Male Daughters, Female Husbands Gender and Sex in an African Society

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, it 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.

Ifi Amadiume is an award winning Nigerian poet, anthropologist and essayist. She is Associate Professor at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, USA.

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