## Metadata - Real Title:: [African Societies Have H...](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474013510095056904) - Author:: [[Alice Evans]] - Via:: - Publication-Date:: - ReadwiseID:: 12600698 - Last Highlighted:: 2022-01-03 - Imported: 2022-06-02 from twitter ## Highlights ### id265960338 > African societies have historically respected women’s authority, spiritual power, physical strength, & moral judgement. Their cosmology upholds gender complementarity. > The most fascinating book I’ve read all year, by @NwandoAchebe > Buy it, and be enraptured! >  >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474013510095056904) ### id265960339 > How can we know what African gender relations were like hundreds of years ago? > Study language, songs, oral traditions, cosmology, and folklore! >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474013517011464203) ### id265960340 > Yes, and let me add that coding by Michalopoulos & @Melanie_Xue suggests Sub-Saharan Africa’s folklore is exceptionally gender equal. > https://t.co/zluvt7HLcQ >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474013524691197961) ### id265960341 > Most African societies believe that the world was created by a genderless Creator God, some believe God is a woman, many emphasise “duality”. > (Btw, relatively egalitarian Andean societies shared this ideology of “gender complementarity”, with cults to the Sun God & Moon Goddess) >  >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474013530974306305) ### id265960342 > Great Gods were helped by female goddesses, who are often associated with fertility, rain & harvests > (Strong parallels with Andean cosmology, eg Pachamama) > (No goddesses of virginity?! That strongly contrasts with Ancient Greeks & Romans, who zealously policed female chastity) >  >  >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474013537727090702) ### id265960343 > The spiritual and physical worlds exist in tandem, > @NwandoAchebe presents evidence of revered female authorities at every level. > (By contrast, there were NO female sages in Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Confucianism or Daoism, afaik?) >  >  >  >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474013545482395656) ### id265960344 > In eastern Nigeria, an all-powerful female oracle (ibiniukpabi) delivered judgements. >  >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474013551748657154) ### id265960345 > When the people of Alor-Uno needed protection from slave-raiding, they used powerful *female* medicine: “adoro”, which was venerated to a deity. > (This is a crucial metaphor, imo!! Militarism is NOT necessarily associated with masculinity; there were African female body guards). >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474013558098776064) ### id265960346 > In “Ten Thousand Years of Patriarchy”, I suggest that patriliny & patriarchal governance emerged with valuable inherited wealth (land/herds). > BUT @NwandoAchebe suggests that in East Africa, women defied hierarchies & gained influence as spirit mediums! >  >  >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474013566009319430) ### id265960347 > African male and female monarchs ruled jointly. > In Nigeria, the queen of the ladies represented other women. > (Btw, this idea of separate spheres (where respected, senior women govern juniors) has parallels with the Bemba in Southern Africa and Andean communities). >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474013573651353603) ### id265960348 > “Berber warrior queens!” > (Let me add, this is VERY IMPORTANT: > 1) Pastoralism *is* associated with female seclusion and honour cultures, but the association is small & there is still huge unexplained variation. > 2) Militarism doesn’t necessarily exacerbate son presence) >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474014631521890308) ### id265960349 > TANGENT: the Maghreb is presently more gender equal than the rest of MENA, with higher FLFP & more gender equal legislation. > Why? > - European influence? > - No oil? More labour intensive industries? > - Authoritarians seeking legitimacy? > @NwandoAchebe highlights ancestral culture. >  >  >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474018490080284676) ### id265960350 > Another tangent: > Some feminist archaeologists of Southern Mesopotamia speculate that city states warred they needed male fighters, and this militarism spawned son preference. > Yet @NwandoAchebe's incredible research shows that women can be recognised as fighters! >  >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474019878533312515) ### id265960351 > Europe also had queens, ofc. > But government, the judiciary, law, medicine, and universities were monopolised by men. > That sharply contrasts with the Asante. The queen mother not only exercised power but called on fellow women to fight the British. >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474021427032608778) ### id265960352 > So in patrilineal Eurasia, men governed everyone. > But bilateral or matrilineal societies in Sub-Saharan Africa and South America, recognised > 1) Gender complementarity, recognising women's insights. > 2) Parallel spheres of influence. Women governed other women. >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474022221039427586) ### id265960353 > The Asante queen mother "maintains independent jurisdiction over all domestic matters affecting women and members of the royal family". > (Europe was far behind Africa - in terms of respect for women's insights, analysis and moral judgement). >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474023279254020098) ### id265960354 > Reading @NwandoAchebe, one finds many historical examples of Black Panther's portrayal of autonomous princesses and ferocious warriors! >  >  >  >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474027690554503178) ### id265960355 > Key to gender equality is not one prominent woman > but rather networks of solidarity and social capital amongst women > and that's precisely what happened in Igboland >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474028531952893954) ### id265960356 > In South Asia and the Middle East, wealthy women were historically often cloistered, to preserve lineage purity and collective honour. That kept women divided. > But Igbo women's strong networks of solidarity and parallel spheres of governance enabled them to protect each other. >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474029678402932738) ### id265960357 > China, Japan and South Korea today all have high rates of female employment. > But they lack an essential ingredient of gender equality, which Igboland had long ago: > Female governance. > Women organised the market, and acted as a court. >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474033299219701765) ### id265960358 > This is an interesting perspective on polygamy! > Was it really characterised by 'cooperation and solidarity'? > I have a question for @NwandoAchebe, > I wonder what she makes of research pointing to jealousy and animosity between co-wives, sharing a husband? >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474035148282744832) ### id265960359 > (Also not mentioned yet, perhaps it is discussed later in the book, is female genital mutilation. > I would be keen to hear @NwandoAchebe's perspective on why this developed in some places but not others). >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474035854620377099) ### id265960360 > Edmond Smith has a new book out this year “Merchants”. > Spoiler: they’re all men. > English women did hawk at markets and run shops, but few travelled long distances. > Now! Contrast that with female support networks who travelled in bands to Igalaland to trade fish. >  >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474037044292767750) ### id265960361 > Personally, I think this is a really important observation. > It suggests that biology was not destiny. > Eurasian women were kept closer to the home NOT because we lacked contraception/ time-saving engines of liberation like washing machines. > But rather due to culture. - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474038621825028096) ### id265960362 > The book details that West African markets are governed by women. > 🙋‍♀️ I'm eager to learn from @NwandoAchebe > Has it always been like this? > Why didn't it occur so much in East or Southern Africa? > To what extent is this correlated with other dimensions of gender equality? >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474040631974629389) ### id265960363 > The book presents many examples of parallel gender spheres, autonomous women, and warriors. > Those practices and the cosmology suggests broad respect for female governance across the continent > So i'm curious why female-run markets might be unique to West Africa? - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474042035262955520) ### id265960364 > Achebe offers an interesting hypothesis: > Polygamy meant that some co-wives stayed behind, while others travelled more broadly. > Now here's Fenske's map of polygamy. > Paging @DrNathanNunn: what's the relationship between polygamy and female-run markets? > Is it a coincidence? >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474045726669824011) ### id265960365 > Though I should add, using a slightly different definition of polygamy, Becker suggests a different spread, which does not correlate with West African female-run markets, at least not today. > https://t.co/1Q0acP9nPy - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474046173262581763) ### id265960366 > Could someone clever map female-run markets across Africa and investigate possible drivers? > icymi: Marie Demie finds that tuber-growing societies have higher FLFP and less tolerance of wife beating. > (I suspect this is bc they were less stratified). > https://t.co/5LX8UFbsf5 >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474049849851092994) ### id265960367 > Another question for @NwandoAchebe > When studying cosmology, folklore, and language, > Do you find more patriarchal practices amongst African societies that practiced caste (with rigid endogamy, hierarchy, inherited occupations & pollution)? > https://t.co/zSYJvLmPWv >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474061094918447112) ### id265960368 > @NwandoAchebe's book shows examples of female leadership across the continent. > Southern Africa still has exceptionally high rates of women in parliament and the judiciary. > But in West Africa, women only represent 16% of parliamentarians. > Why do they differ? >  >  >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474063274262020097) ### id265960369 > The Global Gender Gap incorporates female employment, seniority, representation etc. > As you can see, most regions are grouped: > European countries score highly, then Latin America, then Eastern Europe, and MENA clusters at the lower end. > But SSA countries appear very diverse. >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474068076392030219) ### id265960370 > The book details that African gender is “flexible”: > Women have occasionally occupied stereotypically male positions. > I am curious to learn how common this fluidity was, and if it was common why were any positions stereotyped as ‘male’? >  >  >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474070895417348104) ### id265960371 > I must ask @NwandoAchebe about Nigeria! > The south has far lower rates of child marriage but also very high rates of FGM. > What explains Nigeria's north-south divergence? >  >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474075185473110024) ### id265960372 > Wow. I did not know this. > Ghana has the highest percentage of women business owners worldwide, Uganda comes third. >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474076011759341576) ### id265960373 > (Though I should add, the vast majority of “businesswomen” in Sub-Saharan Africa are “own account workers”, not “employers”) > https://t.co/yVfGFOvpD0 >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474076413301043201) ### id265960374 > Let me summarise! > Many African societies were historically characterised by gender complementarity: > - women governed other women, > - were worshipped as goddesses, > - ran markets & long-distance trade > - mobilised vast armies & > - feigned spirit possession to disrupt hierarchies - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474077547889631238) ### id265960375 > I have a thousand questions for the brilliant @NwandoAchebe and I’m so looking forward to our podcast. > But for now let me strongly recommend the book, it’s absolutely fascinating, and will definitely rock your priors! 🤩 - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474078053701718023) ### id265960376 > IF you are interested in my hypothesis about why Sub-Saharan Africa was historically relatively gender equal, and what undermined matrilocality, see: > https://t.co/eWOnnUf6X4 - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474079264567930886) ### id265960377 > In my ideal world, someone clever would use this data on female queens, goddesses, market-governance, and warriors to spatially map the heterogeneity in gender relations across Africa. > Are West Africa's female-run markets associated with other indicators of gender equality? - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474299608717316136) ### id265960378 > To me, the West African conundrum is the conjunction of male-dominated parliaments & female-run markets. > Was the region historically extremely gender equal in ALL respects? > Or did women only run markets? > (perhaps enabled by polygamous co-wives out-sourcing care-giving?) >  - [View Tweet](https://twitter.com/_alice_evans/status/1474321588778590208)