“Genderizing TF, No. 2”: Toyin Falola, The Matriarch in a Man’s Skin
Bridget Dr. Teboh
Toyin Falola at 60 Conference: “Genderizing TF, No. 2”:
Toyin Falola, The Matriarch in a Man’s Skin
By
Bridget A. Teboh, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of History
University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth
In Part 1 of my submission, I posed a question: Is Falola a feminist, a womanist, or just a sensitive smart man trying to shy away from what men call the “woman palaver,” and keep the peace between genders? I concluded with a statement: “Toyin Falola has been genderized! Don’t you agree?” Some of you agreed and others pondered at the validity of such a statement without necessarily answering the basic question whether TF is a feminist or not.
While you continue to reflect and imagine what is and what should or could be, I submit here Part 2: “Genderizing TF, No. 2”: Toyin Falola, The Matriarch in a Man’s Skin
TF, as his legion of admirers and followers call him, is noted for breaking the boundaries of ethnicity. While Yoruba, he does not frame relationship and scholarship along “tribal” lines, always at home with a Zulu or Kanuri. Neither does he adopt race in his relationship with others. He is a cosmopolitan figure.
What needs to be said about him is that he does not dwell in the constricted domain of patriarchy. Widely known as a chef, guests to his house remark about his housekeeping abilities in admirable terms. He keeps many recipes as a secret, and the conference this week must extract a commitment from him to release all of them.
Ever uncomfortable with seeking help, even during his annual conference when he can be seen carrying chairs and coolers, he breaks the notion of the “African big man” who likes to be served. TF is a “big man” who refuses to act as one. His humility is legendary. If you are not ready to talk about academic issues, avoid him.
In addition to numerous essays, his important books include various ones on women (see Part one of my essay). The one on the 1929 women’s war, over a thousand pages long, is arguably the best source book to teach on gender and colonialism.
His contributions to gender and women studies are substantial, enough to make him a full professor of women studies. It is heart-warming that one of his most recent awards is named after a woman: The Distinguished Margaret Ekpo Merit Award for Academic Mentorship, Institution Building and Selfless Service to Humanity (By the Network of Benue and Cross River Historians, September 2013). Margaret Ekpo was a pioneer Nigerian female nationalist and politician with the Calabar Airport named after her.
To anyone who has read his incredible memoir, A Mouth Sweeter Than Salt, the central character is a woman called Leku. If the book were to be turned into a movie, Leku would become the heroine, dwarfing Falola’s grandfather whom he calls Pasitor. TF has taunted the literary world by keeping to his chest how the relationship between him and Leku continued after the age of twelve. When asked, he smiled, like an Esu figure in trickster stories.
This trickster figure fully manifests in Etches on Fresh Waters, an elegant work of poetry in which TF uses Esu and phallic symbols and man-woman relationship to talk about politics and social relations in Africa. Etches is hard to decode, for its hidden devices are too complicated. TF disguises and hides, revealing himself in the garbs of too many gods and goddesses. He sings his own death and immortality, writing from the beyond.
As a participant next week at the international conference marking his 60th birthday, we cannot thank him enough. And I speak on behalf of many female scholars in Africa and the African diaspora whom he has mentored, and who look unto him as a role model.
May TF live for another 60 years!