Woman power : retrograde steps in Ghana

In Ghanaian society women themselves believe that only two types of their species suffer-the sterile-that is those incapable of producing children-and the foolish. And by the foolish they refer to the type of woman who depends solely on her husband for subsistence.... [Christine Ama Ata Aidoo, Introduction to Ayi Kwei Armah (1969), The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born. New York: Collier Books, x. ]