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Title
Ajé & Ŕjé: Gender and Female Power in Yorůbáland |
Full text
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/70c5p87n |
Date
2014 |
Author(s)
Mathews, Sarah Jenise |
Contributor(s)
Apter, Andrew H |
Abstract
Yorůbá culture of present-day Southwest Nigeria and Southeast Republic of Benin, has received much attention from academics over time. In part, this is due to the culturally ingrained female power that has existed and persisted over time in Yorůbáland. However, some scholars have argued against the gender structure generally accepted by scholars to be grounded in Yorůbáland. In particular, Oyeronke Oyewumi made a compelling, yet controversial argument in her book The Invention of Women: Making An African Sense of Western Gender Discourses (1997). Oyewumi asserts that scholars have imposed their Western bias in their research on the Yorůbá based on their own understanding of gender roles throughout history.Although Oyewumi makes many valid arguments in her volume, this study will expose weaknesses in her claim in regards to important gender distinctions that have existed in Yorůbáland over time, and in particular female power in the marketplace. By examining two Yorůbá concepts of female power, the deity Ajé and the concept of ŕjé, the culturally ingrained importance of female power will be made clear and contribute to the vast scholarship on related subjects.The goddess Ajé, as a deity of the marketplace, has received little attention in scholarship on the Yorůbá pantheon, yet she provides an example of the importance of womanhood in Yorůbá culture. The concept of ŕjé, on the other hand, is much better studied concept of female power in Yorůbáland. Ŕjé represents female power throughout many facets of Yorůbá life, including economic, domestic, religious, as well as political spheres. These expressions of culturally grounded female power within Yorůbáland are exemplary of the dynamic gender structure in Yorůbá culture. Contrary to what Oyewumi asserts, and contrary to many early Western feminists' accounts, Yorůbá women have been able to harness female power to their advantage throughout Yorůbáland over time. |
Subject(s)
African studies; African history; Gender studies; Aje; female power; gender; marketplace; Nigeria; Yoruba |
Language
en |
Publisher
eScholarship, University of California |
Type of publication
etd |
Format
application/pdf |
Rights
public |
Identifier
qt70c5p87n |
Repository
Berkeley - University of California
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Added to C-A: 2019-12-11;10:12:53 |
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