In 1987, more than a decade before the dawn of queer theory, Ifi Amadiume wrote Male Daughters, Female Husbands, to critical acclaim.This compelling and highly original book frees the subject position of ''husband'' from its affiliation with men, and goes on to do the same for other masculine attributes, dislocating sex, gender and sexual orientation. Boldly arguing that the notion of gender, as constructed in Western feminist discourse, did not exist in Africa before the colonial imposition of a dichotomous understanding of sexual difference, Male Daughters, Female Husbands examines the structures in African society that enabled people to achieve power, showing that roles were not rigidly masculinized nor feminized.At a time when gender and queer theory are viewed by some as being stuck in an identity-politics rut, this outstanding study not only warns against the danger of projecting a very specific, Western notion of difference onto other cultures, but calls us to question the very concept of gender itself.>

This is a text that should be read widely and includes women's studies, social sciences and history. It will surely be an important statement in the catalogue of anti-colonialist historiography.

Vorwort
An early study of queer theory and non-Western feminism, challenging the concept of gender.

Autorentext
Ifi Amadiume is a award-winning poet and a political activist as well as an academic. She has lived in Nigeria and the UK and is currently a professor at Dartmouth College, USA. There, she teaches both in the Department of Religion and on the African-American Studies Programme. Professor Amadiume is author of the influential Male Daughters, Female Husbands (Zed Books, 1988) which won the Choice Outstanding Academic Book of the Year award in 1989.

Zusammenfassung
An early study of queer theory and non-Western feminism, challenging the concept of gender.

Inhalt

Foreword to the Critique Influence Change Edition
Preface to the Critique Influence Change Edition
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part I: 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 II: The Colonial Period

7. Colonialism and the Erosion of Women's Power

8. The Erosion of Women's Power

   Part III: 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
    Glossary
    Index