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Page 2
Thus, Bradford excoriates Peires for barely even mentioning the role of cattle as bridewealth, and for dismissing as "unimportant" Nongqawuse's focus on sexuality. Instead, he focuses on the killing of cattle by the men who owned them, and fashions Nongqawuse's uncle into the main actor of the movement. This interpretation "subordinates women, sexuality and the young to class, race and men." Any legitimate explanation of this millenarian movement, Bradford concludes, must include an analysis of Nongqawuse's "challenge to patriarchal power." Further, women's labor has been trivialized because Peires focuses on the cattle killing, to the exclusion of the destruction of crops and the refusal to cultivate grain-which was in all likelihood far more important for sustaining the people through a period of potential starvation.
Bradford's sweeping judgment against Peires-and indeed, against all of African history that ignores the importance of gender as a concept-is compelling. Previously, I had seen women's studies and feminist history as an attempt to correct a previous method of history that ignored women. I saw it as "balancing" an imbalance and that, perhaps, side by side, the histories could produce a complete history. In fact, focusing on women to the exclusion of men will result in just as flawed an analysis. Further, Bradford puts into context the need for a gendered explanation of history-for looking at both male and female sexuality in light of historic events, and constructing our explanations accordingly. Works Cited The Dead Will Arise by Jeff Peires Women, gender and colonialism: rethinking the history of the British Cape Colony and its frontier zones, c.1806-70" by Helen Bradford Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article The Cattle Killings - Page 2 in African History is owned by Jessica Powers. Permission to republish The Cattle Killings - Page 2 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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