Books › The invention of women
The invention of women
First published 1997 · 229 pages
A rigorous, paradigm-shifting intellectual journey that completely dismantles Western assumptions about the universality of gender.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like watching a foundational wall of your worldview be meticulously dismantled and rebuilt with entirely new materials. It is a deeply intellectual, paradigm-shifting experience that demands a steady, deliberate pace. The prose is rigorous and academic, guiding the reader through a profound epistemological shift rather than a traditional narrative. You are immersed in a critical, revelatory atmosphere where deeply ingrained Western assumptions about bodies and gender are exposed as culturally specific rather than universal. It is an empowering, intellectually thrilling read for those who crave decolonial theory and feminist philosophy, offering the profound satisfaction of seeing the world and the structures that organize it through a radically different, sharply focused lens.
- Mood
- intellectual
- revelatory
- paradigm-shifting
- contemplative
- Tone
- authoritative
- critical
- rigorous
- persuasive
- academic
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- decolonial epistemology · Western hegemony · social construction of gender · cultural translation · seniority versus gender
- The writing
- Methodical, dense, and sharply analytical, demanding careful attention to its theoretical nuances.
- The arc
- Moves from a critical dismantling of familiar frameworks to a liberating, expansive understanding of alternative social realities.
- Who it's for
- Readers interested in decolonial theory, feminist philosophy, and African studies who want to challenge their foundational assumptions about gender.
Content notes
- colonialism
- academic discussions of racism and sexism
About the book
The "woman question", this book asserts, is a Western one, and not a proper lens for viewing African society. A work that rethinks gender as a Western contruction, The Invention of Women offers a new way of understanding both Yoruban and Western cultures.
Oyewumi traces the misapplication of Western, body-oriented concepts of gender through the history of gender discourses in Yoruba studies. Her analysis shows the paradoxical nature of two fundamental assumptions of feminist theory: that gender is socially constructed in old Yoruba society, and that social organization was determined by relative age.
Description from Open Library.
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