@ColgateLW section-"we would only become men the day we became responsible for other lives"(282). Perhaps, if Thula was not a woman, she would not get the chance to go to America and gain the knowledge to become a leader. She would have been needed in Kosawa.
@ColgateLW Being a woman, in some ways, grants Thula autonomy. Specifically as an unmarried woman with no children, Thula is not held responsible for anyone but herself. If Thula were a man, she would be held responsible for others, as explained in an earlier (1/2)