African Womanhood and Incontinent Bodies : Kenyan Women with Vaginal Fistulas

This book reveals the structures of poverty, power, patriarchy and imperialistic health policies that underpin what the World Health Organization calls the "hidden disease" of vaginal fistulas in Africa. By employing critical feminist and post-colonial perspectives, it shows how "leaking black female bodies" are constructed, ranked, stratified and marginalised in global maternal health care, and explains why women in Africa are at risk of developing vaginal fistulas and then having adequate treatment delayed or denied. Drawing on face-to-face, in-depth interviews with 30 Kenyan women, it paints a rare social portrait of the heartbreaking challenges for Kenyan women living with this most profound gender-related health issue - an experience of shame, taboo and abjection with severe implications for women's wellbeing, health and sexuality. In absolutely groundbreaking depth, this book shows why research on vaginal fistulas must incorporate feminist understandings of bodily experience to inform future practices and knowledge--Provided by publisher Annotation This book reveals the structures of poverty, power, patriarchy and imperialistic health policies that underpin what the World Health Organization calls the "hidden disease" of vaginal fistulas in Africa. By employing critical feminist and post-colonial perspectives, it shows how "leaking black female bodies" are constructed, ranked, stratified and marginalised in global maternal health care, and explains why women in Africa are at risk of developing vaginal fistulas and then having adequate treatment delayed or denied. Drawing on face-to-face, in-depth interviews with 30 Kenyan women, it paints a rare social portrait of the heartbreaking challenges for Kenyan women living with this most profound gender-related health issue - an experience of shame, taboo and abjection with severe implications for women's wellbeing, health and sexuality. In absolutely groundbreaking depth, this book shows why research on vaginal fistulas must incorporate feminist understandings of bodily experience to inform future practices and knowledge Front Matter ....Pages i-xvii Exploring African Feminisms: Context, Positioning, and Making the Personal Political (Kathomi Gatwiri)....Pages 1-31 The Problem of Vaginal Fistulas: Dimensions and Trends (Kathomi Gatwiri)....Pages 33-57 African Women, Gender, Health, and Sexuality: Theoretical Considerations (Kathomi Gatwiri)....Pages 59-94 Vaginal Fistulas and Structural Disadvantage (Kathomi Gatwiri)....Pages 95-124 Rationalising Fistulas: A Cultural Influence and Response (Kathomi Gatwiri)....Pages 125-155 Flawed Bodies, Blackness, and Incontinence (Kathomi Gatwiri)....Pages 157-186 Recreating African Womanhood and Rewriting Our Stories: Bringing the Narratives to a Close (Kathomi Gatwiri)....Pages 187-202 Back Matter ....Pages 203-210