Issue #0

Women of Africa: Roots of Oppression

roots of oppression

Plot

"Women of Africa is an overall study of the many factors determining women's position in contemporary Africa. The author, Ms Cutrufelli, an Italian sociologist who is both a feminist and a Marxist, argues that women's conditions can only be understood in the context of the general underdevelopment of the African Continent. She therefore describes first the colonial period, and how it changed the complex and diverse web of family ties and relations between the sexes expressed in marriage rites, dowry, polygamy, inheritance and various other aspects of family and kinship systems. The author then turns to the changing situation of women in post-colonial Africa. In particular, she analyses their conditions of work both in town and countryside, their job opportunities, involvement in trade, and domestic labour, as well as the growing incidence of prostitution. Women's control over their own bodies -- clitoridectomy, contraception, abortion, and motherhood -- are also examined. Finally, she discusses African women's growing participation in social struggles and political movements."--Back cover.