In Japanese, the word for widow – a woman who has outlived her husband – literally translates as ‘she who has not yet died.’ For millennia, widows have lived on the margins of society: banished to the wilderness, silenced, and shrouded in black or white. Across cultures, laws and local customs have maligned them as witches, dependants or objects of pity. In some traditions, widows are expected to remarry within the husband’s family, or even – in extreme cases – commit self-immolation – expectations not placed on men. Yet widowhood has also brought unexpected freedoms: financial, social and sexual autonomy denied to married women. In medieval Europe, widows owned property and ran businesses; in India’s Maratha courts, they wielded political influence long before married women could. Drawing on sources from Ancient Egypt and Greece to Africa, the Americas and beyond, cultural historian Mineke Schipper explores widowhood as both oppression and liberation. Widows reveals one of feminism’s last great taboos, and the story of women the world has long refused to see. ‘Shocking, deeply intimate and entirely necessary. A vital read to understand how patriarchy persists today and what we need to do to dismantle it.’ – Anna Malaika Tubbs, author of Erased: What American Patriarchy Has Hidden From Us ‘Mineke Schipper has uncovered one of history’s most overlooked subjects. A deeply important contribution to our understanding of societies across the world. Eye-opening and empowering.’ – Minna Salami, author of Can Feminism Be African?: A Most Paradoxical Question ‘Shines a much-needed spotlight on widowhood and marriage, offering intriguing insights into women’s lives and histories. A brilliant book, rich with research.’ – Milli Hill, author of The Body Myth: Reclaiming The Powerful Truth About Being Female
