her childhood friend owing to her nudity and the fear that she might seduce her husband with her body unmarked by the tolls of childbirth.
Amid the commotion and struggle to survive in a society that grew hostile by the day, she encounters Odinaka at the spa she works. Odinaka, a wealthy lady whose wealth gives her the leverage to rebel against societal norms, who hopes to create a world where disrobing is something a woman does only by choice, took her in, gave her shelter and the shield she had so longed for. She learns to walk again, rebels in her own way, flaunts her new ‘self-cloth’ and enjoys the respect and admiration, the nods she gets as she steps out for the first time; covered. Her joy is short-lived as she runs into Chidinma her childhood friend who had disrobed at an early age in solidarity with Ejem. She wastes no time in making her see the futility, the shame, the unconformity in her adventure to acceptable behaviour. Her newly found confidence deflated; she hurries back to safety.
As unique as ever, Lesley Nneka Arimah tells the familiar tale of female oppression and gender inequality, in a way only she can. We see the world as it is, in all its treachery against women. If women should go about naked advertising their bodies and readiness for marriage, why didn’t this tradition apply to men who were ready for marriage too? If the tradition says go naked at a point in time, and yet didn’t appoint couples, why make a fuss over women who have either chosen or merely by circumstances remained single? If men had earned the right to inspect a woman’s body, who says a woman hasn’t? Issues of hypocrisy, contradictions, inequality, and lots more; are issues which this story points out and presents to us to weigh in on. Lesley continues to wow us with her style.
Lesley Nneka Arimah is a Nigerian writer and the author of “What it Means When a Man Falls from the Sky,” a collection of short stories. Her short story ‘Skinned,’ won the 2019 Caine Prize for African Writing.
