Wayward Women: Sexuality and Agency in a New Guinea Society

Wayward Women is a groundbreaking ethnography that delves into the complexities of female agency, gendered violence, and transactional sex in contemporary Papua New Guinea.

Through an in-depth analysis of kinship, bridewealth, marriage, and exchange, Wardlow reveals how these robust social institutions are transformed by an encompassing capitalist economy.

The book provides a riveting portrait of the ways in which modernity engages with gender to produce new and contested subjectivities, drawing on village court cases, hospital records, and women's own raw, caustic, and darkly funny narratives.

With its nuanced understanding of the complex interplay between culture and economy, Wayward Women offers a fresh perspective on the experiences of "passenger women" in Papua New Guinea, challenging conventional understandings of "prostitution" and "sex work." Don't miss out on this thought-provoking and insightful exploration of gender and power in the modern world.