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Summary
The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives by Lola Shoneyin critiques the myth of marriage as salvation and how patriarchy turns women against each other.
To a casual reader, Baba Segi’s bustling wives and many children might seem like the literary equivalent of Baba Ajasco comedy. However, through a critical lens shaped by a gender equality mindset, the reader can see a sharp novel centred around women’s voices. Lola Shoneyin’s The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives goes beyond the story of a polygamous family who live in Ibadan. It’s an exploration of the hidden cost of survival in a society that tied women’s value to men’s desires. Though satirical and humorous, Lola invites readers into a world where patriarchy turns women against each other, their value is measured by their ability to bear children, and marriage being a cage.
At the centre of the novel is Baba Segi, the polygamous man who used fertility as a form of control over his four wives and seven children. But when his youngest and last wife, Balance, fails to conceive, the blame drama starts. But the truth is Baba Segi is infertile, and this forces his wives to secretly have children with men outside, demonstrating how the desperation women feel in a patriarchal society affects their lives.
Each wife’s story revealed how poverty, trauma, abuse, sexual violence, and gender inequality shaped her choice and survival instinct in a patriarchal society. The women’s rivalry, jealousy and alliances show how patriarchy forces them to compete for love, respect and security in a world that denies them autonomy. In particular, Bolanle’s silence about the rape incident exposes the lived reality of victims of this violence who are traumatised but kept quiet to avoid being stigmatised and blamed. Her belief that marriage will cleanse her and serve as a salvation illustrates how societal expectations measure women’s worth by their marital and maternal status. Even Iya Tope, who gained economic security through her marriage to Baba Segi, lost her freedom and voice.
Lola did not romanticise sisterhood but showed how women are complex humans who are shaped oppressively by systems yet triumph due to their resilience and transformation. The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives could be an open confrontation that breaks the myth of marriage as salvation.
