Xlala Gender Roles

A common trend in many novels and movies, modern or not, is that the female characters are often defined by the male ones. A clear example of this can be seen in fairy tales, in which the heroic knight saves the damsel in distress; the woman in this case mainly being used as a plot device, and showcasing the brave nature of our hero. However, in Sembene's “Xala”, the female characters; Awa, Oumi, N’Goné, and Rama represent show much more, even if their own societal roles function to, again, define the male character, in this case their husband/father, El Hadji. Through their personal behaviors, dress, and interactions with others, Sembene crafts these characters to be symbolic representations of the stages of evolution Africa makes after its
His greed leads him to take advantage of the luxurious lifestyles of the modern world, hurting not only his family, but others in the community. The movie starts as he weds his third wife, N’Goné; a wedding made to mainly emphasis his wealth and status. But, because he has deserted his traditional values, he is cursed with the xala, and thus seeks out various ways to cure it. His impotency is parallel with his bankruptcy, as at the same time he is stripped of his privileges as a high government member, for his corrupt trade dealings and allocation of funds to try to fix his xala. In the end, he is cured by giving up his greedy ways and returning to his traditional
While Awa is always dressed in traditional African attire, she is seen in luxurious, European dresses, and with a rather modern hairstyles. While Awa is quiet and reserved, Oumi is very assertive towards El Hadji. This can be seen when she and El Hadji are getting ready to leave for the third wedding, and she demands for extra spending money. She is a greedier character, and although Awa also felt unhappy about both the second and third marriages, Oumi is openly jealous about it. Her time in the film is sort because she divorces El Hadji at the first signs of his downfall, taking a truck load of expensive, western goods with her, like the TV and furniture. While Awa is almost blindly submissive at times, Oumi would only recognize his authority as long as he met his duty and fulfilled her financially.
The third and new wife, N’Goné, is shown to us in the most bizarre way, to the point where her personal self is hard to define. The only time we even see this character’s face is in the intro scene where we see her in the car, riding to her wedding, but looking rather depressed. For the rest of the film, her face is only shown again via a picture of her on the wall. According to Sembene, she plays a somewhat smaller symbolic role then when compared to the other main women, her character still stands to make a