The Girl with the Louding Voice


Book Description

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A READ WITH JENNA TODAY SHOW BOOK CLUB PICK! “Brave, fresh . . . unforgettable.”—The New York Times Book Review “A celebration of girls who dare to dream.”—Imbolo Mbue, author of Behold the Dreamers (Oprah’s Book Club pick) Shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and recommended by The New York Times, Marie Claire, Vogue, Essence, PopSugar, Daily Mail, Electric Literature, Red, Stylist, Daily Kos, Library Journal, The Everygirl, and Read It Forward! The unforgettable, inspiring story of a teenage girl growing up in a rural Nigerian village who longs to get an education so that she can find her “louding voice” and speak up for herself, The Girl with the Louding Voice is a simultaneously heartbreaking and triumphant tale about the power of fighting for your dreams. Despite the seemingly insurmountable obstacles in her path, Adunni never loses sight of her goal of escaping the life of poverty she was born into so that she can build the future she chooses for herself – and help other girls like her do the same. Her spirited determination to find joy and hope in even the most difficult circumstances imaginable will “break your heart and then put it back together again” (Jenna Bush Hager on The Today Show) even as Adunni shows us how one courageous young girl can inspire us all to reach for our dreams…and maybe even change the world.




Gender and Power Relations in Nigeria


Book Description

Globally, women are oppressed and this book introduces the perspective of African women and especially that of Nigerian women. This book looks at the major themes that drive the women's empowerment programs in Nigeria. Feminists in Nigeria are shaped by the institutions, values, ideologies, and since the 1970s, the UN and its agencies have added an international dimension. The chapters, while taking us through a theoretical overview of Nigerian women's empowerment, also shows how institutions, values, religion, and culture can challenge feminist political philosophy-- a philosophy that tends to universalize women's problems and their solutions.




Feminism


Book Description

Editor Biography:Josefa Ros Velasco (1987) received degrees in Philosophy (2010) and in Advertising and Public Relations (2011) with Honors from the University of Murcia. She also received a Master's in Contemporary Thought (2011) and in Teacher Education (2012) with Honors from the same institution. Excellent Program of Doctor in Philosophy at University Complutense of Madrid. She is FPU scholar by Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports in the Department of the History of Philosophy (UCM). DAAD scholar at Internationales Zentrum f�r Kultur und Technikforschung (IZKT Stuttgart Universit�t) in 2013; Deutsches Literatur-Archiv Marbach (DLA) "Einmonatiges" Scholar in 2014; FPU short-term research scholar at DLA in 2014. Research groups: "Saavedra Fajardo Library of Hispanic Political Thought" (HUM2007-60799); "History and Videogames: the impact of new media entertainment on the medieval past knowledge" (HAR2011-25548). Research areas: Hans Blumenberg's philosophy, Anthropology, Prehistory, Hipochondria, Boredom. Papers (selection): Paradigms for a Metaphorology of the Cosmos, Studies in History and Philosophy of Physics, 52 (2015); The Evolution of Language: An Anthropological Approach, Evolutionary Anthropology, 25 (2016).Book Description:Presently, our concern for the social, political and economic situation of women remains as valid as it was in the last century. Despite the progress made worldwide, we continue to witness a reality in which gender issues generate injustice, lack of freedom and violation of human rights. Researchers constantly strive to analyze women phenomena and denounce its consequences in the attempt to achieve an egalitarian world in which differences are understood and respected. This book is one of the fruits of such efforts. Scholars interested in women's issues have joined in this volume in order to register, through their work, a commitment to progress towards a better society. With this work, the authors attempt to promote the voice of women who, even in the twenty-first century, feel deprived of their well-deserved security. At the same time, they attempt not only to keep alive the awareness about women's situation, but also create an academic meeting point that shows the most current areas of research around women's issue. Through this collaboration, the authors hope to achieve a review of contemporary approaches to women's studies. It is for all the above that they have entitled this book Feminism: Past, Present, and Future Perspectives, because the authors are going to address how humanity is coping with the proposals of the last century. The authors want to show the most current points of view on women's issues through researches that are taking place in different geographic places, thanks to a procedure based on the case studies and methods. Finally, they will attempt to clarify what the future holds for women and state their demands firsthand.Target Audience:i)




The Invention of Women


Book Description

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.




Understanding Modern Nigeria


Book Description

An introduction to the politics and society of post-colonial Nigeria, highlighting the key themes of ethnicity, democracy, and development.




Fashioning Postfeminism


Book Description

Women in Lagos, Nigeria, practice a spectacularly feminine form of black beauty. From cascading hair extensions to immaculate makeup to high heels, their style permeates both day-to-day life and media representations of women not only in a swatch of Africa but across an increasingly globalized world. Simidele Dosekun's interviews and critical analysis consider the female subjectivities these women are performing and desiring. She finds that the women embody the postfeminist idea that their unapologetically immaculate beauty signals—but also constitutes—feminine power. As empowered global consumers and media citizens, the women deny any need to critique their culture or to take part in feminism's collective political struggle. Throughout, Dosekun unearths evocative details around the practical challenges to attaining their style, examines the gap between how others view these women and how they view themselves, and engages with ideas about postfeminist self-fashioning and subjectivity across cultures and class. Intellectually provocative and rich with theory, Fashioning Postfeminism reveals why women choose to live, embody, and even suffer for a fascinating performative culture.




Sensuous Knowledge


Book Description

In Sensuous Knowledge, Minna Salami draws on Africa-centric, feminist-first and artistic traditions to help us rediscover inclusive and invigorating ways of experiencing the world afresh. Combining the playfulness of a storyteller with the insight of a social critic, the book pries apart the systems of power and privilege that have dominated ways of thinking for centuries – and which have led to so much division, prejudice and damage. And it puts forward a new, sensuous, approach to knowledge: one grounded in a host of global perspectives – from Black Feminism to personal narrative, pop culture to high art, Western philosophy to African mythology – together comprising a vision of hope for a fragmented world riven by crisis. Through the prism of this new knowledge, Salami offers fresh insights into the key cultural issues that affect women’s lives. How are we to view Sisterhood, Motherhood or even Womanhood itself? What is Power and why do we conceive of Beauty? How does one achieve Liberation? She asks women to break free of the prison made by ingrained male-centric biases, and build a house themselves – a home that can nurture us all. Sensuous Knowledge confirms Minna Salami as one the most important spokespeople of today, and the arrival of a blistering new literary voice.







Women and the War on Boko Haram


Book Description

For over a decade, Boko Haram has waged a campaign of terror across northeastern Nigeria. In 2014, the kidnapping of 276 girls in Chibok shocked the world, giving rise to the #BringBackOurGirls movement. Yet Boko Haram’s campaign of violence against women and girls goes far beyond the Chibok abductions. From its inception, the group has systematically exploited women to advance its aims. Perhaps more disturbing still, some Nigerian women have chosen to become active supporters of the group, even sacrificing their lives as suicide bombers. These events cannot be understood without first acknowledging the long-running marginalisation of women in Nigerian society. Having conducted extensive fieldwork throughout the region, Hilary Matfess provides a vivid and thought-provoking account of Boko Haram’s impact on the lives of Nigerian women, as well as the wider social and political context that fuels the group’s violence.