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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Marriage, Tradition, and Womanhood in Hausa Society: Women's Perspectives |
Author: | Chaibou, Elhadji Oumarou |
Year: | 1994 |
Periodical: | Ufahamu |
Volume: | 22 |
Issue: | 3 |
Pages: | 63-76 |
Language: | English |
Geographic terms: | Nigeria Northern Nigeria |
Subjects: | Hausa women biographies (form) Women's Issues Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) |
Abstract: | A close reading of the biographical texts of two Hausa women from northern Nigeria indicates that the role of Islam is much more complex than many have argued and refutes widely held stereotypic views that Islam, with its practices of seclusion and veiling, is responsible for the oppressed condition of women in Hausa society. The two Hausa women in question show that women balance outside influences with more 'traditional' customs and practices in a way that maintains elements of both. 'Baba of Karo' (New York, 1964), by anthropologist Mary Smith, deals with aspects of women's conditions in a colonial context. 'The story of Gambo Sawaba' (Jos, 1990), by biographer Rima Shawulu, is concerned with the role of a prominent Hausa woman in contemporary politics. Both works are also compared with work by such scholars as Barbara Callaway to illustrate the conflicting theories about the impact of Islam on women in Africa. Note, ref. |