Male daughters, female husbands : gender and sex in an African society / Ifi Amadiume.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Amadiume, Ifi, 1947- author.

Series:

Black women writers series.

Black women writers

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women, Igbo.

Women--Nigeria--Social conditions.

Women.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (223 p., [4] p. of plates : ill. ; 23 cm.)

Distribution:

[London, England] : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021

Other Title:

Gender and sex in African society

Place of Publication:

London, England : Zed Books, ©1987.

System Details:

data file

Summary:

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.

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 211-216) and index.

Print version record.

ISBN:

9781350221253

1350221252

OCLC:

268793665