Divorce is a common feature of married life, both within our own culture and that of the Aka and Ngandu. How are their causes of divorce similar or different to causes of divorce in parts of the Western World? Women from both populations spoke about the difficulty of polygyny, but a few women also noted how beneficial it was for their husbands to bring home a second wife.

What would you consider to be potential benefits of polygyny? What factors of polygyny might make it difficult for some women to accept? What do Aka and Ngandu women mean when they refer to menopause as being “like a man?” What life lessons might you have learned from Nali, Konga, Therese, and Blondine?