Textiles and the power of women (Textiles et le pouvoir des femmes)
Resource type
Book chapter
Creator (person)
Bolton, Lissant
Abstract
On the north Vanuatu island of Ambae, as on the adjacent islands of Maewo and Pentecost, plaited and stencil-dyed pandanus textiles are extremely important. Made only by women, they are used as valuables and in certain ritual contexts, and also domestically as clothing, furnishing, and bedding, domestic use being categorically separated from ritual and exchange. Men depend on women for the textiles they need. Women use textiles to embody and enable transformations in themselves and others: their power to make and deploy textiles enables women to have significant social standing and economic agency.
Book title
Vanuatu: pouvoir des femmes
Editor
Patole-Edoumba, Elise
Pagination
111-119
Publisher
ImpriMarie LR Museum La Rochelle
Place of publication
La Rochelle