Gendered Themes in Early African History

The concept of “wealth in people” lies at the heart of much of gender history in precolonial Africa. This chapter proceeds through several examples drawn from East, West, Southern, and Central Africa, from times ranging from 3,000 years ago to the early nineteenth century. Gendered histories of early Africa tend to cluster around marriage, motherhood, and kinship. Motherhood existed at the intersections of a woman's role and reputation among multiple households, and the interests of each household in her offspring. Women encouraged a trajectory that placed men at the center of cattle economies, limited access to socially viable masculinity, and located their husbands in subordinate positions with respect to her parents. Households and communities altered ideas about what constituted socially acceptable femininity and masculinity to manage shifting political and economic landscapes during the upheaval of the Atlantic Era.