Male daughters, female husbands : gender and sex in African society
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Male daughters, female husbands : gender and sex in African society
Zed Books, 1987
- : pbk
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Note
Bibliography: p. 211-216
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
- Volume
-
ISBN 9780862325947
Description
Challenging the received orthodoxies of social anthropology, Ifi Amadiume argues that in precolonial society, sex and gender did not necessarily coincide. Examining the structures that enabled women to achieve power, she shows that roles were neither rigidly masculinized nor feminized.
Economic changes in colonial times undermined women’s status and reduced their political role and Dr Amadiume maintains, patriarchal tendencies introduced by colonialism persist today, to the detriment of women.
Critical of the chauvinist stereotypes established by colonial anthropology, the author stresses the importance of recognizing women’s economic activities as an essential basis of their power. She is also critical of those western feminists who, when relating to African women, tend to accept the same outmoded projections.
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part 1: The 19th Century
1. Gender and Economy
2. Women, Wealth, Titles and power
3. Gender and Political Organization
4. The Politics of Motherhood: Women and the Ideology-Making Process
5. The Ideology of Gender
6. Ritual and Gender
Part 2: The Colonial Period
7. Colonialism and the Erosion of Women's Power
8. The Erosion of Women's Power
Part 3: The Post-Independence Period
9. The Marginalisation of women's Position
10. Wealth, Titles and Motherhood
11. The Female Element in Other Igbo Societies
12. Gender, Class and Female Solidarity
13. Conclusion
Appendixes
Bibliography
Glassary
Index
- Volume
-
: pbk ISBN 9780862325954
Description
Challenging the received orthodoxies of social anthropology, Ifi Amadiume argues that in precolonial society, sex and gender did not necessarily coincide. Examining the structures that enabled women to achieve power, she shows that roles were neither rigidly masculinized nor feminized.
Economic changes in colonial times undermined women's status and reduced their political role and Dr Amadiume maintains, patriarchal tendencies introduced by colonialism persist today, to the detriment of women.
Critical of the chauvinist stereotypes established by colonial anthropology, the author stresses the importance of recognizing women's economic activities as as essential basis of their power. She is also critical of those western feminists who, when relating to African women, tend to accept the same outmoded projections.
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