The Gilded Ones

All of the women in the novel experience some sort of discrimination. The non-alaki women in most villages are condemned by patriarchal religious texts, the Infinite Wisdoms, which command that they serve men and cover their faces with masks. Non-alaki women can also experience discrimination based on racial appearance. Before Deka’s gold blood is discovered, people in her Northern village dislike her Southern appearance: “other girls in the village [have] willowy figures, silken blond hair, and pink cheeks. My own form is much more sturdy, my skin a deep brown, and the only thing I have to my advantage is my soft black hair, which curls in clouds around my face” (10). The treatment of non-alaki women reflects how BIPOC women have suffered sexual abuse and violence at a much higher rate than white women in America (Forna’s residence).

However, Forna’s fantasy world introduces more levels of discrimination. The alaki, revealed by the gold blood of their menses, or any cut after hitting puberty, experience more violence and abuse than non-alaki women, regardless of skin or hair color. Villagers call them “whores” (217), and in fact some alaki are sold into brothels (such as in Belcalis’s case).