Four Women

FOUR WOMEN

Nina Simone. “Four Women”, Wild Is The Wind, UMG Recordings Inc, 1966, track 2.

“Four Women” is a tribute to the monumental Nina Simone and her iconic song of the same name, and brings our collective focus back to Aunt Sarah, Saffronia, Sweet Thing, Peaches and all the stories that are etched in their skin. 

Each character represents an African-American stereotype, thrust upon each woman by virtue of their skin colour, but it is impossible not to notice a key difference between Simone’s description and Ikechi’s…

More on that later. First, allow me to re-introduce you to Nina’s women. 

Aunt Sarah represents African-American enslavement. Perhaps it’s symbolic that she comes first, starting this brief glimpse through history at its darkest point from which the other women’s stories come. She’s “strong enough to take the pain/inflicted again and again”, embodying the resilience and endurance of her race. Evidently though, she’s not respected enough to be afforded a more respectable title than “Aunt” — a term that suggests she is like the archetypical mammy figure.

The second woman, Saffronia, is light-skinned, mixed race and forced to exist “between two worlds”. Saffronia’s story explicitly alludes to graphic abuse suffered by Black people at the hands of white people in positions of power. “Saffronia” says “my father was rich and white/ he forced my mother late one night”. This reference to the non-consensual conception paints a small but harrowing picture of the loss of agency suffered by Black people at the hands of their oppressors. 

The third woman’s real name, we may never know. Her character is that of a tragic mulatto figure, working as a prostitute referred to as “Sweet Thing”. Her hair is “fine”, signalling acceptance from both Black and white people that is bolstered by her work in providing sexual gratification. Unlike Saffronia, Sweet Thing doesn’t belong between two worlds. Her identity is shaped by her clientele — “whose little girl am I?/Anyone who has money to buy”. At first glance, Sweet Thing appears to have agency, working and owning her sexuality. But having a price, it’s clear that she is also robbed of her own power. 

Finally, there’s woman number four. She’s tough, angry and “awfully bitter these days”. Generations of oppression, suffering and trauma have impacted this woman in such deep ways that every word she speaks is coated in rage. This woman is making it clear that her anger is valid and will be heard — her name will not be lost in historical statistics. Her “parents were slaves”, but who is she? In the verse’s dramatic finale, making sure we will never forget, “she” declares “my name is Peaches!”

Simone tells these stories in order to highlight the injustice perpetuated against her people and call out the stereotypes that limit others’ views and opinions of Black people. “My skin is black” — the opening lines of the song let us know the key quality these women all have in common, that determines so much of their stories in ways their gender, philosophies and even dreams do not. They are Black. Due to the systematic, historically racist systems in place, their skin cannot be ignored. Their skin tells their story. 

Why, then, has the artist Ikechi decided to portray them with radiant pink and purple skin? 

Upon release of the song, much to Simone’s dismay, “Four Women” was greatly misinterpreted and thus widely rejected. Many misread her lyrics as drawing on and promoting the very stereotypes she was calling out, and therefore decided it was racist. Ikechi aims to subvert this misinterpretation by simultaneously highlighting and overlooking their skin as their key physical quality. It rejects these stereotypes as properties of Black people, removing that aspect of their identities and letting audiences see them as more than just Black. They are women with varied, nuanced, long and winding histories. 

Being a colourful series, Ikechi’s “Four Women” by no means asks audiences to not see colour. In fact, it truly wants us to look at colour very closely, but to see past it to the person within. The pieces encourage us to look past our own exterior, past others’ and the ugly stereotypes and labels society attaches to complexion. It asks us to look at each woman — each individual around us — as more than their skin.

Commentary by Imara Celine

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