Male daughters, female husbands : gender and sex in an African society
Annotation 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
1 online resource (223 pages, 5 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations, map
9780862325947, 9780862325954, 9781783603336, 9781783603343, 0862325943, 0862325951, 178360333X, 1783603348
191821130
Foreword to the Critique Influence Change EditionPreface to the Critique Influence Change EditionPrefaceAcknowledgementsIntroductionPart I: The 19th Century1. Gender and Economy2. Women, Wealth, Titles and power3. Gender and Political Organization4. The Politics of Motherhood: Women and the Ideology-Making Process5. The Ideology of Gender6. Ritual and GenderPart II: The Colonial Period7. Colonialism and the Erosion of Women's Power8. The Erosion of Women's PowerPart III: The Post-Independence Period9. The Marginalisation of women's Position10. Wealth, Titles and Motherhood11. The Female Element in Other Igbo Societies12. Gender, Class and Female Solidarity13. ConclusionAppendixesBibliographyGlossaryIndex