1696480485     

Mother Is Gold, Father Is Glass : Gender and Colonialism in a Yoruba Town

Bloomington : Indiana University Press, 2010 [©2010.]

1 online resource (257 pages)

Englisch

Cover; Contents; Preface: "You Must Be From Here"-An Intellectual and Personal Journey; Acknowledgments; Note on Orthography and Language; Prologue: "Mother is gold, father is glass"; 1 Founding Fathers and Metaphorical Mothers; 2 How Kings Lost Their Mothers; 3 Giving Away Kétu's Secret; 4 "Where women really matter"; 5 "Without family . . . there is no true colonization"; 6 "The Opening of the Eyes"; 7 Mothers and Fathers of an Atlantic World; Epilogue: A Rebirth of "Public Mothers" and Kings; Essay on Sources and Methodology; Notes; Bibliography; Index

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Erscheint auch als: (Druck-Ausgabe)

978-0-253-00488-8

978-0-253-35545-4 (ISBN der Printausgabe)

687096944

HQ1811.Z9

305.420966     Ähnliche Literatur

LOC-SH: Kétou (Benin) -- History ; Kétou (Benin) -- Social life and customs ; Africa, West -- History -- 1884-1960 ; Women -- Benin -- Kétou -- History ; Women, Yoruba -- Political activity -- History ; Sex role -- Africa, West -- History ; Mothers -- Political activity -- Africa, West -- History

Africa, West ; History ; 1884-1960 ; Kétou (Benin) ; History ; Kétou (Benin) ; Social life and customs ; Mothers ; Political activity ; Africa, West ; History ; Sex role ; Africa, West ; History ; Women ; Benin ; Kétou ; History ; Women, Yoruba ; Political activity ; History ; Electronic books

Lorelle D. Semley explores the historical and political meanings of motherhood in West Africa and beyond, showing that the roles of women were far more complicated than previously thought. While in Kétu, Bénin, Semley discovered that women were treasurers, advisors, ritual specialists, and colonial agents in addition to their more familiar roles as queens, wives, and sisters. These women with special influence made it difficult for the French and others to enforce an ideal of subordinate women. As she traces how women gained prominence, Semley makes clear why powerful mother figures still exist in the symbols and rituals of everyday practices.

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Cover -- Contents -- Preface: "You Must Be From Here"-An Intellectual and Personal Journey -- Acknowledgments -- Note on Orthography and Language -- Prologue: "Mother is gold, father is glass" -- 1 Founding Fathers and Metaphorical Mothers -- 2 How Kings Lost Their Mothers -- 3 Giving Away Kétu's Secret -- 4 "Where women really matter" -- 5 "Without family . . . there is no true colonization" -- 6 "The Opening of the Eyes" -- 7 Mothers and Fathers of an Atlantic World -- Epilogue: A Rebirth of "Public Mothers" and Kings -- Essay on Sources and Methodology -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.