This book explores the images of women in African
oral literature. For girl children in particular, the
images of women are seen as performing the role of
training the girl child into patriarchal societys
ideal woman-described in this book as "the virtuous
woman." This is
the kind of woman who is not aggressive but coy; not
boisterous but
quiet;not assertive but compromising, therefore
easily contained
within the male armpit. Using Abakhayo oral poetry as
its case
study, this work lays bare societys view of women
and girl children.
In particular, the work serves as an eye-opener to
the...

This book examines how girl characters are portrayed in children's books by writers from the majorly patriarchal setups. The book further makes a deliberate attempt to compare the girl character in the books and the girl child in a patriarchal African society. The work is the outcome of intensive interaction with girl children in typical patriarchal settings and an analysis of selected children's books by leading Kenyan writers. As one reads through this book, one keeps confronting the ever recurring question of whether the social and gender disparities between men and women are a natural...