African Women and Feminism: Reflecting on the Politics of Sisterhood

by Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí

The relationship between African women and feminism is a contentious one. Embedded in this connection is the question of whether sisterhood—a mantra assuming a common oppression of all women and signifying feminist international/cross-cultural relations—describes the symbolic and functional representation of African women. The contributors in this book are aware of the global discourse on women as articulated by Western feminists and interrogate the issues raised by the misinterpretation of African women of both black and white American feminists. The implications of the dominance of Western men and women in the production of knowledge about Africa are also explored. This is one of the first collections written by African women who were born and raised in Africa and are now teaching in the United States. The papers here focus on a variety of issues including the uses and abuses of female circumcision in global feminist discourse, the problem of the criminalization approach to eradicating female circumcision, the effect of the image of the victimized African woman on development policy, and gender imperialism as a metascript of domination and oppression and as encountered by African women in the academy. This volume also raises profound questions about the idea that a common anatomy can form the basis of sororal solidarity among women of different colors, cultures, classes, nations, and religions.

Genres: Feminism, Nonfiction, Gender Studies, Africa, Race

282 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2003

About the author

Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí is a Nigerian gender scholar and full professor of sociology at Stony Brook University. She acquired her bachelor's degree at the University of Ibadan in Ibadan, Nigeria and went on to pursue her graduate degree in Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley Her 1997 monograph, The Invention of Women: Making an African Sense of Western Gender Discourses, offers a postcolonial feminist critique of Western dominance in African studies.

Reviews

[fláv maçã · Rating 5 out of 5]

para aprender a nunca subestimar 380 páginas; essa quantidade pode parecer razoável, mas ela só é quando o conteúdo não é tão denso quanto o desse livro. maravilhosamente cansativo e viciante. você fecha para pensar a respeito do que leu e logo quer saber ainda mais, então abre o livro mais uma vez.
minha perspectiva de feminismo já era levemente inclinada à esse raciocínio, mas o livro traz um mundo de informações novas e a tese é bem estruturada de maneira que você lembra dos primeiros capítulos enquanto lê os últimos. fico muito feliz de ter acesso a esse livro. ele é genial, simplesmente assim.
a sororidade dentro branquitude realmente tem uma base muito frágil e somos rápidas em virar as costas para nossas “irmãs” ou nem mesmo enxerga-las.
muita coisa a re-pensar.