Essay Questions

Why did Ifi Amadiume believe that her fellow anthropologists were wrong about their assumptions towards African females?

Through her thesis and research, Ifi found out that the opposite of what her colleagues believed was true. They though that the colonialism freed African women from the hold of strong African men and are helped till this day still by western feminists. The contrary was deemed true; the religion and ideologies the colonization brought pushed African women under the radar, from their previous high position in the African hierarchy.

How does the book approach the LGBTQ community?

Ifi Amaduime doesn’t actually confront the problems of the LGBTQ community in her book. It is focused on women’s roles in general, and how they empowered each other in pre-colonial times. One of those ways was through women-to-women marriage, though it didn’t have anything to do with “lesbianism”, but instead female empowerment.

How did Ifi believe religion affected the people and the society in Africa?

Ifi observed and detected the differences the society and the “women’s roles” before, during and after the colonial times. Simultaneously, she noticed the difference in the religions and ideologies. There was an undeniable connection; The religion brought ideologies that told the woman what she could and couldn’t do. The “Christian” religion the British brought had strict rules for women, hence changing the way females were both treated and perceived by the larger society.