Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Making Sense of the Western Encounter
- 3 Cultural Identity and Development
- 4 Political Economy and the Culture of Underdevelopment
- 5 The Culture of Politics
- 6 Ethnic Nationalism
- 7 Islam, Religious Identity, and Politics
- 8 Traditional Religions in Modern Africa
- 9 English or Englishes? The Politics of Language and the Language of Politics
- 10 Gender and Culture in Old and New Africa
- 11 Africa, the Homeland: Diasporic Cultures
- Bibliography
- Index
10 - Gender and Culture in Old and New Africa
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 March 2023
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Making Sense of the Western Encounter
- 3 Cultural Identity and Development
- 4 Political Economy and the Culture of Underdevelopment
- 5 The Culture of Politics
- 6 Ethnic Nationalism
- 7 Islam, Religious Identity, and Politics
- 8 Traditional Religions in Modern Africa
- 9 English or Englishes? The Politics of Language and the Language of Politics
- 10 Gender and Culture in Old and New Africa
- 11 Africa, the Homeland: Diasporic Cultures
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
“A WOMAN IS A FLOWER IN A GARDEN; HER HUSBAND IS THE FENCE AROUND IT.”
—AN AKAN PROVERBHow does a man with six wives arrange love-making sessions? Can a woman, too, have six husbands? Why does female genital mutilation persist? If there is no welfare system, who takes care of widows? If societies expect all women to marry, what happens to single parents? Why do women in Islamic areas cover their faces in public? Why do African men dominate their wives? These are some of the questions that my American students are fond of posing when we address topics relating to kinship and gender. Perhaps because people want to improve their knowledge, or because they are simply amused by some of the practices, they have asked similar questions at public lectures, and I have had occasions to address the issue of polygamy at a major forum. The popular literature on African women generated by Western writers reveals only the frightening aspects, painting women as savages who are exploited by men for their maximum reproductive forces as well as for their labor. Recent literature, especially that on female circumcision, presents women as powerless victims, human beings no better than the slaves of old. From the various depictions, one cannot help but ask: Are African men evil and the African women so docile as to tolerate evil?
In this chapter, I will try to answer some of these questions within a general framework of kinship and development. In both, elements of traditions and modern cultures are clearly manifested, and I will use a few issues as illustrations. Issues pertaining to women and culture have become central to discussions on democracy and governance in Africa, and the overall problem of underdevelopment. In other words, until women’s lives are transformed in a positive manner, the continent cannot move forward.
In many parts of Africa, a clear break has not been established with the past, while changes are yet to take any firm hold. In different parts of Africa, patriarchy has long been established, and its manifestations can be found in various aspects of gender relations. A number of contemporary conditions affect both men and women in ways that create both equality and competition.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Power of African Cultures , pp. 250 - 273Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2003