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Male daughters, female husbands : gender and sex in an African society / Ifi Amadiume ; with a foreword by Pat Caplan.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextSeries: Critique, influence, changePublisher: London ; New York : Zed, 2015Description: xvi, 223 pages : illustrations, maps ; 22 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781783603329
  • 1783603321
  • 9780862325947
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 305.4/889632 23
LOC classification:
  • DT515.45.I33 A47 2015
Other classification:
  • 71.33
  • 71.62
  • 71.31
  • 71.25
Online resources:
Contents:
Foreword / Pat Caplan -- Part 1: The 19th Century -- Gender and the Economy -- Women, Wealth, Titles and Power -- Gender and Political Organization -- The Politics of Motherhood: Women and the Idealogy-Making Process -- The Idealogy of Gender -- Ritual and Gender -- Part 2: The Colonial Period -- Colonialism and the Erosion of Women's Power -- The Erosion of Women's Power -- Part 3: The Post-Independence Period -- The Marginalization of Women's Position -- Wealth, Titles and Motherhood -- The Female Element in Other Igbo Societies -- Gender, Class and Female Solidarity -- Conclusion
Summary: In 1987, more than a decade before the dawn of queer theory, Ifi Amadiume published the groundbreaking 'Male Daughters, Female Husbands' to critical acclaim. This compelling, enduring, and highly original book argues that gender, as constructed in Western feminist discourse, did not exist in Africa before the colonial imposition of a dichotomous understanding of sexual difference. Amadiume examines the African societal structures that enabled people to achieve power within fluid masculine and feminine roles. At a time when gender and queer theory is viewed by many as overly focused on identity politics, this apt text not only warns against the danger of projecting Western notions of difference onto other cultures, but also questions the very concept of gender itself.
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Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Book Book Sonoma Academy Library 305.4 AMA (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Checked out 02/06/2024 188388
Total holds: 0

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

Foreword / Pat Caplan -- Part 1: The 19th Century -- Gender and the Economy -- Women, Wealth, Titles and Power -- Gender and Political Organization -- The Politics of Motherhood: Women and the Idealogy-Making Process -- The Idealogy of Gender -- Ritual and Gender -- Part 2: The Colonial Period -- Colonialism and the Erosion of Women's Power -- The Erosion of Women's Power -- Part 3: The Post-Independence Period -- The Marginalization of Women's Position -- Wealth, Titles and Motherhood -- The Female Element in Other Igbo Societies -- Gender, Class and Female Solidarity -- Conclusion

In 1987, more than a decade before the dawn of queer theory, Ifi Amadiume published the groundbreaking 'Male Daughters, Female Husbands' to critical acclaim. This compelling, enduring, and highly original book argues that gender, as constructed in Western feminist discourse, did not exist in Africa before the colonial imposition of a dichotomous understanding of sexual difference. Amadiume examines the African societal structures that enabled people to achieve power within fluid masculine and feminine roles. At a time when gender and queer theory is viewed by many as overly focused on identity politics, this apt text not only warns against the danger of projecting Western notions of difference onto other cultures, but also questions the very concept of gender itself.

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