New Books Network Jessica Catherine Reuther, "The Bonds of Kinship in Dahomey: Portraits of West African Girlhood, 1720–1940" (Indiana UP, 2025)
Nov 15, 2025
Dr. Jessica Reuther, an Associate Professor specializing in West African history, delves into girl fostering in Dahomey from 1720 to 1940. She discusses how this practice created complex kinship dynamics and economic exploitation of girls' labor. Reuther explores the various forms of child transfer, the shift in girlhood definitions amidst colonial changes, and the narratives of girls like Ahulepe, who navigated agency and resistance. Her research sheds light on the evolving roles of girls and social mothers against colonial pressures and contemporary legacies.
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Girlhood Defined By Social Markers
- Dahomean girlhood is defined by maturation and social markers more than strict chronological age, roughly between about seven and mid-teens.
- Transition to womanhood was signaled by marriageability, menstruation, and economic roles like independent hawking.
Market Women Asked For Her Child
- Jessica Reuther recounts market women in Benin repeatedly asking her to "give me your child" while she researched, exposing entrustment as locally valued practice.
- That lived exchange prompted her to center Beninese perspectives and question colonial-era labels that equate entrustment with slavery.
Center Marginalized Voices Methodically
- Reuther advises historians to center marginalized voices by refracting dominant archives and using images and oral histories to recover lived experiences.
- She recommends embracing speculative, well-documented reconstruction when direct sources are silent.
