Benin's 'Woman King' in Movies, Real Life

The Woman King is an African story told in the form of a Hollywood historical movie.

The movie has won praise for its acting¹, directing, and for dealing² with the idea of female political power. In the movie, women, led by General Nanisca, fight a war that men cannot.

The film takes place in the 1800s in the Kingdom of Dahomey. Today the same area is known as Abomey. The story about female warriors³ and General Nanisca has echoed over a long period of time in Abomey and in the rest of the country of Benin.

Nan Zognidi is the present-day queen mother of Abomey.

She said she teaches young people the same values that the female warriors did: Girls are equal to boys. Girls are as able and competent as boys.

"They have the same abilities and the same competencies as boys," she said.

Zognidi's position of queen mother is fully⁴ ceremonial. It helps bring foreign visitors to the area. But before she became queen mother, Zognidi was a women's rights activist⁵.

Now, she runs a program to teach girls trades that support financial independence. She teaches the history and culture of Benin. She also teaches leadership to young people.

One of these young people is 13-year-old Pkadomi Sylvestre. She said the queen mother taught her how to work on political activities for women's empowerment.

In the city of Cotonou, a statue of one of Abomey's female warriors was first shown earlier this year.

The United Nations has said Africa needs more of the examples set by the female warriors of Abomey. That statement comes from U.N. Women, an arm of the United Nations dedicated⁶ to female empowerment.

"Women who are involved in politics are not usually positively⁷ seen by society," said area U.N. adviser⁸ Soulef Guessoum. She noted⁹ that, in Africa, women make up 25 percent of the elected assembly. That number is less than the 30 percent target set by the U.N. in 1995. And it is below the 50 percent that many consider the final goal.

Marion Ogeto is a human rights lawyer who works with Equality Now, a non-profit group that advocates female empowerment. She said the female warriors of Abomey are inspiring.

"This community was way ahead of its time by advocating for an army that is all and only women," said Ogeto.

She added the story "shows you that they have a woman leader, a woman king, and then she's in a position where she's able to sit at the same table as the king as well as all the others and tell the king, 'This is not how we handle the situation...'"

The queen mother, Zognidi, thinks the most important lesson Abomey's warriors teach is that "everything that men can do, women can do today. We can't say that women are weak, it is wrong."

Women, she said, are as strong as men.

Words in This Story

echo –n. a repeated sound or idea that goes on for a long time

dedicated –adj. giving very strong support or loyalty¹⁰ to something

advocate –v. to argue in support of a cause or policy

inspiring –adj. causing people to want or create something or to lead their lives in a different way

1 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

2 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

3 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

6 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

7 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

8 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

10 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。