UNDERSTANDING GENDER

By
Efiritha Chauraya and Tenson Mugodzwa

1. 1 Introduction
Although women have made important gains in terms of accessing vital
resources useful for social mobility in Zimbabwe and the world over, they are
still socially disadvantaged as men continue to hold positions of relative
privilege. This inequality is often thought to reflect innate differences between
the sexes but it is actually a creation of society itself. Research has revealed
that sex is a pervasive element in the structure of society and in the lives of
people. It shapes other people’s views of us as well as our own self- concepts.

This module is an ‘introduction to gender studies’ hence an understanding of

the term gender is important. In gender studies we are neither interested in
women as a group nor with men as a group but in the social relations between
them. In this unit we make you have an understanding of gender as a concept.
We also clarify some selected concepts central to the study of gender. The
explanations offered are neither comprehensive nor definitive. They are only
intended to help you explore key ideas about the concepts. You will develop a
deeper understanding when you read about them in the subsequent chapters.
The unit also covers how gender is socially constructed through the family, the
school, the peer group and the mass media. Although there are many types of
gender socialisation, in this unit we focus on Oakley’s types of gender
socialisation.

1.2 Unit Objectives

After studying this unit, you should be able to:
 Define and explain gender
 Differentiate between gender and sex
 Define and explain some key concepts in relation to gender
 Discuss how gender is socially constructed, maintained and perpetuated
 Examine the various types of gender socialisation

1.3 Gender and related concepts.

To best understand the term gender it is essential to first understand the term
sex as these two terms are often confused and sometimes used
interchangeably.

Sex
According to Macionis (1989), sex refers to the division of humanity into
biological categories of male and female. As a biological distinction, sex is
determined at the moment a child is conceived. Sex is also defined as the
biological differences between men and women, that is, “…their physical
characteristics: external genitalia, internal genitalia, gonads (the organs which
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produce sex cells), hormonal states and secondary sex characteristics.”
(Haralambos and Holborn, 2004: 94). Sex is therefore a fact of biology, which is
the physiological distinctiveness or state of being male or female.
Gender
Gender refers to human traits linked by culture to each sex (Haralambos and
Holborn, 2004). Within a society; males are socialized to be masculine as
females are taught to be feminine. Walter and Manion (1996) maintain that
gender is the difference that sex makes within a society, guiding how we are to
think of ourselves, how we interact with others, the social opportunities,
occupations, family roles and prestige allowed males and females.

“Gender can also be defined as a set of characteristics, roles and behaviour

patterns that distinguish women from men which are constructed not
biologically but socially and culturally” (Gita Sen in Towards Earth Summit
2002:1). Like the variable concepts of class, race, ethnicity, culture and
economics, gender is an analytical tool for understanding social processes that
affect human beings. The following table 1.1 helps you differentiate between
gender and sex.

Table 1.1 Differentiating gender from sex.

Sex Gender
Is in born Starts the moment the sex is known.
Is biologically determined Is socially constructed.
Is exclusive to a particular sex and is Varies within and among cultures.
fixed. It does not change over time, Different individuals and societies
once born male always male and give different meanings to maleness
once born female always female. and femaleness.
Is universal, that is, the organs that The attributes, expected roles,
determine a male or a female are expected behaviours and expected
uniform the world over for example responsibilities that go with maleness
the penis for the males and the and femaleness differ from society to
vagina for the females. society, community to community
and from individual to individual.
Is natural. Is learnt

Activity 1.1
 What is your understanding of gender?
 Why do you think ‘gender’ is a contemporary issue in your country
today?

Sex roles
Sex roles are duties, activities, tasks or responsibilities that males and females
perform or undertake that are an inevitable product of one’s biology, for
example, breastfeeding for females and impregnating for the males. Like sex,

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these assignments are biologically determined, fixed, universal and exclusive
to a particular sex.

Gender roles
Gender roles are duties, chores, tasks, responsibilities or assignments that a
particular cultural group consider appropriate for its males and females on the
basis of the meaning attached to their sexual identity. These roles are not a
direct or an inevitable product of males’ or females’ biology e.g. caring for
children by females and mending a puncture for males. They are learnt, vary
within and among cultures, dynamic, interchangeable and can be affected by
factors like class, religion, age, race, education, geographical location and
ethnicity.

Gender Equality
When we say 2+2=4, we mean that the value of 2+2 and the value of 4 are
the same. In gender equality, we are interested in the same valuation of men
and women and sameness of enjoyment of rights, power, opportunities,
treatment and control of resources between males and females in society. We
are also interested in the sameness in enjoying of the benefits from resources.
Gender equality is therefore not only the absence of discrimination and bias,
but “… the equal valuing by society of both the similarities and differences
between women and men and the varying roles that they play” (Gender
Equality Analysis Policy-Status of Women Canada page 5). It does not mean
that men and women will become the same. No. But they will have same
opportunities in life. An example of practicing gender equality is according men
and women enjoyment of same voting rights. Gender equality, therefore,
“denotes the equivalence in life outcomes for women and men, recognizing
their different needs and interests and requiring a redistribution of power and
resources” (Bridge Report No. 55:10).

Gender Equity
Gender equity is a process of achieving fairness and justice among men and
women. The fairness and justice is in relation to distribution of opportunities,
responsibilities and resources as well as in accessing and controlling the
benefits from the resources. “To ensure fairness, measures must often be
made available to compensate for historical and social disadvantages that
prevent women and men from operating on a level playing field” (Gender
Equality Analysis Policy- Status of Women Canada page 5).

Gender equity also entails proportional distribution of social resources and

services, as well as proportional representation of men and women in the
development process, that is, the composition of males and females at all
levels should closely represent the general population. What we mean here is
that, if we are practicing gender equity, say in our enrolment of male and
females into university then the ratio of males to females should be
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commensurate with the national population ratio of 48:52. Gender equity
leads to gender equality.

Gender bias
Gender bias is the tendency to be in favour of, or against males and females on
the basis of their gender rather than on anything else, like what some teachers
do when they take only females for fashion and fabrics because of their
stereotypical belief that women are better at sewing than men.

Gender Discrimination
Gender discrimination is an act of unfair treatment directed against an
individual or a group on the basis of their gender which denies them the rights,
opportunities or resources. When universities lower entry points for only female
students, (whatever the reasons may be) they will be discriminating against
the male students. Gender discrimination can be positive or negative and
whether positive or negative, differential treatment is given to males and
females on basis of their gender.

Gender Neutrality
This is the claim that one is indifferent to issues of gender as he/she has no
ultimate gender practice. It assumes that all people are affected by
programmes or polices in the same way. “It is premised on the theory that all
people are already equal, therefore treating all people the same way is fair,”
(Women’s Policy Office, Government of Newfound land and Labrador (undated)
Facilitator’s Guide, Gender Inclusive Analysis….An Overview St Johns, NF, p.14)
like what most universities do when they give one tissue roll to every student
in residence for a specified period of time. Female students, by virtue of their
biology require more tissue paper. It thus may not allow for sensitivity to
disadvantages, hence it replicates stereotypes and restrictive views of males
and females.

Gender Blindness
When one is blind one cannot see. Gender blindness is total failure, out of
sheer gender ignorance, to recognize the differences between males and
females and subsequently leads to failure to provide or cater for the
differences. Gender blind people fail to realize that policies, programmes and
activities can have different effects on men and women and this often leads to
rigidity and unchanging attitudes. It is a characteristic feature of conservative
societies, where gender bias and discrimination is orchestrated on ill
knowledge and innocence. A good example is what happened at a certain
school which had been originally a boys’ only school and then decided to
become co-educational. The school administration made girls stay in hostels
that were previously boys’. The toilets in these hostels had urinals and the
administration did not see anything wrong with that. This is gender blindness.
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Gender Sensitivity
Imagine entering a bus which is ferrying students from your university home
and you find that 90% of the bus load is males and the majority of those that
failed to enter the bus are females. You will obviously sense a gap of
something between male students as a group and female students as a group.
What is it that you are sensing? You are right!-that, whatever the reason, there
is a gender gap between men and women. You see, you are becoming gender
sensitive. Gender sensitivity is the mere ability to perceive existing gender
inequalities. It is gender perceptiveness or gender consciousness, which is,
looking at an issue with a gender eye. It is the beginning of gender awareness.

Gender Awareness
In the example of the bus situation given immediately above, what do you
think is the cause of the problem given that the passengers in the bus were
self-drawn from a population of equal numbers between males and females?
You are now searching for the possible gender problems. You are now
becoming gender-aware. Gender awareness is, therefore, the ability to identify
problems arising from gender discrimination and bias which affect men’s and
women’s ability to access and control resources and /or even access and
control of benefits from the resources is gender awareness. It is still gender
awareness even when and where the problems are disguised and defended as
culture and tradition.

Gender Responsiveness
What solutions would you offer in the transport problem above so that females
are not discriminated against? You are now becoming gender responsive.
Gender responsiveness mainly constitutes responding to gender issues with a
view to eradicate the bias and discrimination in order to ensure equality and
equity (FAWE, 2004). It is the ability to visualize and practicalize gender equity
and gender equality. You see, it starts from gender sensitivity to gender
awareness then to gender responsiveness. For detail we refer you to Unit 7.

Feminism
Feminism is a social and political movement aimed at defending and expanding
the rights of women. It is both a cause and a result of the changing positions of
women in society. It is also an ideology, which recognizes the systematic
discrimination against women on the grounds of their gender. Feminism gives
commitment to work towards correcting the undesirable situation of women. It
challenges the idea that gender like sex is natural. For detail we refer you to
Unit 2.

Patriarchy
Patriarchy is a social system that propagates male superiority, power and
control over women as natural. It oppresses, exploits and subordinates women.
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In patriarchal societies leadership roles, control of valuable resources and
decision making is a male preserve. Patriarchy draws a clear demarcation line
between males and female. It also creates a social stratification with males
always on top. Meena (1992) says that, in patriarchy, even the weakest man
has a woman to oppress and exploit. In patriarchy women are perceived as
perpetual minors who cannot take independent decisions. It is in short,
“systematic societal structures that institutionalize male physical social and
economic power over women” (Bridge Report No. 55:29). For detail we refer
you to Unit 2.

Gender Mainstreaming
“…..is the process of assessing the implication for women and men of any
planned action; including legislation, policies or programmes, in any area and
at all levels. It is a strategy for making women’s as well as men’s concerns and
experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring
and evaluation of the policies and programmes in all political, economic, and
societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not
perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality.” (Towards Earth
Summit, 2002: 2). It is a strategy to achieve gender equality that was
universally adopted at the fourth world conference on women in 1995, at
Beijing - a means to the bigger end of attaining gender equality. For detail you
go to Unit 7.

Gender Empowerment
This is one of the words that are difficult to define because of taking different
forms in different people and different contexts. Babikwa (2004:72) says
“empowerment does not mean individual self-assertion, upward social mobility
or increased disposable income or when psychological experience of feeling
self-realized….it means....an understanding of the causes of powerlessness,
recognizing systematically oppressive forces and acting individually and
collectively to change the conditions of life.” Basically, then, it is to do with
one’s participation in decisions and processes affecting one’s life. It is a
process about people, taking control over their own lives, setting their own
agendas, building self-confidence, solving problems [Kabeer, (1994) in March
et al 1999:25]. “Empowerment cannot be given, it must be self-generated”
because such change must be believed in, initiated, and directed by those
whose interests it is meant to serve. What other external forces like education
can do is to provide those who need empowerment with an enabling
environment and resources which will allow them to take greater control of
their lives; determine what relations they would want to live within and devise
strategies to help them get there (Naila Kabeer, in March, Smyth and
Mukhopadhyay, 1999:.25).For detail you go to Unit 9.

Gender Affirmative Action

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Gender affirmative action is a corrective or compensatory measure for past
injustices or gaps and an accelerator for the process of equitable development.
It is an intended justice measure through deliberately according the previously
excluded or disadvantaged sex group preferential treatment to increase the
group’s representation in areas of education, employment, business and
politics among others. It entails gender discrimination because it gives unfair,
though justifiable, advantage to the once discriminated sex group. It is
therefore positive or reverse discrimination. Gender affirmative action is meant
to redress the effects of past discriminations rather than discriminate. An
example of gender affirmative action is the practice done by most universities
when these institutions lower their entry points for female students only. For
detail you go to Unit 7.

Gender Stereotypes
Gender stereotypes are socially constructed ideas or beliefs about men and
women which are not necessarily true but taken as truth by society. They are
maintained, perpetuated and transmitted from generation to generation by
social institutions like the family, the school, the media, religion, the culture
among others. Most common gender stereotypes are based on:
 Sex, for example, males are aggressive while females are affectionate
 Personality, for example men are cheerful while women are nervous
 Age, for example, young men are rebellious while older women are
conservative
 Ethnicity, for example, Ndebele women are good home managers while
Shona women are good fieldworkers
 Class for example upper class men are playful while lower class men are
ambitious
 Occupations, for example male nurses are kind and loving while female
nurses are rude and short hearted with women in labour.
Stereotypes can be positive or negative.

Gender Identity
‘….it is how an individual adapts the prescribed sex role to his or her individual
identity.’
(Http: // www.gender.org.uk about gender definitions.htm page 2)

Gender Relations
These are “the range of gendered practices, such as the division of labour and
resources and the gendered ideologies such as ideas of acceptable behaviour
for men and women” (Bridge Report No. 55:18). They are simply the social
relationships between men as a sex group and women as a sex group. They
determine what is socially accepted and what is socially inappropriate. They
work in most cases to subordinate and discriminate against women.

Gender practical needs

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These are the concrete, immediate and often essential needs/wants for human
survival. The men and women survive better in their socially accepted roles,
within their gendered power structures. Practical gender needs include food
and shelter among other things.

Gender strategic needs

These are human requirements which when met challenge and change power
relations between men and women. They are often less visible than the
practical ones and are long term, one example being access to decision making
positions.

Gender Socialisation
Gender socialisation “refers to the means whereby social expectations
regarding gender- appropriate characteristics are conveyed to the child. These
expectations are often based on stereotyped beliefs.” It has a dual significance
for these children, that is, it provides them with models for present behaviour
and it prepares them for adult life (Dekker and Lemmer, 1993:9).

Activity 1.2
 In your own words define and explain, using examples where
necessary, each of the terms given above.
 Differentiate between: a) gender equity and gender equality b)
gender blindness and gender neutrality c) gender sensitivity and
gender awareness d) gender roles and sex roles e) feminism and
patriarchy f) gender affirmative action and gender empowerment
g) gender mainstreaming and gender empowerment.

1.4 Social Construction of Gender

To construct is to build or to make. The social construction of gender is the
social making of gender. Gender is constructed by society through the process
of gender socialization. The social institutions that are responsible for gender
construction are called socialisation forces like the family, the school, the
media, the language, music and religion among others. The people who carry
out the socialization are socialisation agents like the parents, the teachers,
pastors, peers and many others. Some institutions like the family are primary
in the sense that they are the first that any child comes into contact with.
Murdock in Haralambos and Holborn (2004), says the family is the child’s first
window to the world and no other gender socialisation institution rivals it in
gender socialisation. Such prime gender socialisation institutions are called
primary socialisation forces, while those institutions that the child comes in
contact with after primary socialisation are called secondary socialisation
forces like the school, the peer group, and others. Both the primary and
secondary forces create, reinforce, maintain and perpetuate gender but the
primary forces are the chief creators, while the secondary forces are the chief
maintainers, reinforcers and perpetuators.
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The family, the school, the peer group and the mass media are going to be
discussed briefly here though other agents of gender socialisation are just as
important.

The Family
The family constructs gender through the way family members:
 interact with and treat the child
 talk to the child
 dress the child,
 give the toys and types of toys they give to the child
 assign roles and the roles they give
 accord the child benefits and opportunities and the type of benefits and
opportunities they accord
 position the child within the family
 give the child the name and the name given and even the other pseudo
names given
among other things.

The School
The school is a secondary socializing force and the teachers are the chief
socialising agents. The school operates on two levels, that is, the intentional
and official and the unintentional and none examined both of which gender
differentiated (Dekker and Lemmer 2003.) Gordon (1995) says that teachers
don’t explicitly teach gender, but gender emerges on its own in the curriculum.
What the school pupils’ eyes see, what their ears hear and what their minds in
turn believe in through:
 the school management structure
 the ways teachers talk, organize and treat the pupils
 the portrayal of men and women in the texts and reading books
 the learning media
 the subject allocations
 the teachers’ teaching methodologies
 the teachers’ attitudes and expectations
 the extra curricula activities, the sort of carrier guidance offered among
other things, discerns a gender social code on the pupils.

Therefore you see that, the exclamations ‘it’s a boy! Or it’s a girl!’ upon
delivery sets a course of action that from that moment on, influences multiple
facets of a person’s life. The answer ‘boy or girl’ carries significance in the
child’s entire life in terms of the individual’s:
 opportunities
 associations and relationships
 benefits
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  societal roles and responsibilities
 value in society
 social identity
 expected behaviour

The Peer Group

On reaching school age, children begin to interact more intensively outside the
family, especially with others of their age (the peer group). Within the peer
group, the blue and pink worlds are further developed.

Children’s games provide important cultural lessons. Lever cited in Macionis

(1989) concluded that the peer group activities of boys and girls differ
considerably, providing in each case a distinctive type of socialization. Lever
found out that boys engage in team sports that involve many roles and
complex rules, and clear objectives like scoring a goal. These games are almost
always competitive, producing winners and losers. Such activity among boys
reinforces the characteristics of masculinity, notably aggression, competition,
and remaining in control.

Girls on the other hand, tend to play games such as jump rope in small groups,
or simply sing or dance together. Such activity tends to be spontaneous,
involving few simple rules. Just as important, since these games rarely have
‘victory’ as their ultimate goal, girls rarely oppose one another. However,
female peer groups do serve to teach the interpersonal skills of communication
and cooperation that are the basis for life within the family.

Gilligan cited in Giddens (2004), noted that boys and girls learn to use
distinctive patterns of moral reasoning. Boys tend to reason according to rules
and principles, that ‘rightness’ is largely a matter of ‘playing by the rules’. Girls
however, understand morality more in terms of responsibility to other human
beings, so that ‘rightness’ lies in maintaining close relationships with others.
Clearly then, these distinctive patterns of moral reasoning are encouraged by
the different kinds of peer group activity common to boys and girls.

ACTIVITY 1.2
1. Which games do young boys and girls in your community play?
11. How do the different games reinforce the traditional gender
stereotypes?

The Mass Media

Mass media are channels of communication directed to vast audiences within a
society (Macionis, 1989). The mass media include both electronic and print
media such as the television, radios, newspapers and magazines. All of these
constantly present us with information of all kinds and, as a result, have an
enormous effect on our attitudes and behaviour. The mass media are a
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powerful force in the socialization process. Films, magazines, literature and
especially the television, have a significant effect on the ways we think and act.

ACTIVITY 1.3
1. Think of a novel you have read.
11. Identify the main actors, their sex, their roles in driving the play towards
its climax.
111. Identify the gender issues in your chosen novel.
1v. How can literature be turned into a gender responsive environment?

From the above activity, we may note that beyond the inclusion of both sexes
in the mass media, the issue is how they are portrayed. In most instances,
males play the brilliant detectives, fearless explorers, skilled surgeons, and
interesting conversationalists. Males take charge; they give orders and are
portrayed as competent and capable. Females on the other hand, are mostly
portrayed as reliant on males, less competent and more often the targets of
comedy (Busby, cited in Haralambos and Horlborn, 2004). Women have also
long been portrayed as sex objects important for little other than their physical
attractiveness (Macionis, 1989). These negative stereotypes continue to persist
in modern day programs, although admittedly there is more programming with
interesting and responsible women in major roles.

ACTIVITY 1.4
Choose a current television program. Identify the gender stereotypes in the
program. Discuss giving examples, how the mass media can be turned into a
gender responsive environment.

Although gender stereotypes in the mass media have lessened recently,

commercial advertising has changed less. This is because advertising sells the
most products by conforming to widely established cultural patterns.
Haralambos and Horlborn (2004) maintain that television and magazine
advertising presents women in the home far more often than in occupational
role. In most cases, women are found primarily in adverts for household items
such as cleaning products, foods, clothing, and domestic appliances, while men
predominate in adverts for cars, travel, banking and finance, industrial
appliances, and alcoholic beverages.

Goffman, cited in Macionis (19890, similarly concluded that advertising

conveys cultural ideals of each sex. In his study of advertising in magazines
newspapers, Goffman found that men were typically placed in photographs to
appear taller than females, implying social superiority. In addition, women were
far more likely than men to be shown lying down on sofas and beds, or, like
children, seated on the floor.

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The music industry is also no exception in portraying females as sex objects.
Good examples are productions by the late ‘Dr Love’ Paul Matavire, the ‘Lonely
Lover’ Gregory Isaacs, and in some cases the late Simon ‘Chopper’ Chimbetu,
Dr Thomas Tafirenyika Mapfumo and many others.

ACTIVITY 1.5
Compile a list of some musicians of your choice and their songs where
females are portrayed as sex objects. Suggest measures that may be
adopted in the music industry to create a gender responsive
environment.

TYPES OF GENDER SOCIALISATION

There are many types of gender socialisation. Oakley in Haralambos and
Holborn (2004) talks about the types discussed below.

Canalisation
Canalisation is gender socialization through interaction with toys and objects.
Toys align children play to behavior expected of them when they graduate to
be men and women and again through interacting with these toys children
develop different sets of aptitudes and attitudes.

Verbal Appellations
These are the differential use of descriptions and labels among boys and girls
like, what a “good boy!” or “nice girl!” or reprimands like, ‘oh! Boys don’t cry.’
This makes the children want to keep up gender appearances as the children
internalize the label(s) and start to act and operate according to it.

Manipulation
Manipulation is the differential attention and valuing given boys and girls like,
mothers paying attention to girls’ hair. Soon boys and girls learn that different
things are expected of them through the different treatment accorded them
and engrave a deep sense of what it is to be a boy or girl (that is, a deep sense
of their self-concept.)

Imitation
Imitation is when children observe their parents or other elders within and try
to be like them. They, thus, learn how local governance operates through
observing its officers at work.

N.B However, though the argument here is that gender is PURELY a social
construct, other scholars explain gender differences as partly products of Brain
lateralization and hormonal variations, (Haralambos and Holborn 2004).

For detail on both the socio-generic and the bio-generic sources of gender turn
to Unit 2.
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Activity 1.6
Critically discuss the notion that gender is a social construct. Illustrate
your response with concrete examples.

CONCLUSION
This part of the unit has tried to show that gender is a product of gender
socialization. This is largely achieved through social institutions such as the
family, the school, the peer group and the mass media. Other important
socializing agents are religion, culture and the work place. These will be
discussed in unit 5.

References
Babikwa D, J (2004) ‘Tensions, Contradictions and Inconsistencies in
Community-Based Environmental Education Programmes: The role of defective
educational theories.’ in Southern African Journal of Environmental Education
VOL.21 (2004) pp 61-80
(Bem, 1981
Chalfant and LaBeff, 1988).
Giddens, A. ( 2004) Modernity and Self Identity Cambridge: Polity Press.
Haralambos, M. and Holborn, M. (2004) Sociology: Themes and Perspectives.
London: Collins Educational.
Kohlberg, 1966)
Macionis (1989
Walter and Manion, 1996),
Gender Equality Analysis Policy-Status of Women Canada.
Women’s Policy Office Government of Newfoundland and Labrador (undated)
Facilitators’ Guide, Gender Inclusive Analysis An overview St John’s NF
March C, Smyth I; Mukhopadhyay M. 1999 A Guide to Gender Analysis
Frameworks. Oxfam. Oxford.
Meena, R. 1992 Gender in Southern Africa; Conceptual and Theoretical Issues.
Sapes Books, Harare.
Towards Earth Summit 2002 Social Briefing Paper number 2.
UNESCO (2004) Guidelines for Implementing, Monitoring and Evaluating
Gender Responsive EFA Plans
Van Scotter D, R (1991) Social Foundations of Education, Prentice Hall, New
Jersey

UNIT 2

THEORIES OF GENDER INEQUALITIES

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 By Winfridah Matsa

2.1 Introduction
In unit 1 we defined and explained gender concepts. Unit 2 deals with theories
of gender inequalities. Theories of Gender Inequalities do not only offer
explanations of gender differences but also help to clarify differences between
gender and sex as well as gender and feminism which are often misconstrued
and confused. This unit discusses first, biological theories that explain gender
differences in terms of natural biology and innate abilities which were dominant
theories before the rise of gender and feminism. Gender theories view and
locate differences between males and females in social constructs (created by
society.) This chapter covers both macro and micro theories of gender
inequalities. Macro theories tend to be comprehensive and include a variety of
factors while micro theories centre explanations on individual aspects like
environment, biology, culture or ecology. Origins, major expositions and
applicability of each theory are discussed in this chapter. Also activities are
provided at the end of each theory to enhance your understanding of it through
interaction.

2.2 Unit Objectives

By the end of the unit you should be able to:
1. Differentiate:
a. Gender from sex
b. Gender from feminism
2. Outline origins and major expositions of each theory
3. Evaluate the applicability of each theory especially to your country
situation.
4. Explain limitations of each theory.
5. Answer questions that relate to the activities at the end of each theory.

2.3 What is a theory?

Henslin (1999) defines a theory as a general statement that explains how two
or more facts are related to one another. Haralambos and Holborn (1990:8)
define a theory as a set of ideas which claim to explain how something works:
it provides a logical explanation for why things happen the way they do. A
theory therefore defines the causal factors of a relationship and explains the
nature of that relationship.

2.4 What is Feminism?

According to Magezis’ (1996) feminism is a broad social movement which
allows different points of view that work for women’ rights. It is the
organizational movement which promotes equality for both men and women in
political, economic and social spheres of life (Different Types of Feminist
Theories, 2006). Feminists focus on why and how women are oppressed in
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different spheres of life and work for their liberation. Feminism can be viewed
in the following three ways:
1. As a social and political movement that fight for the rights of women and
their equality with men in all spheres of life.
2. As an ideology or philosophy or way of thinking that questions oppressive
relations of men and women using women’s perspectives.
3. A theory that questions relations of men and women and aims at
transforming them (Mannathoko in Meena, 1992).
To Henslin (1999:292) Feminism is the view that;
Biology is not destiny and therefore stratification by Gender is wrong and
should be resisted, met with strong opposition both by men who have
privileges to lose and by women who accepted their status as normally correct.

2.4.1 Rise of Feminism

It rose as a challenge to functionalism which is conservative and views sexual
division of labour and the subordinate position of women as functional for the
stability of society. It was also a reaction to the biological theories that viewed
the position of women as natural. Feminism also questioned the dominant
views or philosophies that viewed women as less human than males. Examples
of these philosophies are:
 The female is female by virtue of a certain lack of qualities (Aristotle).
 A woman is an imperfect man (St Thomas Aquinas).
 The chief distinction in the intellectual powers of the two sexes is shown
by man attaining to a higher eminence in whatever he takes up, than
women can attain-whether requiring deep thought, reason, imagination
or merely the use of senses and hands ( Charles Darwin).
(Sandi, 1997; 1)
The feminist movement gave rise to a body of theory which attempts to explain
discrimination of women. The theory is not unified but is made of a variety of
theories that focus on women though differing in causes of subordination and
strategies of women’s liberation.

2.4.2 Common aspects shared by Feminists

1. Gender is not natural but a social construct.
2. They take the position that women are unfairly treated in all spheres of
life.
3. Strategies can be developed to make the world a better place for women.

2.4.3 Feminist Differences

1. Explanations of women’s oppression.
2. Areas of focus e.g. cultural stereotypes, biology, patriarchy, capitalism,
class etc.
3. Direction of change or what constitute women’s liberation.

2.5. What is Gender?

14
Sifuniso et al (2000:2) define gender as: The social meanings given to being
either a man or a woman in a given society and the expectations held as to the
character, attitude and likely behaviour of men and women.

Gender, unlike sex which is biological, is socially constructed. Gender

influences the different behaviours, roles, responsibilities, identities and
treatment of males and females in society. Gender depends on the culture and
history of a particular society and differs from culture to culture (Refer to unit
1). Though gender theories do not differ much from feminist theories, they
focus on both males and females, while feminist theories centre on women.

Table 2.1 Differences between Feminist and Gender Theories

Feminist Theories Gender Theories
Are women centered Men and Women centered
Focus on experiences of women Focus on experiences of women and
men
View issues from women’s social View issues from a gender perspective
world
Seek to produce a better world for Seek to produce a better world for
women both
Are about fighting back (revenge) Are about peaceful co-existence of
males and females not fighting back
View males as enemies and to blame Males are viewed as victims of socio-
for subordinate position of women cultural institutions created by society
Reject assistance by males in their Accept assistance by gender sensitive
struggles males
Ask questions like: What about The question is: What about men and
women? women?

2.6 Both feminist and gender theories agree on the following:

* Gender differences are socially rather than biologically constructed.
* Gender differences can be deconstructed
* Both questions and challenge oppressive gender relations
* Gender differences are embedded in socio-economic structures such as:
a) capitalism
b) sexism or patriarchy
c) racism
d) social and cultural institutions

2.7 Biological Theories

Biological theories view differences between men and women as natural and
God given hence cannot be changed. Some of the theories are:

Table 2.2 Biological Theories

Theory Theorists
Brain Laterisation Theory John Nicholson; Gray J.A.; Buffery
15
 A.W.H.
Psychoanalytic Theory Sigmund Freud
Socio-biology E.O.Wilson; David Barash
Biology and Practicality G.P. Murdock
Biology: Expressive & Instrumental Talcott Parsons
Roles

Biology has been the most widely accepted explanation for inequalities
between men and women for a long time. Scientists observe natural
differences ranging from hormones, chromosomes, brain size and genetics as
responsible for innate differences in behaviour of women and men (Giddens,
2001). Even stereotypical behaviours like men’s physical strength, superior
intelligence, aggression, women’s softness, care, passivity and love are all
attributed to biological determinism.

Biologists argue that the above characteristics are evident across cultures.
However, critics of biological theories reveal that the level, for example of
passivity of women and aggression of males vary depending on cultures. They
argue that, if a trait is not universal, then it cannot be natural. Giddens (2001),
notes that such theories neglect the vital role of social interaction in shaping
human behaviour.

2.7.1 Brain Laterisation and Hormonal Explanations

Scientists believe that behaviour, personality and emotional disposition are
controlled by hormones in males and females. Studies by Nicholson showed
that there is correlation between levels of testosterone and male aggression.
Girls with high levels of oestrogen exhibit ‘tomboy’ characteristics. John
Nicholson cited in Haralambos and Holborn (2004) argue that the Right and left
wings of the brain specialize in different tasks because of hormones which have
effects on the brain. The right specializes in visio-spatial abilities while the left
specializes in verbal and language skills. This is supported by Gray and Buffery
(Ibid) who pointed out that the left is dominant in girls hence girls have verbal
ability, while boys perform better in mathematical texts. However, not all boys
score higher in maths and lower in languages. Similarly not all girls score low
marks in maths and higher in language. There are also differences in ability at
infant stage where girls score higher in all subjects. This shows that there are
other factors that influence ability.

2.7.2 Psycho-analytic theory (by Sigmund Freud)

Freud in Giddens (2001) argues that gender differences at infant are centered
on the presence or absence of the penis. Having a penis is equivalent to being
a boy while being a girl means one lacks a penis. The boy views the father as a
rival in the affection of the mother. The boy suppresses feelings for the mother
and identifies with the father in fear of threats, discipline and demand for
autonomy by the father. Girls suffer from penis envy and devalue the mother

16
who does not have one. She identifies with the mother and takes dependency
and submissive attitudes. The above theory assumes that the penis is superior
to the vagina and that gender learning is concentrated at the age of 4-5years.
There are more factors and processes that contribute to gender learning,
genetic factors are not enough.

2.7.3 Sociobiology
The theory was propounded by William (1975) and applied to gender by David
Barash (Haralambos and Holborn, 2004). Barash argues that genetics are
governed by instructions to maximize the chances of passion on the genes to
future generations from breeding. Males produce more sperms hence have
interest in making many females pregnant. As a result males are likely to be
promiscuous than females. Men compete for scarce reproductive capacities of
females. Females invest more time and energy in one off-spring and gestate
the foetus in her womb. Women are sure that children are genetically theirs
hence devote time to child care. It is assumed that women can tolerate men’s
infidelity more readily than men. The theory falls short of the realization that
human behaviour is governed by the environment not instincts. It is
conservative and views human behaviour as natural, inevitable and universal.

2.7.4 Biology and Practicality

George Murdock in Haralambos and Holborn (2004) views males and females
differences in physical strength, as leading to differences in roles. Sexual
division of labour is taken to be the most efficient way of organizing society.
He points out that a survey of 224 societies showed that men’s tasks were
those demanding physical strength eg, mining, hunting, quarrying etc. Women
were limited to less strenuous tasks like fetching water, cooking, gathering
firewood, preparing clothes. Women were tied to the home, child bearing and
care. To Murdock, physical strength and child bearing are biological and
determine roles and spheres of operation in the home and public place. The
findings from the survey of 224 societies are not enough to conclude that
sexual division of labour is biological. Societies construct roles but these roles
are not universal. What would be the biological explanation in these societies
which do not stick to the roles given above?

2.7.5 Biology: Expressive and Instrumental Roles (Talcott Parsons)

Though a sociologist, Parsons starting point in explaining sexual division of

labour was in biology. He argues out that childbearing and early nursing is
linked to biology. The male is achievement oriented; playing instrumental role
that has stress and anxiety. The woman’s role is expressive, that is providing
warmth, emotional support and stabilizing adult personalities. She relieves
stress by providing the breadwinner with love, consideration and
17
understanding. Clear sexual division of labour is for efficiency as a social
system. Expressive and instrumental roles complement each other and
promote family solidarity. Each sex is biologically suited for these tasks.
Parsons did not foresee the future of the modern industrial society where
women also perform instrumental roles that are stressful. Mothers can have
substitutes in childcare for love and affection (O’Donnell, 1992). This is because
although child bearing is biological, child rearing is not. In a modern industrial
society even the type of work has changed and sexual division of labour is not
universal.

2.7.6 Summary
Biological theories assume that nature is more significant than one’s social
experiences. They focus on sex hence are heavily criticized by sociologists and
feminists who are interested in gender instead. Sociologists and feminists feel
that the differences between men and women are socially rather than
biologically produced. Feminist theories were a reaction to the shortfalls of
biological theories. There has been a shift from biological explanations to
psychosocial patterns of socialization. Biology alone is not enough to explain
social, economic, political and religious differences between men and women.

2.8 MACRO-THEORIES OF GENDER INEQUALITIES

2.8.1 Liberal theory
2.8.1.1 Origin
It is the first documented form of feminism. According to Gaidzanwa in Meena
(1992), liberal feminism dates back to the 18 th Century Britain. The proponent,
Mary Wollerstone Craft questioned views about women which were damaging
and discriminatory. The theory rose as a result of the following;
 Industrial Revolution in Europe especially Britain that created structural
changes in the methods of production and social relations. For example,
women joined wage labour but were not treated as their male counter
parts;
 Democratic political ideas in capitalist USA that emphasized ‘Equality,
Liberty and Fraternity’;
 Ideas of Scholars of Enlightment for example , Rousseau, Aristotle among
others;
 Influence of the modernization theory and Women in Development (WID)
approach to Development which emphasized borrowing of Western ideas
and did not revamp economic and social structures of society;
 Philosophy of liberalism with the belief in individual rights eg. Right to
freedom and autonomy.

18
The second wave of feminism was widespread in the 1950s. The 1960s ushered
in new rights in many countries that were gaining independence, especially
third world countries (Tandon, 1996). These included rights to independence,
vote, work, protection, dignity and freedom. Liberal feminism was based on
the belief that women possess reason and as such are entitled to full human
rights and are free to choose their role in life, explore their potential and
compete with men.

2.8.1.2 Major Exposition

Giddens (2001:692) defines liberal theory as a:
Feminist theory that believes gender inequality is produced by reduced access
for women and girls to civil rights and allocation of social resources such as
education and employment.

Liberal feminists believe:-

 In individual rights for women.
 That women’s discrimination is based on prejudice, sexism and
socialization (Magezis, 1996).
 Those women have mental capacities as their male counterparts and
should be given the same opportunities in political, economic and social
spheres.
 Those women are constrained by social legal and cultural institutions.
 That there should be fairness, justice, equal opportunities and equal
participation in the management of society.
 That attitudes, stereotypes and biases against females constrain women
 Confinement of women to the private sphere and dependency on men
disadvantage women.

2.8.1.3 Solutions
Liberals propose the following as solutions to women’s problems:
 Give women equal rights, opportunities to jobs, education to challenge
directly the ideology of patriarchy.
 Proportional representation and equal access of males and females in
education, employment, health, resources, political organs, training etc.
 Sought women’s liberation through legal reforms.
 Advocate for gender mainstreaming in education and training.
 Education is viewed as a liberating force hence both boys and girls
should be educated.
 Focus on changing attitudes, stereotypes and biases in language,
textbooks and the media.
 Call for diversification of the curriculum.
 Call for catering for special needs of girls to improve their social status,
self esteem and confidence.
 Advocate for women’s participation in the public sphere.
19
  Reorient women into crucial decision making positions of executives,
directors, ministers, presidency and so on.
 Empower women through education, training, workshops and projects.
 End discrimination of build positive role models for women and girls.

2.8.1.4 Applicability of the Liberal Theory

Achievements
In SADC countries, liberal feminists are responsible for many important Acts of
legislation that have greatly improved the situation of women. In Zimbabwe,
these include reform in welfare, education and health.

Education
In Zimbabwe, the 1980 Education Act declared Education for all despite class,
gender religion and ethnicity. The liberals have fought for a gender sensitive
curriculum and removal of stereotypes in texts, and any teaching material.
This has seen subjects and sports in the school curriculum being open for both
boys and girls. There have been changes in stereotypical language in the
school e.g. :
Headmaster - School Head
Choirmaster - Choir Director
Sportsmaster - Sports Director
Senior Master/mistress – Senior Teachers.

Liberals have called for gender sensitive teaching methods to afford pupils
equal treatment. There has been proportional representation in enrolments of
males and females at primary, secondary and tertiary institutions. Proportional
representative has also been applied in promotion of women to positions of
authority eg. School heads, Education officers etc. There has also been equal
access to bursaries and scholarships.

Workplaces
In Britain equal pay and sex discrimination acts came into being in the 1970s.
In Zimbabwe the 1985 Labour Relations Act was introduced. It had the
following provisions:-
 Equal pay for males and females;
 Minimum wages for everyone
 Equal treatment and access to male dominated occupations.
 Maternity leave benefits and recently paternity leave
 No discrimination on the grounds of sex, not even on adverts in the
media.
 Access to top positions of executives, directors and ministers.

Politics

20
The SADC declaration on gender led to the consideration of women
participation in politics. This led to the introduction of the quota system where
one third of parliamentarians have to be women. Women now have access to
top positions and participate in electoral and legal reform processes.

Legal sphere
Internationally equal rights for men and women were included in the United
Nations (UN) Charter of 1947. Trafficking in human beings who were mostly
females was stopped in 1948. In Zimbabwe Acts were passed to protect and
improve the social status of women, for example:
 Legal Age of Majority Act (1982) which lifted women from a state of being
perpetual minors. Women above 18years are now viewed as adults who
can consent on their own, make contracts and own property like land,
cattle, bank accounts houses among others.;
 Matrimonial Causes Act which allows sharing of property at death or
divorce.
 Sexual Offences Act that protects both males and females from sexual
harassment.
 There has also been conscientisation of women on marriage Acts and
their provisions. Pension’s Acts have been amended also. These and
many unmentioned Acts including the recent Domestic Violence Act are
all in a bid to bring gender equality.

For a detailed treatment of each of these acts refer to Unit 9 of this module.

2.8.1.5 Limitations of the Theory.

The liberal Theory is mainly criticized by socialist and radical feminists who
argue that liberals:
 Do not addresses underlying causes of women’s oppression (Bryson,
1992).
 Ignore power relations (structural inequalities) prevailing in society
 .Do not goes deeper into explaining causes of women’s subordination
hence cannot offer solutions for an unknown cause.
 Do not offer strategy to counter traditional norms and values that
constrain women.
 Is reformist in nature moving in a gradual process to influence the
government to pass laws (Magezis, 1996). No major structural changes
are made in the socio-economic arrangement of the society.
 View women as a homogeneous category ignoring class, race and
ethnicity.
 Its calls for access to education, health, employment, legal instruments
leave out lower class women.

21
  It’s blending well with the WID approach to development; its welfare and
anti-poverty approaches compromise women rights, access and control
of resources.

Activity 2.1

Discussion Questions.
a) What are the characteristics of liberalism as an ideology?
b) After a close reflection of the solutions offered by liberal feminists,
what would you consider to be their weaknesses?
c) To what extent have the following been effective in redressing
gender imbalances between males and females?
i. legal instruments
ii. access to Education

d) In view of the political changes that have taken place in your

country, complete the table below.
POSITIONS MALES FEMALES % FEMALES
Presidency
Ministers
Provincial.
Governors
Parliamentarian
s
Chiefs

2.8.2 Marxist- Feminist Theory

2.8.2.1 Origin
Marxist Feminists are a variety of scholars who were applying the Marxist
theory of economic determinism in explaining the oppression of women. These
were drawing from Karl Max and Fredrick Engels’ writings, for example: ‘The
origin of the family, private property and the State. (O’Donnell 1992). The
theory rose in the 1970s owing to the Women and Development (WAD)
approach to development and as a critic of the liberal feminist theory,
modernization theory and Women in development approach.

Women and Development (WAD) approach had been influenced by the critics
of the modernization theory, which were dependency theorists and Under-
development scholars of the Third World especially Latin America. These were
the likes of Walter Rodney, Dos Antos and Gunder Frank. The proponents of
the Marxist Feminists are Sue Sharpe, Juliet Mitchel and Marynard among
others.

2.8.2.2 Marxist Terms

22
Economic Base - It consists of the means of production including land, capital,
labour and time.
Forces of production - which include tools, implements or technology.
Relations of production - which define who owns, controls, dominates, profits as
well as who has power. The ownership of the means of production and
productive forces determine the relations of production.
Superstructure - Is made of ideologies that monitor, maintain, reproduce and
legitimize the status quo (Relations of production at the base). The ideologies
are;
- patriarchy
- capitalism
- cultural beliefs
- religion
- State institutions e.g. schools, legislation and repressive state
apparatus.

Economic determinism – states that ownership of the economy greatly

determines how the two classes (owners and non-owners of the means of
production) relate in a capitalist system.
Subordinate and dominant class - Those who own the means of production are
the dominant class while those who do not own them constitute the
subordinate class.
Exploitation and Oppression - Those who do not own the means of production
are exploited of their labour by being given low wages. The powerful owning
class oppresses the subordinate class.

2.8.2.3 Marxist –Feminist Expositions

 Gender inequalities are rooted in capitalism and its ownership of private
property (Bryson, 1992).
 They challenge attempt to isolate gender from social class.
 Men are powerful because they own the means of production (dominant
class)
 Women do not own the means of production hence are a subordinate
class that is oppressed, exploited just like the proletariats.
 The base determines relations between men and women.
 Women’s position in a capitalist society is economically determined
 Capitalism divides work into private (home) and public sphere
(workplace).
 Capitalism values men’s labour and devalue that of women by giving low
wages.
 Women enter wage labour from a subordinate position.
 Women are a reserve army of labour, that is, they can be recruited any
time to replace males at a low cost.

23
Sharpe in O’Donnell (1992; 172) argues that;
Employers …. Frequently regard women as mere temporary labour, and
consider that they should be thought lucky to have the opportunity to earn
some money for themselves. They can be used as surplus labour force, to be
employed or laid off at will.

 Men are viewed as bread winners’ hence higher wages while women are
viewed as appendages of men (Bryson, 1992).
 Women suffer double exploitation, for example, they produce in factories
and produce future labourers at no cost.
 Domestic work in the private sphere is not remunerated.
 Women are alienated (separated) from their production, reproduction
and sexuality. This means women do not own and control what they
produce in the public sphere, at home and even that which relates to
their sexuality (children and their bodies).
 Mitchel in O’ Donnell ( ibid.) argues that oppression in the family
produces:
…A tendency to small-mindedness, petty, jealousy, irrational,
emotionally and random violence, dependency competitive
selfishness, possessiveness, passivity, a lack of vision and
conservativism….
 These characteristics are embedded in women’s objective conditions and
a sexist society.
 Women serve the interest of capitalism through the management of the
family. They provide productive, psychological and social needs.

2.8.2.4 Solutions
Marxist-Feminists propose the following as some of the solutions to women’s
problems;
 Marxist Feminists stress the need to overthrow capitalist economic
system. They call for a socialist Revolution that would change the
structure and ownership of the means of production.
 There must be an ideological change first in the consciousness of both
sexes. (Pilcher and Whelehan,2004)
 Females should free themselves from dependence and traditional gender
roles that confine them to the private sphere.
 Participation of women in the public sphere is the key to their liberation.
 Men and women should struggle against capitalist oppressors.
 Class and gender struggles should take place at the same time.
 Abolition of private property and setting up of a communally owned
means of production in a communist society.
 Household work should be paid for.

2.8.2.5 Applicability of the Marxist-Feminist Theory.

24
In SADC countries as patriarchal societies, men own private property more than
women e.g. land, capital, houses, machinery and labour. Most of the productive
forces are registered on male names. As a result men become powerful,
oppress and dominate women. The one who owns decides and has final
judgment over resources. Domestic work in the home is either not paid for or
low wages are given to maids. Women employed in the public sphere mostly
do domestic work which has been transferred from the private sphere to the
public sphere for example nursing (caring), teaching (socializing), and catering
(servicing) and being secretaries for bosses who are mostly males. Women are
employed in large numbers in export processing as well as textile industries for
low wages. These careers are characterized by low wages. The children
produced belong to the father in a traditional family and what the woman
produces from her labour is controlled by the husband. Patriarchy, culture and
religion are ideologies that legitimate inequalities making them appear normal,
natural and unchangeable. State institutions e.g. education, reproduces
patriarchal values. Ownership of the means of production does determine
one’s (women’s) position and power in a capitalist society. Schools in a
capitalist society re-enforce social inequalities by producing a workforce
divided by class. Schools in Zimbabwe, for example, can be classified into
private, former group A, former group B, mission schools and what used to be
called upper-tops. Products from these schools still exhibit glaring class and
gender differences.

2.8.2.6 Limitations
Marxist-Feminist criticism is based on the following:
 Society has changed from the classes and conditions observed by Karl
Marx and Fredrick Engels. Some women these days own private
property.
 Some SADC countries have come up with national gender policies and
legal instruments that enable women to access property, capital, loans
and land.
 Entry into wage labour by women from the 18th Century to today does not
prove to be the key to their liberation. It has instead increased women’s
labour burdens.
 Experiences in Socialist countries, for example, Soviet Union, Cuba, China
and the former Eastern Block, did not show that women’s positions in
these societies were any better. These societies are still male dominated
with powerful posts in male hands.
 In countries like Zimbabwe, most women find themselves in the informal
sector with low unreliable income. They are not part of the proletariat
working in public places. The majority of women are in rural areas. The
theory did not look at majority of women in Third World countries.
 Marxist- feminists are gender blind. They failed to focus on power
relations of males and females as independent from social class. They

25
 did not explain why men exploit and oppress women even in socialist
societies.
 They also fail to explain subordinate position of women before the advent
of Capitalism.
 Marxist-Feminists ignore patriarchy and male control of women’s
sexuality, culture, violence, race and ethnicity.
 The economic factor is not enough to explain gender inequalities; other
sources of inequalities are ignored.

ACTIVITY 2. 2
i) Discuss men and women ownership of the means of
production and the productive forces in your country.
ii) How do the above elements of the Superstructure maintain
male dominance and legitimize the ownership of the means of
production in your country? Explain giving examples.

2.8.3 Radical theory

2.8.3.1 Origin
Radical feminism is a movement that rose in the 1960s – 80s as a breakaway
of Marxists who were frustrated by the inability to apply social class in
analyzing gender oppression. It also emerged as a reaction to the liberal
theory (Meena, 1992: Bryson, 1992). Its impetus came from women’s
experiences in the Civil Rights, anti-war, new-left and student movements in
North America, Europe and Australia. The first radical group was influenced by
the Maoist ideas and the need to develop political strategies for women’s
liberation. Their slogan was the ‘Personal is political’ (Bryson, 1992) meaning
that no aspect of life lacked a political dimension (power relations). Political
struggles can take many new forms. It was important to break the silence
through consciousness raising. The theory is radical in nature, that is it is
violent, fast, uncompromising and strongly oppose patriarchal systems. Some
of the proponents are Kate Millet, Shulamith Firestone and Ortner. These
demand radical transformation of oppressive gender relations. Mannathoko in
Meena (1192:75) cites that radicals:
… Launched a wholesale onslaught against male dominated society and
consider men as the enemy.

2.8.3.2 Major Expositions

Radical Feminists have come up with the following factors as explanations of
gender inequalities:
1. Patriarchy;
2. Gender Socialisation;
3. biology (sexuality)

2.8.3.2.1 Patriarchy
26
According to Bazili (1991:9)
Patriarchy is an ideology of male supremacy that results from social
construction of gender which in turn justifies the social, economic and political
distinction between men and women.

Walby in Smelser (1994:320) defines patriarchy

As a system of social structures and practices in which men dominate
oppression and exploit women.

Patriarchy stretches back to the time of creation in Genesis, where a woman

was made from Adam’s rib. (Acker, 1987) argues that it appears as if the
women came as an afterthought.

Genesis 3 v16
…Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
(The Holy Bible; King James Version,
2007)
Genesis 3 V18
It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for
him.
(ibid.)
The word patriarchy is derived from the Greek word patriarchs meaning ‘head,
of the tribe. Patriarchy is viewed as universal, oldest and worst kind of
oppression in the world. (Byrson, 1992; Different Types of Feminist Theories,
2006). It cuts across time, cultures, races, classes and ethnicities. It is a belief
in society dominated and ruled by men. It is viewed as natural, universal,
unchangeable and unquestionable. (For a broader definition, refer to Unit 1).

To radicals like Kate Millet politics means power and men derive their power
from the patriarchal system that supports and favour males. Patriarchy as an
ideology is sustained by early socialization in the family, secondary
socialization in schools, churches and workplaces. It also rests upon the
economic exploitation and use of threat and force (Haralambos and Holborn,
2004). Patriarchy benefits from the oppression of women. Women as a group
have interests opposed to those of men. These interests unite them into
sisterhood across classes and cultures. Male power is not confined to the
public worlds of political and paid employment but extends into private life
(sphere).

2.8.3.2.2 Gender Socialization

Gender inequalities are learnt through primary socialization and reinforced
later by every other institution, for example, School, media, community, church
among others. In a patriarchal society children are socialized to be different.
Being male or female is emphasized. Oakley in Haralambos and Holborn
(2004) points out that this is done through processes like manipulation,
27
canalization, verbal appellations and exposure to different activities. (See unit
1).

2.8.3.2.3 Biology/Sexuality
Subordination of women has origins in biology, the fact that women give birth
(firestone in Marcus and Ducklin, 1998). The core of power and female
domination is male control of female’s roles in reproduction and child rearing
(Firestone in O’Donnell 1992). Women become dependent on men for material
necessities of life and protection especially in the nuclear family. Men control
women’s production, reproduction, child rearing and sexuality.

It is for this reason that other radicals like Kate Millet view the family as a
central site of women’s oppression. Ortner in Haralambos and Holborn (2004)
cites that women are viewed as closer to biology (nature) while men are closer
to culture (social construct). This has led to the belief that what relates to
women cannot be changed while that, which relates to males can be changed.
Biology is seen as the inevitable form of sexual division of labour. Rape and
violence against women is used by males to secure and maintain power. The
New York Restocking Manifesto of 1969 Read:-
Women are an oppressed class. Our oppression is total, affecting every
facet of our lives. We are exploited as sex objects, breeder, domestic
servants and cheap labour. We are considered inferior beings whose
only purpose is to enhance men’s lives… (Bryson, 1992:183-184).

2.8.3.3. Solutions
Radicals prescribe the following solutions for the liberation of women:
 Women are to struggle on their own for their own liberation against their
oppressors (males). This is evidenced by the quotation…Radicals reject
assistance by males because men are viewed as enemies of the
liberation. They are blamed for being responsible for all the other
problems of women, for example, Conflict, war, destruction of the
environment, and abuse. A war should be raged against men.
 Reject gender roles and call for child care facilities.
 Radicals are of the view that gender differences can be reduced by
taking desirable characteristics of males and females because these are
socially constructed.
 However, cultural feminists (Extremists) celebrate feminine
characteristics like interdependence and sharing:
…It is better to be feminine than to be masculine. Thus women
should not try to be like men. (Tong in Haralambos and Holborn,
2004:103).
(Refer to micro theories, Unit 2).

28
  Call for total restructuring of society. To them doing away with male
domination is a means of eliminating women’s oppression.
 Demand women’s empowerment in education, politics and
sexuality.
 Focus on violence against women, for example, rape, sexual harassment,
incest, pornography and domestic violence.
 Challenge also men’s control and monopoly over the production and use
of knowledge, for example, in the mass media.

2.8.3.4 Applicability of the Radical Feminist Theory

Unlike the liberals who fight for equal educational opportunities, radicals have
challenged both the quality and quantity of education being offered to women.
Their ideas have significantly influenced changes in the curriculum which has
resulted in the eliminating of gender stereotyping that impact negatively on
women’s academic achievement. This gender stereotyping is evident in
subjects such as sciences, maths, commercials and social studies that were
male dominated. These have been made available to women. Women are also
empowered health wise e.g. use of birth control measures of their choices, use
of protection (female condom). There are women’s pressure groups, for
example, Women’s Action Group (WAG), Affirmative Action Group (AAG) and
Women Of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) fight for rights of women and girls. Other
women facilities include the Girl Child Network, scholarships for girl children
and victim friendly courts for abused children. The passing of the sexual
offences Act, HIV AIDS Act, Domestic Violence Act and stiffer penalties for rape
perpetrators are all efforts of radical feminists. Organizations like Msasa Project
have protected women experiencing gender domestic violence of any kind in
Zimbabwe. A shelter for such women was set up in Harare. Single sex schools,
women’s University and women’s Institute of Governance are all products of
radical feminists. Women have been made to access legal instruments that
allow them to abort under special circumstances like rape, incest, mental
health or anything that endangers the woman’s health. Radical feminists have
also influenced the setting up of childcare institutions, and introduction of new
reproductive technologies like donation of sperms, artificial insemination,
surrogate motherhood and making choices of family planning methods. All
these enable women to control their bodies.

2.8.3.5 Limitations
The following can be cited as limitations of the Radical Feminist Theory:
 It is criticized as Western, for example, in Africa, abortion is male
dominated (males decide) and it touches religious and moral issues.
As a result the theory is heavily criticized and opposed.
 It emphasizes differences between men and women making peaceful
co-existence and co-operation impossible.
 It is hostile towards the man who is also victims of socialization.

29
  Separatists and their rejection of marriage and relationships with
males can lead to the end of the human race.
 Views women as passive victims and assumes that all women are
good and all males are bad.
 That all males are able to oppress all women, ignoring the fact that
some men are oppressed by women or by both
 The theory fails to explain the origins of patriarchy and its power.
 It leaves out other factors like race, class and ethnicity.

ACTIVITY 2.3
1. Discuss how biology is a constraint to men and women’s equality in the
following areas with reference to your country
a) education
b) workplace
2 What reproductive changes have taken place in your country as a result of
radical theorists’ influence?

3 How does patriarchy interfere with women’s participation in

a) Politics
b) Decision making in the home
c) Community

2.8.4 Socialist Feminist Theory

Socialist Feminism is not a theory on its own, but a critique of the Marxist and
radical feminist theories. Bryson (1992:234) argues that:
It refers to recent attempts to synthesize the insights of Marxists and
radical feminism to build a new theory combining the best of both. It
rose in the 1960s.

Some of the proponents are Heidi, Jaggar and Ann Ferguson. The socialist-
Feminists differ from Marxist- Feminists in that their explanation for gender
inequalities extend from capitalism to patriarchy. Unlike Marxists, they looked
at women in both the public and the private spheres. Marxists focused more at
the workplace.

2.8.4.1 Major Expositions

 The modern society is viewed as both capitalist and patriarchal.
Socialist- feminists believe that the subordination of women is rooted
in the two evils of capitalism and patriarchy:
 The theory is dualistic in nature with two evils mutually reinforcing.
 Sometimes the two systems conflict – for example Capitalist demand
for labour is opposed by patriarchal demand for personal services in

30
 the home. However, both capitalist and patriarchal men benefit from
the above arrangement that subordinate women.
 Marxists are criticized for focusing only on capital ignoring relations of
men and women.
 To socialist feminists, women’s subordinates go beyond capitalism to
patriarchy that pre-dates capitalism.
 Patriarchy is based on men’s control over women’s labour and this is
part of the productive process.
 Capitalism is based on the capitalist control of labour in the productive
process.
 Ferguson feels that patriarchy is semi-autonomous, while Young views
patriarchy and capitalism as not dual but unified systems (Bryson,
1992).
 To support the above, Jaggar says the two are inseparable. For both,
oppression of women touches issues of reproduction and production,
for example, patriarchy controls reproduction of women and their
labour in the production process. Patriarchy benefits from the control
of the produce from reproduction (children) and women’s labour
(products). Capitalism like patriarchy benefits from reproduction of
future workers and produce from women’s labour.
 Vogel says maintenance and production of the working class are
essential requirements of capitalism. Hence, the two systems of
domination are ‘inextricably entangled’ (Bryson, 1992:247).
 Socialist- feminist argue that entry into wage labour by women cannot
be key to their liberation as Marxists suggested.
 Women entered wage labour during the industrial revolutions in
Europe, for example, Britain (1800) France (1830), Germany (1850)
but the position of women did not change in homes and workplace.
Again, during world wars (WWI 1914- 1918) and (WW II 1939-1945)
women participated in industries but this did not usher the fruits they
expected.
 Class analysis by Marxists is not enough. They ignore patriarchy and
overestimate the power of capital.
 Socialist Feminists focus on women’s question and make demands as
both workers and women.
 Men have vested interest in the subordination of women because they
benefit socially and materially.
 Women produce, reproduce, socialize and service families at no cost.
Women reproduce workers for capitalists. They also reproduce heirs
as well as workers for their husbands.
 Education is seen as reproducing both class and gender inequalities.
(Stromquist1989; Sanderson, 1988). Schools through socialization
reproduce capitalists and patriarchal values, habits of passivity,

31
 conformity among girls as well as children from lower class
background.
 Capitalism and patriarchy legitimizes class and gender inequalities.
 Capitalism and patriarchy work hand in hand in the exploitation of
women. Male supremacy is embedded in economic structures. These
are strengthened by patriarchal relations.

2.8.4.2 Solutions
The following are solutions suggested by Socialist- Feminists:
 A revolution that challenges the two ideologies leading to uprooting of
both capitalism and patriarchy;
 Women struggle should focus on conditions of production, reproduction,
reproductive rights, sexuality, and new forms of family organization.
 Women should be united by their experiences, disputes, race, class,
ethnicity or religion.
 All class and cultural forces of oppression should be ended in order to
liberate women.
 Women should work side by side with men.

2.8.4.3 Applicability of the Socialist- Feminist Theory

The Socialist- Feminist Theory has led to Gender and Development (GAD)
Approach where men and women work side by side with men in political,
economic and social development. (Refer to Unit 3). It has made development
agencies or governments to focus on inequalities in the private and public
spheres. Economic ownership, reproduction, family organization and
reproductive rights are now areas of focus in some SADC countries. This has
led to introduction of laws that enable women to access property, health care,
and reproductive rights and to choose marriage types (forms of family
organization). Some governments in the SADC like Zimbabwe have crafted
national gender policies for development. These policies look at men and
women’s access to land, education and training, housing, water, health,
political decision making, natural resources. The policies encourage
participation of women and men in al spheres of life.

2.8.4.4 Limitations
The following have been identified as weaknesses of the Socialist- Feminist
Theory:
 It focuses on working middle class women leaving out peasants.
 Socialist- Feminists do not explain the origins of patriarchy and give no
suggestions of how it can be uprooted.
 Socialist- Feminists do not offer a theory of their own but only critique
existing theories.

32
  Patriarchy can work in other modes of production besides capitalism, for
example, pre-capitalist and socialist modes of production.
 Patriarchy can be strengthened and supported by other ideologies beside
capitalism, for example, culture, religion and socialization.

Activity 2.4
1. Discuss the similarities between patriarchy and capitalism. Enter these in the
table below:-
PATRIARCHY CAPITALISM
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)

Show how patriarchy subordinates women in the following

institutions:-
a) Home
b) School
c) Workplace
d) Church.

Third World Countries Political Economy Approach (Post Modernism)

Origins
It is important for us to note that the traditional feminist theories (liberal,
Marxist, radical and socialist feminist) focused on the concerns of middle class
women. They also viewed women as a homogeneous group. Gaidzanwa in
Meena (1992) refer to these theories as ‘bourgeoisie theories’. Women’s
concerns did not transcend class and race. Wollenstone craft’s liberal feminism
belonged to the bourgeoisie class concerned with bourgeoisie women. Women
of the other creeds, religion, age, class and ethnicity were excluded.

The proponents of third world economy approach are third world feminists who
offer a critique of the (traditional dominant) feminist theories. Third world
political approach is part of post-modernist theories. Post modernism is a
reaction to modernist theories’ failure to account for different changes in
society. Post modernists argue that:
1. It is not possible to study society and develop unified conclusions.
2. Human behavior is characterized by heterogeneity rather than
homogeneity
3. Positivism and generalizations are not accurate in human behavior

33
The Third World Political approach looks at the following factors as
explanations for the subordinate position of women especially in Third World
Countries:
 Location on the Globe ( first, second and third world)
 International/ Global economy
 History of colonization
 Race
 Class
 Patriarchy
 Ethnicity
 Religion
 Age
 Gender among others.

Major Tenants
 The theory focuses on the 3rd world minorities of women previously
ignored. These are unrepresented black, rural, disabled, and
younger and lower class women among others.
 Women are viewed as fragmented or heterogeneous because of
ethnicity, race, religion, age, disability, class, nationality, marital
status, history and multiple identities.
 As a result women do not have shared experiences as suggested
by traditional feminist theories. Marcus and Duckling (1998:59)
argues that social theory cannot offer general and inclusive views
of the social world.
 A feminist theory is not possible especially in 3 rd world countries
like Africa where women are divided by a lot of factors listed above.
 Subordination of 3rd world women should be situated in their
histories and their location within neo-colonial nations.
 It looks at multicultural or global feminism where all other
differences are recognized not just gender.
 It also looks at intersection of gender with race, class and issues of
colonization and exploitation of women in the developing world
 According to the 3rd world feminist writers, women in the 3 rd world
countries are subordinated in many ways: they are subordinated
and oppressed as:
1. Third World women
The relationship that exists between the first world (developed industrial
nations) and the 3rd world (underdeveloped nations) is in such a way that the
first world exploits third world resources and labour. The periphery (satellites
that is third world countries supply the metropolis (core), the first world with
resources and labour (Gunder Frank and Dos Santos in Anderson (1995).
Zimbabwe is a third world country and women are subordinated as third world
women.
34
 2. Globalization of Economy
Third world economies, Zimbabwe included are incorporated into capitalist
economies of the developed world. Transnational capitalists who are mostly the
patriarchs control world economy through trade. A system of dependency of 3 rd
world countries on the economies of the first world has been created. There is
dependency ‘….when the first society (economy is organized by persons in the
foreign society so as to benefit primarily the foreign economy (Sanderson,
1995:217). Developed nations extracted raw materials from third world
countries, exported them to be manufactured in Europe and brought back as
finished goods expensive to the Africans. The third world people become
depended on the west for manufactured goods, technology and technological
knowhow. New dependency arose after the Second World War that is financial
dependency with multinational corporations that invested in 3 rd world
countries. Only a third is reinvested. The profits are repatriated. Peripheral
market conditions of the developed nations dictate the terms of trade (Dos
Santos in Sanderson 1995). Zimbabwean women are part of this dependency
and exploitation by the first world’s multinational companies and trade.

3. Class
Women in a capitalist global economy like men are part of the proletariats.
Their labour is exploited for low wages. In this global oppression, peasant
farmers and urban workers are the most exploited. Women are the producers
of raw materials in the periphery but are alienated from what they produce.
They are exploited by both global capitalists and capitalist elites in their
nations. In Zimbabwe women belong to a lower class that has no power or
control of the means of production.

4. Race
Women especially in third world Africa Zimbabwe included are further
subordinated as a black race. White women in the first world are the capitalists
and consumers of what the black race produces. The voices of the black
women are not heard. The concerns of the traditional (modernist) feminist
theories did not take into account issues of race. White women and black
women do not have same experiences hence cannot speak with one voice.
Black women are subordinated by both white males and females of the first
and 3rd world. The situation of women during the colonial and post-colonial has
not changed much in relation to racial issues in most African countries.

5. Gender
Women in third world countries are also subordinated and exploited as women
by males. In patriarchal societies where males dominate, ownership of
property, movable and immovable is largely in the hands of males. Such
resources are land, livestock, cars, tractors, capital, and homesteads among
others. Studies conducted by Women and Law in Zimbabwe (2000) reveal that
35
women have access to the resources but do not have control over them.
Women are exploited as labourers and child bearers. Most African cultures
legitimize this male dominance.

6. By other women
Women are further subordinated by other women depending on age, position
of power and relationships (Ndlovu-Gatsheni, 2003). Generally, elderly women
subordinate younger women. They dictate to them and subject them to
initiation ceremonies and cultural norms and values that trap younger women
in their subordination. Other women assume cultural and patriarchal power
that enables them to oppress other women. Examples of such women are
mothers in law and sisters in law. Senior women in polygamous and non-
polygamous families enjoy a higher status as grandmothers, sisters and
sisters in law (gogo, sisi, maiguru and tete). They make sure their commands
are carried by junior women. They impart to them traditions and norms that
support male dominance and female subordination. In pre-colonial Zimbabwe,
Lozikheyi Dlodlo, Lobengula’s senior wife kept younger women under her
Nabuiza, the first wife of the Mutapa in the seventeenth century lived in the
palace and served by personal servants like (Ndlovu-Gatsheni, 2003).

7. Ethnicity
Ethnicity like race is a serious factor in issues of subordination, the world over.
Different ethnic groups have different statuses in their countries. A woman who
belongs to the lowest ethnic group is the most subordinated. She is
subordinated by males and females of other superior ethnic groups and her
husband. She is looked down upon for ethnicity and gender. For example a
Nguni woman would always be the first wife during the reign of Mzilikazi and
Lobengula (Ndlovu-Gatsheni,2003). Her firstborn son would always be an heir
even if the husband had many wives and sons before her. Wives from royal
families did not work in the fields but had other women working for them while
they participated in public affairs

8. As rural women
The majority of women in third world countries are in rural areas. These make
the majority of illiterate women who lack access to information, technology,
technological know-how, training, health etc (Welshenman, et al, 1997 and
McFadden, 1992). Most such women do not own the means of production e.g.
land, machinery and capital despite changes in legal instruments. Historically,
these women were affected by colonial peasantisation. They made up 90% of
agricultural workers. However, they had no access to and control of land,
seeds, credit facilities etc. These were registered in male names. Males took
produce of single crops like maize, cotton, palms and tobacco to marketing
boards (Marcus and Dunklin 1998) Money became a medium of exchange in
the colonial era, but women were not part of that money economy. Women

36
produced for commercial purposes but only controlled crops that had to do
with subsistence (consumption).

9. Religion
Almost all religions in the world subordinate women. In an Islamic religion, a
devout Muslim would stop praying when a strange women or a donkey appears
(Acker, 1997). A prayer by devout Jewish reads; I thank God that I am a Jew and
not a gentile, am a man and not a woman. In Christianity, it is believed that a
woman was not created from the dust of the earth but from Adam’s
independent person. Adam was given dominion over creation and a man is the
head of the family as Christ is head of the church. In traditional religion women
do not speak to the ancestral spirit (midzimu) but can talk to stray spirits
(mashavi). Ancestral spirits from the mother’s side are not important as those
of the father’s side. Women do not make important religious decisions in the
families. They cannot appease angry ancestral spirits. This is done by fathers,
brothers or brother’s children

Applicability of the Theory

 Indeed Third World women, like men are trapped in the global capitalist
system of dependency and exploitation.
 Women like men are producers but do not benefit from what they
produce. They are exploited as a class of workers and women.
 The condition of women especially the black race is worse than that of
other races. During the colonial period, most whites had black women as
their maids and nannies’. This has not changed much in the post-colonial
period.
 In patriarchal societies, majority of women do not own immovable
property like houses and land for homesteads especially in rural areas.
They also do not own movable properties like cars, scotch carts, cattle
especially the married ones.
 Women are further subordinated by other women for example, in Shona
and Ndebele cultures of Zimbabwe a muroora/ Umalukazana/wife has to
take without questioning instructions from the husband’s mother
(vamwene/umamazala) and from the husband’s sister
(vatete/ubabakazi). These decide on muroora/ umalukazana’s fate in
marriage and the custody of children.
 Elderly women in these cultures dictate and subject younger women to
initiation ceremonies and cultural norms that trap younger women in
their subordination. For example:
1. Women should be quite whatever happens in her marriage she
should allow the husband to access what he paid bride price
(lobola) for (sexuality) at whatever cost and circumstances.
2. A women should endure (persevere) in marriage to avoid breaking
up of the marriage (kuputsa imba yake/ ukudiliza umuzi). In
Zimbabwe, for example, most rural women are engaged in
37
 agriculture. They produce for both subsistence and commercial
agriculture. However, few women have access to credit facilities,
technology, technological know-how and marketing facilities.
Culture and patriarchy continue to maintain the status quo despite
introduction of legal instruments and policies on access to
resources and opportunities

Limitations
1. Third world political approach tends to focus on capitalism and post
colonialism.
2. It does not focus on patriarchal and cultural constraints before capitalism.
3. It ignores biological or reproductive constraints.
4. It divides women weakening their struggles because of emphasis of
women diversity.
5. Argue that homogenizing women is colonizing women denying them their
histories, cultures, identities and nationalities.

Activity 2.5
Explain, giving examples, how each of the following factors
subordinate women in your country?
* Religion, Christianity and Traditional religion
* Rural Environment
* Other women
* Class
* Ethnicity

Why is it difficult for third world women to develop a unified feminist

theory?

Micro-Theories of gender inequalities

Post modernism has seen a shift from large scale theories with universal
explanations of gender relations, that is, patriarchy, capitalism, socialism and
biology to issues of age, class, race, and ethnicity among others.

Black Feminism
The Third world political approach focuses on heterogeneity of women. It is a
theory of third world women by third world women dissatisfied with other types
of feminisms. Black feminism looks at women affected by race especially the
black women in the western world who are excluded by macro theories. These
are black women who are in industrialized nations as a result of slavery,
employment, studies, and refugee status.

Black feminists argue that versions of other feminists do not apply equally to
white and non-white women. Black women have particular problems of
segregation or exclusion in civil rights movements in industrialized nations.
38
Race is viewed as the most/only relevant label for identification. Womanhood is
less than race. As a result black women have not been central in women’s
liberation movement. Where characteristics of women are measured, those of
white women are used as a yardstick (Hooks in Giddens, 2001).

Solutions
Theories of feminism should take into account issues of racism. Concentration
should not be on experiences and ideas of white women.

Applicability
Black women, the world over, are subordinated by the race issue. However,
their situation is worse in the western world. Their voices are unheard because
of race, class and gender.

Activity 2.6
Describe giving examples, the problems of Black women living in
developed countries.

Eco-feminism
Eco-feminism was propounded by the likes of Vandana Shiva, Susan Griffin and
Carolyn Merchant. It emerged in western scholarship in the 1970s as a result of
realization of connection between women, human rights and the exploitation of
nature.
 Eco-feminists believe that male domination is harmful to both women
and environment earth.
 Men desire to control both women and the environment in order to have
complete power.
 An attempt to control women and the environment leads to the
destruction of the environment
 Women like nature are viewed as objects to control, manipulate and
plunder (Shiva,1999)
 Power of patriarchy and colonialism depends on the exploitation and
control of nature, animals and human beings especially women.
(Plumwood, 1994).
 Eco-feminists believe that there is a deep connection between earth and
women hence the terms mother nature or mother earth (Shiva, 1999).

Solutions
 Merchant (1995) feels that women have a central role in preserving
and understanding nature. They are called to lead an ecological
revolution to save the planet. However, this can be done if
women’s role in the construction of environmental knowledge is
recognised (Shiva, 1998).

39
  It is unfortunate that patriarchal power has made women to turn
against the environment instead of living in harmony with it.
 Women have little access and control of environmental knowledge
and the natural environments e.g. wild vegetation, plantations, wild
life, resort areas among others(Macgregor in Morse and
Stocking,1995)
 Women do not participate actively in the conservation and
management of resources. For example natural forests are viewed
by women as fire hood land, wild animals as danger or game meat,
physical features like mountains as sources of rocks for bricks,
grinding stones or refuge places in terms of war.
 It is also unfortunate that women’s knowledge of the environment
is not considered scientific by western scientific standards
(Momsen, 2004).
 Their indigenous knowledge of farming, forests and trees is viewed
as linked to intuition or supernatural, therefore excluded despite
environmentalists movements of the late 20 th century (Njiro, 1999).
Women’s projects fail because they are either based on western
model or because they lack females (Fortman, 1986).
 For sustainable development to be achieved, women should be
involved in the conservation of the natural environment just as
they are involved in the tapping of the resources.

Applicability
 Women in Africa are left out in development projects (Macgregor,
1991). It is for this reason that the ZNGP, (2004) has called for the
involvement of women in environmental issues and RM structures.
 Women also need to take studies that relate to environmental
issues.
 The ZNGP also promotes equitable access to control and ownership
of productive resources including the natural resources.
 Dissemination of environmental information to both males and
females is crucial if our environments are to be preserved. It can be
concluded therefore that eco-feminism unifies gender and
environmental issues. The purpose of the unity is for conservation
of nature for sustainable development. In Africa women constitute
the majority and annihilate the environment as they search for fire
wood, nuts, mushroom, vegetables, fibres, fruits and soils hence
they need to understand processes of the landscape degradation
(Morse and Stocking, 1995). Zimbabwe’s rate of deforestation,
partly caused by women has been estimated at 2% a year with
fuel deficit in 5 out of 9 provinces including Matebeleland North and
South, Midlands, Masvingo and parts of Mashonaland East

40
 (Jackson,1995). With the current land reform and resettlement
programme, the figure is likely to be much higher.

Activity 2.7
What are the implications of women’s lack of access to environmental
information?
What practical strategies can be affected to ensure participation of women
in environmental and natural resource management?

Cultural
Cultural feminism has origins in the feminist theory by extremists or separatists
(Haralambos and Holborn, 2004). Among these are Card Gilligars and Mary
Daly.

 Cultural feminism believes in the superiority of the feminine (Momsen,

2004). According to them, the fundamental differences between men and
women should be celebrated. Their argument is that, women are
inherently kind and gentle. If women were to rule the world, there would
be no war but peace. The women’s way is viewed as the right way and
that women can live on their own in a society made of women.
 Men on the other hand are viewed negatively even their values. It is
believed men value ideas of independence, hierarchy, competition and
dominating. These lead to conflict, wars and chaos, while females value
dependence, cooperation, relationships community, sharing, trust and
peace. These also encourage peaceful co-existence.
 Women’s reproduction is seen as a source of power which men are
jealous of Men want to control women’s reproduction as technology
through the use of technology.

Applicability
In Zimbabwe women are viewed as reproductive technology for child bearing
.They are also a source of labour and they reproduce future labourers. This is a
source of power for women and who ever controls them controls reproduction
and labour.

Activity 2.8
What are the disadvantages of believing in the superiority of the feminine?
List similarities between cultural and radical theory?

Multicultural Feminism

41
  Multicultural feminism arose as a result of dissatisfaction with global
feminism in a multicultural society. It has roots in the third world
feminists’ theories and other post-modernist theories.
 Third world feminists argue that there must be a multicultural theory that
recognises all other differences within which gender is contextualised.
 Gender inequalities manifest themselves differently in different cultures.
Cultural differences like class, ethnicity, religion, age and disability shape
gender differences in different societies.
 A multicultural theory should focus on inclusion of other oppressions and
consider intersection of gender with race, colonisation and exploitation of
women in the developing world (Momsen, 2004).

Applicability
 Zimbabwe is a multicultural society made of the following ethnic groups
Venda, Ndau, Ndebele, Kalanga, Karanga, Tonga, Shangani, Sotho,
Korekore, Zezuru and Manyika among others.
 Zimbabwe also has different religions, for example Christianity with its
different denomination. Christian Churches are grouped into Pentecostal,
missionary established, African Independent Churches. Parallel to these
is traditional religion, Islam etc. A multicultural theory should take these
differences into consideration, even solutions to women’s problems.
Women are treated differently in each religion, denomination and ethnic
group. Zimbabwe again is made of different classes, the upper class,
middle class and lower class that can be divided further into formal
workers, informal workers, and house wives.

Activity 2.9
* Choose two ethnic groups or two denominations in Zimbabwe and
show how women are subordinated differently in the chosen societies.
* What are the limitations of the multicultural feminist theory?

Conclusion

References
Acker, S. (1987) ’Feminist theory and the study of gender education’ in
International review of education, Vol. 33 no 9.
Bazili, S. (1991) Putting women on the agenda. Johannesburg, Rowan press.
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UNIT 3

Historical Development of Gender

By Daniel Mawere

3.1 Introduction
In Unit 2 we introduced you to theories of gender inequality. In this unit you are
introduced to the historical development of gender through four approaches.
The approaches are Women in Development, Women and Development,
Gender and Development and Third World Political Economy. We feel that
these approaches are important in tracing the historical development of gender
from focus on women’s exclusion from development activities to focusing on
development as it takes on board both women and men. The approaches also
seek to explain how development affects women and why women and men are
affected by development differently. We hope the approaches will make you
appreciate the many views that have come up as societies endeavour to
grapple with issues of equality and equity between women and men in the
development of nations and societies the world over. The intention is to enable
you to critically examine gender and development as they relate to the
Zimbabwean experience in particular and the world in general.

3.2 Unit Objectives

By the end of this unit you should be able to:
 Define and explain the concept development as it relates to gender and
development.
 Trace the historical development of gender.
 Discuss the main features of each of the four approaches to development
of gender.
44
  Critically examine achievements and challenges of each of the four
approaches to the development of gender.

Approaches to explaining the development of the concept Gender

3.3 The concept Development
The concept development has various sheds of meaning to different people.
Generally development is about: change for the better; continuing processes;
collectivities of people; growth and prosperity; and interrelationships. Among
other theories, Modernization and Dependency theories view development
differently as is shown below.

Modernization theories, originating from west-centric institutions, view

development as economic growth and industrialization. Industrialization
therefore is a major indicator of development. One of the most influential
modernization theorists is W. W. Rostow of the United States. His 1960 book
(The Stages of Economic Growth) traces the economic growth of countries
through five stages using the analogy of aerodynamics.
 Stage 1 Traditional Stage or Handcrafting Stage: - in which primitive
societies depend upon human and animal power for production. Primitive
tools are used and production is mainly for local consumption.
 Stage 2 Pre-take off Stage: - in which the necessary infrastructure for
development is created. Transport and communication is improved.
Electricity and light machines will be used in agriculture and industry.
Modern institutions, such as elected bodies, codification of laws, banking
and transport systems take root.
 Stage 3 Take-off Stage: - in which the economy is poised for growth,
becomes self-sufficient and self-reliant in many aspects. The economy
enters the international market. Population growth is checked and
national income increases.
 Stage 4 Drive to Maturity: - in which the economy goes in for machine
building, space research, eradication of poverty and sophisticated
machinery. Society becomes affluent, socio-economic institutions are
modernized and a high standard of living is achieved.
 Stage 5 High Mass Consumption: - in which there is abundance of
everything to everyone. People enjoy all material comforts, and luxuries
are for asking.
As these countries prepare to develop, they need assistance in the form of
funds, technology and new markets.

Dependency is the perpetuation of underdevelopment. It is historical.

Dependency of the Third World countries is related and linked to the colonial
economy of the periphery to the centre. Dependency theories therefore
criticize the modernization concept of development. These theories argue that
the origins of persistent global poverty cannot be understood without reference
to the entire international economic system. They argue that
45
underdevelopment is not a condition: it is an active process of impoverishment
linked to development. That is, some parts of the world are underdeveloped
because others are developed. They are not separate processes but two
aspects of the same process. In other words, economic growth in developed
countries created Third World poverty in its wake.

The word dependency comes from this link: some say the exploitation of
various regions for their raw materials and labour impoverished them and
made them depend on the West. Others point out that in fact it is the other
way round: that the West has been dependent on the Third World in order to
grow and prosper.

All in all, modernization theory sees capitalism as a creative force, causing

growth and progress. Dependency theory sees international capitalism as the
ruin of the Third World. Modernization theory sees rich countries as helpers of
poor countries; dependency theory sees them as the main obstacles to the
well-being of the poorer countries.

These models of development are heavily male based: development planners

assumed that men are the most productive workers. Women’s productive role
was ignored because it was often not directly linked to the market or the
formal economy. Brandt et al, (1980) explain why gender was not noticed in
development in the past when they say that; no political system assumed the
equal status of women; production-oriented societies tended to undervalue
their contribution; statistical methods largely ignored the contribution of
women as it was concentrated in the informal sector. Fagerlind and Saha
(1989) in Bown (1999) commented that women provided more health care than
all health services combined and yet outnumber men among the world’s
illiterate. Chinery-Hesse et al (1990) in Bown (1999) commented on women’s
contribution to development thus; Women’s distinctiveness lies in the
multiplicity of their roles. Whilst men can confine themselves mainly to being
producers, most women, in addition to being heavily involved in economic
production, take prime responsibility as home managers, child bearers and
careers of children, the sick and the elderly. As a result women work more
hours than men, usually with smaller resources, fewer opportunities and lower
rewards. By and large inequalities exist between men and women. These
inequalities typify gender differences and contribute to disparities in
development between them.

Development, argues anthropologist Arturo Escobar, not only ignored women,

but in fact had – and continues to have, in different cases – extremely
detrimental effects on women’s economic position. From the 1970s, the
assumption of women as actors mainly in the reproductive sphere began to be
questioned. Over the decades since distinctive approaches have emerged

46
related to gender and development (WID, WAD and GAD, among others).
These frameworks guide development policies, research and practice.

3.4 Approaches to explaining the development of the concept Gender

3.4.1 Women in Development (WID)
Origins
In the early 1970s, researchers on development began to focus on the division
of labour based on sex, and the impact of development and modernization
strategies on women. The concept, Women in Development (WID), came into
use during the United Nations Decade for Women (1975 to 1985). It is closely
related to western liberal feminism which emphasizes on gender equity and
equal rights. The approach viewed women as passive beneficiaries of
development. In fact there is a growing realization that women are being left
out of economic development or are not benefiting significantly from it
(Moyoyeta, 2004). The approach stands for concern with the disadvantaged
position of women, and discrimination against them. Research based on this
concept recognizes that the impact of development and social change on
women differs from its impact on men. The main objective of the WID
approach, therefore, is to design actions and policies to integrate women fully
into development.

Main Features
The WID approach views women’s lack of participation as the main problem. As
pointed out earlier on, WID approach focuses on women. The exclusion of
women (half of the productive resource) from the development process is
viewed as the main problem under focus. Women’s subordination, therefore, is
seen in terms of their exclusion from the market sphere, and limited access to
and control over resources.

More efficient and effective development that includes women is the main goal
of the approach. Integration of women into existing structures of development
is viewed as the solution to the problem. The approach seeks to integrate
women into economic development through legal and administrative support.

WID advances a number of strategies aimed at addressing the problem under

focus. Through WID, projects such as transfer of technology, extension
services, credit facilities, and other interventions that have a welfare
orientation especially projects on hygiene, literacy or childcare are
implemented. WID also focuses on advocacy strategies for more equal
participation of women in education, employment and other spheres of society.
The other strategy is to increase women’s ability to manage the household
(family planning). All these strategies are aimed at increasing women’s
productivity and income. The approach also examines the sexual division of
labour and the differential impact of gender in development. Furthermore it

47
recognizes that women and men’s experience of development and societal
changes are different.

Achievements
 The WID approach has enhanced people’s understanding of women’s
development needs, particularly the need to improve statistical measures
of women’s work and to provide women with more opportunities for
education and employment (Overholt, et al. 1984). The approach has
provided a checklist for ensuring women’s status in societies, a checklist
that is helpful and accessible to development technocrats.
 Programmes informed by the WID approach address women’s practical
needs by; creating wage employment, income-generating opportunities,
and improving access to credit and to education.
 Its presence at the UN helped to push for social legislation that enhanced
women’s civil and political rights in some countries.
 It has also been successful in helping secure a prominent place for
women’s issues at the United Nations (UN).
 The UN declared 1975 to 1985, the Decade for Women. A major
achievement of the decade has been the establishment of women in
development structures.
 WID has helped to mainstream gender issues in many development
agencies and policies as well as increase women’s visibility.
 WID highlights the fact that women need to be integrated into
development processes as active agents if efficient and effective
development is to be achieved. It has also encouraged research and
debate on women issues.

Limitations
Limitations of the approach noted later were that:
 The benefits of ‘modernization’ do not, in fact, trickle down automatically
or equally. Furthermore the approach focuses on integration of women
into ongoing development strategies. This often entails the acceptance of
existing social structures that perpetuate inequalities. The approach
tends to focus heavily on the productive aspects of women’s work,
overlooking the burden of social and reproductive functions. It should
also be noted that women’s issues tend to be increasingly relegated to
marginal programmes and isolated projects (Gender! A Partnership of
Equals, 2000).
 The approach does not challenge gender relations and assumes that
these will change, as women become economic partners in development.
 WID views women as being outside the mainstream of development and
yet women are already playing a crucial part in development, for
example, in the domestic and agriculture spheres.

48
  By exclusively targeting women, WID creates tension, suspicion and
hostility.
 The approach tends to perpetuate gender inequalities as it focuses on
practical needs to the exclusion of strategic gender needs.
 The approach calls for women’s inclusion in development but it does not
call for changes in the social, cultural and legal structures that give rise
to inequalities in society.
 Because the approach relies heavily on modernization theory, it generally
assumes that western institutions hold most of the answers and it often
ignores the possible contribution of indigenous knowledge.

Critics see the WID initiative as “add-on” approach that, instead of

integrating women into the mainstream of development, marginalizes them
even further (Chiriga, 1998). For finer details on WID approaches study
Table 3.1 below:
Table 3.1
Different policy approaches to Third World women: Moser (1993: pp
56-57)
Issues Welfare Equity Ant i-P overty

Origins Second WID ap-

Earliest approach: Original WID approach: proach:
-Residual model of so- -Failure of modernisation -toned down equity
cial welfare under co- development policy because of criticism.
lonial admin istration. -Influence of Boserup and -linked to red istribu-
-Modernization / First World Fem inists on tion with growth and
accelerated growth Percy amendment of UN basic needs.
economic develop- decade for women
ment model.
1970s onward: still
Period Most Popu !950-1970 but still !975-1985: attempts to limited popularity
lar widely used. adopt it during the
women’s decade.
To ensure poor
P urpose To bring women into To gain equity for women women increase their
development as better in the development proc- productivity:
mothers: this is seen as ess: women seen as active women’s poverty
their most important participants in develop- seen as a problem of
role in development. ment underdevelopment,
not of subordination.

Needs of women To meet PGN in re- To meet SGN in terms of To meet PGN in pro-
met and roles rec- productive role, relat- triple ro le– directly ductive role, to earn
ognized
ing particu larly to food through state top-down an income, particu-
aid, malnutrition and intervention, giving politi- larly in small-scale
family planning cal and economic auton- income generating
omy by reducing inequal- projects.
ity.

Comment Women seen as pas- In identify ing subordinate Poor women isolated
sive beneficiaries of position of women in as separate category
development with fo- terms of relationship to with tendency only
cus on their reproduc- men, challenging, crit i- to recognize produc-
tive ro le; non- cized as Western femi- tive ro le; reluctance
challenging, therefore nism, considered threaten- of government to
widely popular espe- ing and not popular with give lim ited aid to
cially with govern- government. women means popu-
ment and traditional larity still at small-
NGOs. scale NGO level.

49
Issues Efficiency Empowerment

Origins .Most recent approach:

Third and now pre- -arose out of failure of eq-
dominant WID ap- uity approach
proach: -Third World women’s
- deterioration in the feminist writing and grass-
world economy roots organization
- policies of economic
stabilization and ad-
justment rely on
women’s economic
contribution to devel-
opment.
Period Most
Popu 1975 onward: accelerated
lar Post 1980s: now most during 1980s, still limited
popular approach popularity

Purpose
To empower women
To ensure develop- through greater self-
ment is more efficient reliance: women’s subordi-
and more effective: nation seen not only as
women’s economic problem of men but also of
participation seen as colonial and neo-colonial
associated with equity oppression

To reach SGN in terms of

Needs of To met PGN in con- triple role– indirectly
women met and
roles recog- text of declining social through bottom-up mobili-
nized services by relying on zation around PGN as a
all three roles of means to confront oppres-
women and elasticity sion
of women’s time

Women seen entirely Potentially challenging

Comment in terms of delivery with emphasis on Third
capacity and ability to World and women’s self-
extend working day; reliance; largely unsup-
most popular approach ported by governments and
both with governments agencies; avoidance of
and multilateral agen- Western feminism criticism
cies means slow, significant
growth of under-financed
voluntary organizations

Activity 3.1
 Discuss with a friend on the limitations of the WID approach. Are the
above limitations a fair criticism of the approach?
 Assess the contribution of WID to the visibility of women in
development activities in Zimbabwe.

Women and Development (WAD)

Origins
The seeds of the WAD concept were planted during the 1950s and 1960s when
about 50 countries were freed from colonialism. Women who had participated
in independent movements felt that they must join with men in building these
new nations. The approach is Marxist in content as it drew on dependency
theory. WAD actually arose in the latter part of the 1970s. Its main basis was
50
critiquing the earlier approach of WID. Its origins are in the argument that there
should be a development approach to women that recognizes the dangers of
integrating women into a patriarchal world. The approach seeks instead to
create “women-only” projects, carefully constructed to protect women’s
interests from patriarchal domination (Rathbeger, 1990). WAD therefore is an
inclusive term meant to signify a concept and a movement whose long-range
goal is well being of society.

Main Features
The central point of the WAD approach is that women must be lifted from
poverty and contribute to and benefit from development efforts. The approach
stresses the distinctiveness of women’s knowledge, women’s work and
women’s goals and responsibilities. It argues for recognition of this
distinctiveness and for the acknowledgement of the special role that women
have always played in the development process. The work they do both inside
and outside the household is crucial to the maintenance of society. The WAD
perspective gave rise to a persistent call to recognize that women are the
mainstay of agricultural production in many areas of Africa, although their
contribution has been systematically overlooked and marginalized in national
and donor development plans (Connelly et al, 2005).

The main focus of WAD is on the interaction between women and development
processes rather than purely on strategies to integrate women into
development. WAD sees both women and men as not benefiting from the
global economic structures because of disadvantages due to class and the way
wealth is distributed (Moyoyeta, 2004).

Global inequalities have been viewed by WAD as the main problem facing poor
countries and their citizens. The approach contents that economic growth and
the industrialization of the west has been based upon the exploitation of
nations that have been subject to colonial rule. WAD has been very persuasive
in raising the debate that women have a role not only in reproduction but in
production as well. It focuses on women’s economic roles and class decisions.
For development to be meaningful for women both these roles have to be
acknowledged. In other words the approach recognizes that women have
always been part of development.

The approach focuses on the relations between developed and developing

nations, particularly their impact on the lives of women and men in developing
countries. It maintains that women’s position will improve once needed
structural and institutional reforms are installed at the local and international
levels. Women therefore must have both the legal right and access to existing
means for their improvement and that of society.

Achievements
51
Gains have been made through the approach in:
 Raising consciousness,
 Publicizing women’s concerns, and
 Bringing them into the policy arena.
In other words WAD significantly extends the WID critique of mainstream
development approach by bringing in a broader analysis.

Limitations
Although the WAD approach has offered an important corrective to WID’s
assumption that male dominated states can be used to alter gender
inequalities, it also has a number of weaknesses:
 Marginalization and smallness of scale have limited the transformative
potential of women-only organizations.
 The approach also sees women as a class, downplaying differences
among women, particularly along racial and ethnic lines.
 It focuses on production and income generating projects at the expense
of women’s reproduction work.
 The approach has been criticized for assuming that the position of
women will improve if and when international structures become more
equitable. In doing so it sees women’s positions as primarily within the
structure of international and class inequalities. It therefore underplays
the role of patriarchy in undermining women’s development and does not
adequately address the question of social relations between men and
women and their impact on development (Moyoyeta, 2004).

Activity 3.2
Examine the role played by WAD in highlighting the contribution of women to
development. What shortcomings are evident in this approach?

Gender and Development (GAD)

Origins
The GAD approach emerged in the early 1980s. GAD originated from the
experiences and analysis of Western socialist feminists interested in
development issues. It overlaps with WAD but the socialist feminists in this
approach combine lessons from the limitations of both WID and WAD. It also
emerges from the grass-roots organizational experiences and writings of Third
World feminists. It is born out of frustration with the lack of progress of WID
policy, in changing women’s lives and in influencing the broader development
agenda. Its objective therefore, is to remove disparities in social, economic and
political equality between women and men in development.

52
 Main Features
 The GAD approach argues that women’s status in society is deeply
affected by their material conditions of life and their position in the
national, regional, and global economies.
 GAD also recognizes that women are deeply affected by the nature of
patriarchal power in their societies at the national, community, and
household levels. Moreover, women’s material conditions and patriarchal
authority are both defined and maintained by the accepted norms and
values that define women’s and men’s roles and duties in a particular
society (Sen and Grown 1987 in Connelly et al, 2005).
 GAD focuses not just on women but also on the social relations between
women and men, be it in the workplace or in other settings. It therefore
seeks to address issues of access and control over resources and power.
Gender relations are seen as the key determinant of women’s position in
society, not as immutable reflections of the natural order but as socially
constructed patterns of behaviour - the social construction of gender
which can be changed if this is desired. The GAD approach focuses on
the interconnection of gender, class, colonial history, culture and position
in the international economic order (Moser, 1993).
 The approach sees the gender division of labour as the root cause of
inequality, especially since it undervalues the work done by women in
the household. It recognizes women as agents of development, not
merely as passive recipients of development assistance. The need for
women to organize themselves and participate in political processes is
stressed. Current social, economic and political structures are questioned
by the approach. It promotes interventions and affirmative action
programmes that integrate women into ongoing development efforts
(Gender Mainstreaming, 2005).
 Given that women are usually in a disadvantaged position in the work
place as compared to men, promotion of gender equality implies explicit
attention to women’s needs, interests and perspectives. The objective
then is the advantage of the status of women in society, with gender
equality as the ultimate goal (Gender! A Partnership of Equals, 2000).
 GAD looks at the impact of development on both women and men. It
seeks to ensure that both women and men participate in and benefit
from development and so emphasizes equality of benefit and control. It
recognizes that women may be involved in development, but not
necessarily benefit from it (Moyoyeta, 2004).
 The GAD approach also plays particular attention to the oppression of
women in the family or the ‘private sphere’ of women’s lives. As a result
we have seen projects develop addressing issues such as domestic
violence and violence against women.
 GAD brought about a gender perspective, thereby bringing under
scrutiny the whole gamut of difference in power, legal rights, roles,

53
 constraints, opportunities and needs of women compared to men. The
argument being that to bring women into the center stage of
development, the existing gender relations need to be re-examined and
wherever needed to be restructured (Mainstreaming Gender Equity,
2005).

Achievements
 The biggest contribution of GAD is the inclusion of men into the
approach.
 It does not exclusively emphasize the solidarity of women.
 The approach acknowledges that women spend a lot of time; - bearing,
raising children, cooking, washing, and fetching water, caring for the sick
and elderly, attending to the fields and small stock.
 It also observes that women have no control over their fertility and over
productive resources.
 The GAD approach has also helped us to understand that the gender
division of labour gives triple roles (reproductive, productive and
community) to women in society.
 It goes beyond seeing development as mainly an economic well-being
but also that the social and mental well-being of a person is important.
 Arising from the GAD analysis is the need for women to organize
themselves into a more effective political voice in order to strengthen
their legal right and increase the number of women in decision making.
The approach therefore: liberates, empowers, and promotes partnership
and equitable distribution of resources and benefits. It transforms
unequal relationships; challenges and changes gender insensitive
traditions, institutions, policies and structures. Above all it also
humanizes. WID and GAD approaches are summarized in Table 3.2
below:

Table 3.2 Comparison of WID and GAD

Women in Development Gender and Development
(WID) (GAD)
The An approach which views An approach to people centered
Approach women’s lack of participation development
as the problem.
The Women Relations between women and
Focus men
The The exclusion of women (half Inequitable relations (between
Problem of the productive resource) women and men, rich and poor)
from the development process that prevents equitable
development and women’s full
participation

54
The Goal More efficient, effective Equitable, sustainable
development development with men and
women sharing decisions making
and power
The Integrate women into existing Empower the disadvantaged and
Solution structures women
The Women only projects Identify/address practical needs
strategie Women’s components determined by women and men
s Integrated projects to improve their condition
Increase women’s productivity At the same time address
Increase women’s income strategic gender needs of
Increase women’s ability to women and men
manage the household Address strategic needs of the
poor through people centered
development
Source: Connelly et al, (2005)

Activity 3.3
 What is the difference between Practical Gender Needs (PGN) and
Strategic Gender Needs (SGN)?
 Which approaches stress the need to meet PGN and SGN needs if
development has to take on board both women and men?
 Gender and Development approach focuses on the socially constructed
basis of differences between men and women and emphasizes the
need to challenge existing gender roles and relations. To what extent is
this statement a true characterization of GAD?

Third World Political Economy Approach

Origins
Proponents of this approach are Third World Feminist Writers.
Main Features
 It is a critique of the three approaches discussed above.
 It locates the oppressive social systems within the traditional patriarchy
systems, colonial, neo-colonial, and the globalization processes which
impact on women and men differently.
 The approach blames the earlier approaches for focusing on white and
middle class women and generalizing explanations for the subordinate
positions of all women.
 Historical context is ignored – women have had different experiences at
different periods in history. The approach analyses and traces the
situation of women from pre-capitalist, capitalist/colonial and post-
colonial periods.
 Though patriarchy is central, it does not explain changes and diversity in
gender neutrality.
 Questions of race, class, and ethnicity should not be ignored.
55
  Experiences of western women are different from those of third world
women. The approach looks at globalization of economy and its impact
on men and women. Third World women are exploited; as Third world
women, as the African race, as working class, and within each class.
 Not all men are able to oppress all women.
 Young women are the most oppressed and exploited, for example,
daughter-in-law (muroora) versus Mother-in-law (Vamwene) and
Daughter-in-law versus her husband’s sister/ aunt (Vatete). Elderly
women and aunts use patriarchal values to oppress other women. The
lowest class or ethnic group is the most exploited.
 Advent of capitalism and colonialism worsened the problems of third
world women. Women had double burdens, for example, subsistence
agriculture, childbearing, work outside the home, among other burdens.
 Money became the medium of exchange but women were not party of
the money economy. Women produced food and became totally
dependent on men for cash goods, for example, school fees, farming
implements, furniture and loans among others.
 Peasant economy marginalized women and made them powerless.
 Traditional structures were modified to fit into the capitalist system.
 Before independence in third world countries, the state reproduced
gender, class and race. After independence it reproduced class and
gender. Women produced and continue to produce for use value. The
proponents of the approach see third world women as producers whilst
western women are consumers.
 Due to the diversities indicated above, women cannot speak with one
voice even in post –modernism because of race and class.
 The neo-colonial period has not improved women’s position, as they have
no access to technology and technological know-how. Third world women
are therefore alienated from technology and knowledge.
 Cultural constraints in the family further subordinate women.
 Capitalism and patriarchy therefore combine to exploit third world
women.

Limitations
 The approach does not focus much on cultural constraints.
 Focus is mainly on capitalism and post-modernism.
 It does not explain subordinate position of women before the advent of
capitalism.
 The approach ignores sexuality and reproduction (biology).
 It does not go deeper into the root causes of subordination of women.

56
Activity 3.4
 In what ways do you think the Third World Political Economy approach
is a critique of WID, WAD and GAD approaches?
 Does the approach, in your own opinion, sufficiently address the
situation of women and men in the developing world?

Conclusion
In this unit we have shown how focus initially was on women only as evidenced
by the WID and WAD approaches. The WID approach hoped to bring women
into development through providing them with opportunities for employment or
engaging them in income generating projects. This would, as it were, remove
them from the private sphere into the public sphere. The WAD approach was
arguing for publicizing women’s concerns, and
bring them into the policy arena. Criticisms of these approaches resulted in the
Gender and Development approach with its focus being mainly on the
inequality in relations between men and women. It goes beyond seeing
development as mainly economic well being but also that the social and mental
well being of a person is important. The GAD approach goes beyond seeing
development as mainly economic well being but also that the social and mental
well being of a person is important. It should also be noted that the biggest
contribution of GAD is the inclusion of men into the approach. The Third World
Economic Approach comes in as a critique of the first three approaches which
tended to focus on women in the developed world without articulating the
concerns of women in the third world. The approach brings in the part played
by some women in perpetuating gender inequality when these women connive
with patriarchy to exploit, subordinate and oppress young women in the third
world.

References
Chiriga, J.S. (1998) Perspectives on the Beijing Policy Process in SADC in
Southern Africa in Transition: A Gendered Perspective. Harare; Sapes Books.

Connelly, M.P., Murray, L.T., Macdonald, M. and Parpart, J.L. Feminism and
Development: Theoretical Perspectives. International Development Research
Centre. Accessed online 2005.

Gender! A Partnership of Equals, (2000) International Labour Office

Moser, C.O.N. (1993) Gender Planning and Development – Theory, Practice and
Training. London; Routledge.

Moyoyeta, L. (2004) Women, Gender and Development. Lusaka; Women for

Change.

57
Overholt, C., Anderson, M., Cloud, K., and Austin, J., Eds. (1984). Gender roles
in development. West Hartford, Kumarian Press.

Rathgeber, E. (1990). WID, WAD, GAD: trends in research and practice. Journal
of Developing Areas, 24 (4), 489-502.

Rostow, W.W. (1960) The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist

Manifesto. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

UNIT 4

GENDER ANALYSIS FRAMEWORKS AND TOOLS

by Nogget Matope

4.0 Introduction

Gender analysis provides a basis for robust analysis of the differences between
women and men’s lives and this removes the possibility of analysis being
based on incorrect assumptions and stereotypes. In this unit we present a
discussion on what is gender analysis, why do gender analysis and the tools for
gender analysis. The tools we will look at are the Harvard Analytical framework,
Moser Gender Planning framework and Women Empowerment framework. Our
approach in this unit will impress upon you to adopt an appropriate and
effective interpretation of gender issues from a gender perspective as you
tackle the various activities in the unit and continually relate the issues to your
own experiences in education, the workplace and the community.

4.1 Unit Objectives

58
By the end of this unit you should be able to:
 Explain the meaning of the term gender analysis and explain its purpose
 Define and describe some gender analysis tools
 Use and apply different gender analysis tools to conduct a gender
analysis to various case studies and situations.

4.2 What is Gender Analysis?

Gender analysis:
 Examines the differences in women’s and men’s lives, including those
which lead to social and economic inequity for women and applies this
understanding to policy development and service delivery.
(Gender/framework: 2006).
 Is concerned with the underlying causes of these inequities.
 Aims to achieve positive change for women and men.
 Is a tool to better understand the realities of women and men, boys and
girls whose lives are impacted by planned development.
 Is used to understand the culture, expressed in construction of gender
identities and inequities.
 Aims to uncover dynamics of gender differences across a variety of
issues.
 Includes gender issues with respect to social relations, activities, access
and control over resources, services, institutions of decision –making and
network of power and authority.
 Identifies specifically how public policy affects women and men
differently.
 It also brings to the fore these differences and to the attention of those
who can make a difference.
 It also provides an understanding of gender relations which include
experiences of women as distinct from men’s, how women are
contributors and producers to the community under review and ways in
which women are subordinate to men
(http//www.snvword.org/cds/rgGEND 2006).

 Aims to achieve equity rather than equality. Recognizes that women’s

and men’s lives, experiences, needs, issues and priorities are different.
These vary according to various factors such as marital status, ethnicity,
income levels, and age among others. This entails adopting different
strategies to achieve equitable outcomes for women and men and
different groups of women. (gdrc.org.gender/framework:2006)

4. 3 Why do gender analysis?

59
 * Information is essential for mainstreaming of gender at all levels from
formulation of national legislation and policy to planning and monitoring
of specific interventions.
* Gender based analysis should be a common thread woven from
beginning to end throughout entire policy not merely an additional
heading or section in briefing notes.
* It gives information on who performs what activities and at what levels-
household, community or national.
* It is important to correct unfairness- who owns what resources, who
uses what resources for what? Who has ultimate control of resources at
different levels.
* To determine the different ways in which women and men do or do not
benefit from particular livelihoods interventions.
* Both qualitative and quantitative gender analytical research can be
used to raise awareness of gender issues, to inform policy makers, to
provide material for gender training and to monitor the differential
impact of policy, project and budget commitments on women and men.
* To highlight different responsibilities of women and men that might
constrain their participation in a project.

Activity 4.1 Gender based analysis

 Identify an issue that affects you as student at a university.
 What is the issue?
 Who says it is an issue?
 Why has it become an issue?
 How does your personal or professional background affect
understanding of the issue?
 How is the root cause perpetuated?
 What factors are influencing this issue?
 Does this issue require policy analysis or development?

You have successfully carried out gender based analysis by answering the
above questions which are often asked to identify or define policy issues. Your
responses to the above will assist you to identify different needs of women and
men, their ability to understand different stakeholders’ capacity to participate
in any given intervention. It will also assist you to identify major environmental
factors (culture, religion, politics) which have critical influence and maybe
responsible for maintaining the system of gender differentiation and equity.

Activity 4.2
 Compare your responses to activity 4.1 with fellow student/s.
 How different or similar are your responses?
 What does that tell you about the needs/issues of women and
of men? (dependent on age, ethnicity, disability, marital status,
sexual orientation and whether they have dependents)
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4.6 Tools for gender analysis
Several development workers have come up with strategies of carrying out
gender analysis in development work or interventions. There are a number of
gender analysis tools available but this unit will focus only on three namely the
Harvard Analytical Framework, the Gender and Development (Moser) approach
and the Women Empowerment approach (Longwe). However, other approaches
such as the ABC of Gender Analysis Framework (FAWE), Socio Economic and
Gender Analysis (SEAGA), Social Relations and Life Cycle approaches will not
be looked at in this particular unit.

The Harvard Analytical Framework

The Harvard Analytical Framework also referred to as Gender Roles Framework
or Gender analysis framework was developed by the Harvard Institute for
International Development in 1985 in collaboration with the WID office of
USAID. This approach is based on the WID efficiency approach. (Remember you
looked at his approach in the preceding unit).

It is one of the earliest gender analysis and planning frameworks. The

framework is a useful data gathering tool that charts and organizes information
and can be adapted to many situations.

Features
The framework is originally outlined in Overholt, Anderson, Cloud and Austin
(1984).The framework consist of a matrix for collecting data at the micro
(community and household) level. It has four interrelated components which
are explained as follows:

Tool 1: the Activity Profile

The activity profile answers the question ‘who does what’ and identifies all
relevant productive and reproductive tasks. For example a daily activity profile
analyses different roles and responsibilities of women and men based on
description of their daily tasks according to gender and age. You may also
specify the percentage of time allocated to each activity, whether it is carried
out seasonally or daily and the location of the activity. The following activity
will assist you to use the activity profile in the table below:

Activity 4.3
 Choose a household in a particular location.
 List the main activities of the female and male members of the family.
 Draw up a 24 hour chart time schedule for the activities you have
identified allocating a specific amount of time to each activity.
Guiding questions for discussion:
 What is the significance of who does what in your household profile?
 How do perceptions of women and men differ towards each other’s
61
 activities, roles and responsibilities?
 How do the schedules and workloads of women and men differ in a
typical rural household? How do they differ in an urban setting?

Example of Harvard tool: The activity profile( adapted from March et al 1999)

Activities Female Male Time

Women, girls Men, boys
Productive
Activity 1
Activity 2
Activity 3
Activity 4
Reproductive
Activity 1
Activity 2
Activity 3
Activity 4
Community linked role
Activity 1
Activity 2
Activity 3
Activity 4

Tool 2: Access and Control – Resources and Benefits

The access and control profile allows for detailed listing of the resources
available to people to carry out the tasks identified in the activity profile. It
identifies whether it is women or men who have access to resources, who
control their use and who controls the benefits that arise from their use
(household or community level). March et al (1999:34) say
“…access simply means that you are able to use a resource, but this
says nothing about whether you have control over it”.
For example, women may have access to land but little influence or control
over which issues to do with the land are discussed. The person who controls a
resource is the one ultimately able to make decisions about its use and
whether it can be sold. For example, in rural patriarchal Zimbabwe the land is
controlled by the males and most women only have access to it. Access to
income does not always lead to increased control of assets within the
household, or to greater say in decision making in the household or wider
society. Below is a table showing access and control of resources and benefits
by women and men.

Example of Harvard tool 2: access & control profile

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 Control Control Access Access
women men women Men
Resources
Land/ property (include
all significant types of
assets)
Employment (formal &
informal)l
Money & credit

Skills & technology

(access to &control over
acquired skills &technical
facilities)
Education & training
Benefits

Activity 4.4
 Use the above table and place a tick or a cross if women and men
have control and access in the indicated resources.
 What does it tell you about access and control of resources?
 Who benefits more in terms of access and control of resources? Why?

Tool 3: influencing Factors

The influencing factors allow you to chart the differences in the gender division
of labor, access and control as listed in tools 1 and 2. By identifying constraints
you will be able to look for opportunities which will facilitate a more equal
sharing of resources and more involvement of women in development, projects
and programs. It also helps to identify past and present influences and can
give an indication of future trends. The identification of external constraints
and opportunities assist you to anticipate what inputs you would need to make
the intervention successful. The following table identifies some of the
influencing factors, possible constraints and opportunities:

Table 4. Influencing factors

Influencing Constraints Opportunities

factors
Cultural Early marriage, Lobbying women’s groups,
polygamy, poverty legal parameters
Educational Institutional structures, Legal interventions and acts,
poverty, stereotypes, sponsorship and aid from
lack of mobility and agencies, government
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 access, discrimination priorities
Economic Lack of political will, lack Financial assistance, external
of funding, world funding, political will
recession
Environmental Institutional structures, Lobbying women’s groups,
legal parameters, lack of external funding
mobility, community
norms
Religious beliefs Stereotypes, Change in mindset
discrimination
Other

Tool 4: The Project Cycle Analysis

The project cycle is the fourth tool of the analysis framework. This consists of a
series of questions which are designed to assist you to examine a project
proposal or an area of intervention from a gender perspective, using gender
disaggregated data and capturing the different effects of social change on
women and men (March et al, 1999). A number of key questions are asked at
each stage of the project cycle: identification, design, implementation and
evaluation.

Uses of the framework

 It is best suited for project planning rather than program or policy
planning.
 As a gender –neutral entry point when raising gender issues with
constituents resistant to considering gender relations and power
dynamics.
 For baseline data collection.
 In conjunction with Moser’s framework drawn on the idea of strategic
gender needs.

Strengths of the Harvard framework

 It is practical and hands on.
 Once data have been collected, it gives a clear picture of who does what,
when and with what resources. It makes women’s role and work visible.
 It distinguishes between access and control over resources.
 It can easily be adapted to a variety of situations and settings.
 It is relatively non-threatening as it relies on facts only.

Potential Limitations
 It does not delineate power relations or decision making processes. It
offers little guidance on changing existing gender inequalities. It tends to
result in gender- neutral or gender specific interventions, rather than
those that can transform existing gender relations.

64
  It tends to oversimplify, based on the tick the boxes approach to data
collection and ignores complexities in the community which includes
networks and kinships. You only need to look at the dynamics of the
Shona kinship ties.
 It is basically top- down planning tool and excludes women and men own
analysis of their situation
 It ignores underlying inequalities such as class, ethnicity and race,
encouraging an erroneous view of women and men as homogeneous
categories.
 It emphasizes separation of activities and resources based on age, sex
ignoring connections and cooperative relations across these categories.
 The profile yields a somewhat static view of the community, makes no
reference to changes over time in gender relations.(adapted from
Training Workshop and trainers in Women, Gender and Development,
June 9-21, 19996)
 It can encourage a simplistic yes/no approach by asking whether or not
women have access and control to resources. However, women’s
experiences are a more complex reality, for example, a women’s may
have access to some village land, and have partial control in that they
can decide what crops to grow and how. It may be left to elders to decide
which plot to give the women. Looking simply at access and control can
also hide the bargaining processes which take place in accessing the
pieces of land (March et al 1999).

Activity 4.5
 Use the picture code of Mr. and Mrs. Moyo to carry out gender
analysis using the Harvard Analytical Framework
 Answer the questions on the picture code.

Moser’s Gender Planning Framework (the GAD approach)

Origins
This approach challenged traditional assumptions towards development work
which encouraged treating women’s issues as separate concerns, GAD
approach argued for an integrated gender- planning perspective. It was
developed in the early 1980’s at University of London, UK by Caroline Moser
with Caren Levy. Moser (1993: 87) distinguishes gender planning from
traditional planning methods and says,
First, (gender planning) is both political and technical in nature. Second,
it assumes conflict in the planning process. Third, it characterizes
planning debate

According to Moser, women as a group have their own particular needs that
differ from those of men as a whole. These needs are determined by the
gender roles they perform. GAD brought women to deliberate on women’s

65
issues and allows for discussion by both men and women about their relations
and calls for transformation of relationships and structure which promote
gender inequity. As a result it makes visible differences due to class, race, age,
ethnicity, disability and sexual orientation.

Features
The framework has three concepts:
 Women’ s triple role
 Practical and strategic gender needs
 Categories of WID/GAD policy approaches.

Moser tool 1: Gender Roles Identification

This tool includes making visible the gender visible the gender division of labor.
It can be carried out by mapping all the activities of women and men in the
household over a 24 hour period. A triple role for low income women is
identified by Moser, productive, reproductive and community management
roles:

Reproductive work
These are activities and tasks that involve the care for the household and
community. These include the care and education of children, fuel and water
collection, food processing and preparation, healthcare, housing and
housekeeping. For most low income or rural communities these activities are
labor intensive, time consuming and is usually the responsibility of girls and
women.

Productive work
These are activities and tasks which involve the production of goods and
services for consumption or for sale on the market for example, crop and
livestock production, formal employment, self-employment and marketing.
Women and men can be engaged in productive but their functions and
responsibilities differ in most cases (March et al 1999). Women carry visible
and less valued than that of men.

Community management roles

These are activities and tasks that involve the collective organization of
services and social events for example ceremonies, community development
activities, church services, funerals, local political activities and resources used
by everyone such as water, health care and education. Most of this work is
carried out on a voluntary basis and is an important aspect for the community’s
spiritual and cultural development. Both women and men engage in
community activities, though a gender division of labor prevails here. Moser
divides community work into two different categories namely, unpaid and
monetary rewards for work done.

66
For the community roles and activities women are unpaid and such work is
carried out during women’s ‘free time’ (March, 1999). On the other hand,
men’s involvement in such activities like politics brings in monetary rewards
and benefits through improved status and power. “Moser’s framework
recognizes that women perform reproductive, community management
activities alongside productive, it makes visible work that tends to be invisible”
(March, 1999:57). It is therefore necessary to use the triple role analysis in a
planning framework as any development intervention in one area of work will
affect activities performed in the other two areas. For example, women’s
reproductive workload can prevent them from participating in development
projects or if they do participate they may spend less time on other tasks.

Moser tool 2: gender needs assessment

Moser distinguishes two types of gender needs practical gender needs and
strategic gender interests. Women and men can easily identify these as they
often relate to living conditions. Women may identify safe drinking water, food,
healthcare, cash income as immediate interests/ needs that they must meet.
These needs are not specifically women’s needs but the whole family’s needs,
yet often women identify them as theirs because it is their responsibility to
families’ needs. Addressing practical gender needs improve women’s lives but
do not challenge the prevailing forms of subordination.

For Moser strategic gender interests are the needs that would enable women to
transform the existing imbalances of power between women and men. A
strategic gender interest begins with the assumption that women are
subordinate to men as a consequence of social and institutional discrimination
against women. Addressing women’s strategic position has to do with
dismantling the whole spectrum of which women’s subordination is rooted.
Strategic gender needs vary in particular contexts and dismantling these may
entail delving into such issues as legal rights, discrimination, demanding
equality in political, cultural and economic spheres, domestic violence and
equal pay. According to March et al (1999:58) “meeting strategic gender needs
helps women to achieve greater equality and challenges their subordinate
position, including their role in society”.

Moser tool 3: disaggregating control of resources and decision making

within the household

This tool asks the questions: who controls what? Who decides what? How? The
Harvard access and control profile enables you to note who is likely to benefit
from implementation of a project. The Moser framework looks at who has
access and control over resources (political, social, economic etc) although
most women have access to the fields as mentioned earlier, they do not have
control over produce and income. Several other factors are responsible for
shaping and changing gender relations.
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Moser tool 4: balancing of roles
This relates to how women manage the balance between their productive,
reproductive and community tasks. It asks whether planned intervention will
increase a woman’s workload in one role with consequences for her other roles.

Moser tool 5: WID/GAD policy matrix.

The WID/GAD policy matrix provides a framework for identifying or evaluating
the approaches that have been (or can be) used to address the triple role, and
the practical and strategic gender needs of women in programs projects. This
therefore examines interventions in light of WID/GAD approaches.
This examines interventions in light of WID/ GAD approaches.

Moser tool 6: involving women and gender aware organizations and

planners in planning.
The aim of this tool is to ensure that practical and strategic gender needs are
identified by women ensuring that ‘real needs’ as opposed to perceived needs
are incorporated into the planning process.

Uses of the framework

 For planning at all levels from policies to projects.
 In conjunction with Harvard framework
 Training in gender issues to raise awareness of women’s
subordination.

Strengths
 It moves beyond technical elements of planning
 It is easily applicable and accessible.
 It makes all the work visible and valuable to planners through
concept of triple roles.
 Distinguish between types of gender needs: those that relate to
women’s daily lives but maintain existing gender relations
(practical gender needs) and those potentially transform existing
gender subordination ( strategic gender needs).
 It challenges inequality and alerts to the possibility that not all
development projects to do with women do this.
 Moser framework helps you to think through the main policy
assumptions which are driving a particular project (Moser, 1993,
March, 1999).

Limitations
 It does not mention other forms of inequality such as class, race or ethnicity
and does not examine change over time as variable. It is static like the
Harvard framework.

68
 Idea of gender roles obscures the notion of gender relationships and can
give a false impression of natural order and equity.
(http/www.gdrc.org/gender framework)
 Like Harvard, Moser framework emphasizes what women and men do and
resources available to them rather than focus on their relationships,
connectedness and not separateness.
 For some people the division between strategic and practical is artificial as
they argue that there is a continuum. Others argue that all practical
interventions affect women’s power and status even when this is not
factored into the planning process or recognized by those involved in the
project (Longwe, 1994).
 It is criticized for focusing on women’s strategic gender needs at the
expense of men who need to be taken on board.

Activity 4.6
Study the picture code of ‘the lie of the land’
 Using the Moser framework, identify the needs of women and
men in your community.
 Identify the differences between the needs of women and
men and categorize them under practical and strategic
needs.
 Discuss why do the women in the picture code say ‘no we do
not work’ and show how the community can be sensitized to
appreciate the roles of women.

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT FRAMEWORK

Sara Longwe and Robert Clarke in 1994, in Zambia developed women
empowerment framework as a response to the development workers perceived
inability to understand the issues and concerns of women in the Third World.
Longwe argues that most of the development work has concentrated on
ensuring equality between women and men in various sectors like education
and employment. This has tended to leave women out of the development
process. For Longwe, “development means enabling people to take charge of
their own lives, and escape from poverty…” (March, 1999:92). The male
domination of government is preserved by women to serve male interests,
where women are given most of the work and men collect the rewards. Where
men have vested interests to continue to subordinate women its folly to expect
them to realize the value of gender equality and give women an equal share of
the cake.

Features

The framework identifies five hierarchical levels in the empowering process.

The extent to which these are evident in any area of social or economic life
69
determines the level of women’s empowerment. Gender and development
workers use the framework to analyse development organizations’ degree of
commitment to empowerment and equality of women as they address/ look at
the various ‘levels of equality’ addressed by a particular intervention. The
levels illustrate how discussion of inequality at one level leads into discussion
of inequality at other levels. The levels are interconnected illustrating that
empowerment is found in the movement from one level to another. The
process of empowerment maybe better understood in terms of the following
five levels of ‘women empowerment’ framework.

Welfare

Welfare is the lowest level and looks at women’s material welfare relative to
men. At this level one looks at whether all men have access to resources like
food, income, medical care. If an intervention is confined to this level we are
talking about women being given these benefits rather than producing /
acquiring such benefits for themselves. This is zero level as most of the
interventions focus on meeting the basic needs without the wherewithal for
enlightenment and empowering process.

Access

Access has been defined as ‘women’s access to factors of production on an

equal footing with male counterparts: equal access to land, labor, credit,
training, marketing facilities, public service and benefits (March, 1995). For
example female farmers may improve their production and general welfare by
increased access to water, land, market, skills and information. Women maybe
‘given’ information by higher authorities or increase their own access. If it is
the latter, then there is beginning of conscientisation, of recognizing and
analyzing their own problems and taking action to solve them. For Longwe,
equality of access can be obtained by applying the principle of equality of
opportunity which calls for reforms in laws and administrative practices to rid
of all forms of discrimination.

Conscientisation

Conscientisation is the next level where there is conscious understanding of the

difference between sex and gender and an awareness that gender roles are
cultural and can be changed. Empowerment means sensitizing to beliefs of
traditional division of labor as God given and recognizing that women’s
subordination is not part of natural order of things but is imposed by
discrimination. According to Paulo Freire conscientisation calls for women
becoming subjects and not objects of their own lives coupled with the belief or
brief that sexual division of labor should be fair and agreeable to both, not
overtly or covertly entail the domination of one sex by another. It is here we
70
see the potential and strategies of improved information as enabling process of
consciousness driven by women’ own need to understand underlying causes of
their problems and to identify strategies for action.

Participation /Mobilisation
Longwe defines this as women’s equal participation in decision making
process, policy making, planning and administration (March, 1995).
Mobilization complements conscientisation as women come together for
recognition and analyzing problems, identification of strategies to overcome
discriminatory practices and collective action to remove these practices. They
may connect with larger women’s groups to learn about their successes of
women in similar situations. At this level leadership is important in the
mobilization process. It is not a scenario where tokenism is at play but full
involvement and representation of the women constituency. Reflected on some
of the projects in Zimbabwe where it has been lauded that women are full
participants- how have the women’s participation been shortchanged?

Control/ Empowerment
This calls for women’s control over the decision making process through
conscientisation and moblilization to achieve equality of control over the
factors of production and distribution of benefits. Equality of control means a
balance of control between women and men so that neither side dominates.
Women have taken action so that there is gender equality in decision making
over access to resources- women have direct access to resources no longer
wait indefinitely to be given resources at men’s discretion for example, a
widow’s struggle to retain her property after husband’s death.

Women empowerment tool2: level of recognition of women’s issues

According to Longwe women’ issues are all issues concerned with women’s
equality in any social or economic role and involving any of the levels. An issue
becomes a women’s issue when it looks at the relationship between women
and men rather than simply women traditional and subordinate sex-
stereotyped gender roles. Women empowerment must be the concern of both
women and men and the degree which a project is defined as potentially
empowering women is defined by the extent to which it addresses women’s
issues.

Longwe postulates three different levels of recognition of women’s issues in

project design:
 Negative level: at this level, the project objectives make
no mention of women’s issues. In some instances,
women are more likely than not left worse off than before
by such a project.
71
  Neutral level: project objectives recognize women’s
issues, but concerns remain that the project intervention
does not leave women worse off than before.
 Positive level: project objectives are positively concerned
with women’s issues and with improving the position of
women relative to men.

Uses of the framework

It is used on planning, monitoring and evaluation, allowing users to question

whether their interventions have transformatory potential.

Strengths of the framework

It shows that development interventions as containing both practical and
strategic elements.
It places emphasis on empowerment
It is useful to identify the gap between rhetoric and reality in interventions. It
permits an assessment of where women already have equality, and what still
remains to be done.

Limitations
It is static and takes no account of how situations change over time.
It does not include other forms of inequality.
It does not examine the institutions and organizations involved.
It does not examine the macro-environment.
It looks at the relationship between women and men only in terms of equality-
rather than at the complicated system of rights, claims and responsibilities
which exist between them.

Activity 4.6
Read this case study and answer the questions that follow:

An engineering firm is given a contract to build a bridge in a small community

and a new road leading to a larger town kilometers away. This community is
part of a group of communities linked together by a network of markets.
Women are the vendors and buyers in these markets. They travel by foot with
their wares on their heads and babies on their backs, from market to market.
The terrain is dangerous and precarious. Bridges are often washed away
during heavy rains.
The engineers from the firm are told that they must discuss the project with
the community to make sure it fulfills their needs. The engineers are also
encouraged to employ local people and train them in various skills. The firm
meets with local officials and, much negotiation, they agree on the number of
people to be trained in the construction of the bridge and bridge maintenance
72
skills. The engineers and local officials are especially proud that they have
selected two young women to be included in the training. The training is held
and the bridge is finally built. It is connected to the new road leading to the far
away town.
Soon, however, it is noticed that most women are not using the new road.
They are still taking the dangerous footpath to cross the ravine and go to the
market. Also, the women trained in bridge maintenance seem after some
months to lose interest in working on the project.

Questions guiding the discussion

 Use the Women Empowerment Framework to conduct gender analysis of
the situation in the case study.
 Make assumptions /educated guesses if necessary. List things that
might have gone wrong with this project.
 Based on your analysis, make recommendations on how to revise the
project for more positive, gender- equitable outcomes.
Conclusion

In this unit we have looked at what is gender analysis and why we carry out
gender analysis. We have looked at three of the tools and frameworks for
gender analysis. The activities and tasks we have tackled have helped us to
understand the gender differences and inequalities that permeate most of the
societies in which we live and how these differences impact on women’s and
men’s lives differently. Gender based analysis has also helped us to analyse
the division of labor between women, access and control over resources and
benefits as well as the different but significant needs and interests of women
and men among other issues. Gender analysis provides information which is
qualitative and quantitative on gender relations, creates understanding and
awareness of existing gender issues at the level of development workers,
community researchers and planners. The following unit on gender issues will
further assist you in understanding the implications of different issues on
women and men.

73
References

Kabeer , N. 1994 Reversed Realities: Gender Hierarchies in Development

Thought, Verso. London

Kabira, W. M. & Smyth, I and Mukhopadhyay, M. 1999 A Guide to Gender

Analysis Frameworks. Oxfam.

Molyneux, M. 1981 Women’s Emancipation Under Socialism a Model for the

Third World. IDS Discussion paper DP157 Sussex Institute of Development
Studies

Moser, C. 1993 Gender Planning and Development:: Theory, Practice and

Training. Routledge. London

http: www.gdrc.org/gender/framework/ what is (11/29/2006)

ILO/ SEAPAT’s Online Gender Learning and Information module (12/1/2006)

74
 UNIT FIVE

GENDER ISSUES IN SOUTHERN AFRICA.

By Tenson Tawanda Mugodzwa

Introduction

This unit focuses on culture, religion and poverty as inter related concepts in
the social construction of gender inequality. Each concept is defined, followed
by an exploration of how the concept plays a role in creating gender
inequality.

Objectives

By the end of the unit you should be able to:

 Define and explain the concepts culture, religion and poverty
 Show the extent to which each of the concepts creates gender inequality
 Suggest intervention strategies that could be instituted to mitigate
gender inequalities caused by the three gender issues.

Culture and Gender Inequality

75
Culture may be defined as the beliefs, values, behaviour, and material objects
shared by a particular group (Macionis, 1989). In its broadest sense, culture
may be viewed as everything that is socially learned and shared by a group of
people in society.

Religion and Gender Inequality

In this section we look at religion and how it perpetuates gender inequality.
From the onset, we need to point out that religion as a concept is not only
complex, but very controversial. This is because of the nature of the subject
itself and the current isms and schisms emanating from the current trends in
the heated debate about religion. We also need to appreciate that the world in
general and countries in SADC in particular, are made of different societies with
diverse societies, beliefs and religions.

ACTIVITY 5.1
1. What is your religion? What influenced you to believe in this
religion?
2. What other religions do you know?
3. If there is one God, why do we have different religions
4. Why do people believe in different religions?

From the task above, we can note that the debate on religion is indeed
controversial. In real practice, it is enormously difficult to separate religion from
culture as the two are intertwined social institutions serving the same purpose
in society, that of indoctrination, mental colonization, and the creation of a
docile, passive and loyal member of a given society (Rodney, 1981)

In modern day Zimbabwe, it is difficult to discuss the issue of religion without

making reference to Christianity. This is because Zimbabwe is made up of
people of diverse background with different cultural beliefs, and the majorities
of them are Christians or claim to be Christians in one way or another. This
makes the discussion very controversial, for both the reader and the writer are
bound to be regarded as blasphemous, for people are going to ask ‘’ who are
we to undo what God the Almighty has put in place. ‘We need to also
acknowledge that it is written in the Bible that ‘’the fear of God [and what He
has put in place] is the beginning of wisdom.’’[Proverbs 1:7].It is against this
background that the discussion shall largely draw examples from the Christian
perspective, although not ignoring the traditional perspective and its
controversies per se.

Haralambos and Holborn [1995] noted that, in the Bible, Original Sin in the
Garden of Eden was committed by a woman. She tasted the forbidden fruit
[alone, we assume], tempted Adam [in his great God-given wisdom, we
assume], and has been paying for it ever since. In Genesis 3:16 the Lord said, ‘’
76
I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring
forth children [alone, we assume], and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and
he shall rule over thee’’. Such is the way females are subordinated through
religion in most Zimbabwean societies and the world over.

ACTIVITY 5.9.
Explain, giving examples how the above quotation leads to the subordination
of females by males in the church, the family and the society in general. What
can be done to liberate women from this dominant position in society?

From the activity above, you may have noticed that the quotation is a
‘mythological justification for the subordinate position of women in society’
[Haralambos and Holborn, 2004; 92]. Most people might see the ‘reality’ it
contains of their relationship with their spouse[s] as an accurate description of
their status, that is;

1. Females are child-bearers [child-bearing machines, child-breeders, or are

they?]
2. Females are mothers and housewives
3. Females do the cooking, cleaning, sewing, and washing [domestic/household
chores]
4. Females take care of males and are subordinate to male authority
5. Females are largely excluded from high-status occupations and from
positions of power.

The above generalizations about females have applied, and continue to be

applied to most known societies. Research in Zimbabwe and the world over has
revealed that there is not, and never has been, a society in which females do
not have an inferior status to that of males. From the discussion, it is evident
that religion is one social institution, which leads to women inferiority and the
general subordination of females.

ACTIVITY 5
1. Which sex makes up the majority of church- goers? What could be
the reason?
2. Who occupies positions of leadership in most churches between
males or females?
3. What measurers may be put in place to ensure that females also
participate in
Decision-making in churches?

RELIGION AND THE SOCIAL REPRODUCTION OF INEQUALITY

The role of religion as a pacifier to social injustices has been hotly debated. For
example, the gap between the so-called developed and underdeveloped

77
countries has increased by at least twenty times over the last 150 years
[Rodney, 1981]. To explain this disparity, one bourgeois economist deliberately
ignored the historical context and made everything appear God-given about
the situation and put forward the following Biblical explanation;

‘For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance
[when others are starving], but from him that hath not shall be taken away
even that which hath [Mathew 25:29, cited in Rodney; 1981: 29].
The above illustrates one way in which religion may be used to reproduce and
justify social inequality. From the discussion, it may be observed that religion,
like any other social institution, serves the interests of those in power and must
be seen as a mechanism to maintain order, harmony, stability and the status
quo. This scenario is clearly portrayed in Rodney’s [1981] assertion that the
church’s role is primarily to preserve discrimination and social inequality by
stressing humility, docility and acceptance. Rodney [1981] argues that during
the days of slavery, the church was brought in on condition that it would not
excite African slaves with doctrines of equality before God. In those days slaves
were taught to sing ‘All things were bright and beautiful, and that the slave
master was to be accepted as God’s work just like the slave living in a
miserable hovel and working 20 hours a day under the whip. Similarly, in
colonial Africa churches could be relied upon to preach turning the other cheek
in the face of exploitation, and they drove home the message that everything
would be right in the next world, what Lenin implied when he commented that
‘religion is the opium of the poor.’ All this is evidence that religion may be used
to maintain social inequality.

Commenting on the status of females during the height of colonial rule in

Africa, Rodney [1981] noted that, what happened to African women under
colonialism is that the social, religious, and political privileges and rights
disappeared, while the economic exploitation continued and was often
intensified. It was intensified because the division of labour according to sex
was frequently disrupted. Traditionally, African men did the heavy labour of
felling trees, clearing land, etc. When they were required to leave their farms
to seek employment, women remained over-burdened with every task
necessary for the survival of themselves, the children and even the man as far
as foodstuffs were concerned. Since men entered the money sector more
easily and in large numbers than women, women’s work became greatly
inferior to that of men with the new value system of colonialism: men’s work
was ‘modern’ and women’s work ‘traditional’ and
‘Backward’ (Rodney, 1981).

The above discussion has tried to put religion in the gender analysis
perspective. Next let’s try to explore how religion serves to maintain and
perpetuate gender inequality. First the definition of religion shall be given.

78
What is religion?
Like the family, the religious institution is exceedingly complex. Chalfant and
Labeff (1988) view religion as a social institution concerned with the ultimate
meaning of life with the answers to questions that are unanswerable by natural
means, such as death, illness tragedy, or the feeling of powerlessness. In other
words religious beliefs and practices seem to provide answers and consolation
when we encounter experiences we do not recognize and questions we cannot
answer. You can imagine the prayers we have made (of course in privacy)
before a dreaded examination or job interview or upon the death of a loved
one.

Religion and Gender Inequality

Macionis (1989), Chalfant and Labeff (1988) have all observed that religion
plays a significant part in the perpetuation of gender inequality. Christianity in
particular has been a major force in the support of the traditional female roles.
It has been noted that the Old and New Testament both reveal support for the
traditional, subservient role of women (Rodney 1981). In the Old Testament, for
example women are frequently defined as the property of males (Driver cited
in Chalfant and Labeff 1988). One of the Ten Commandments forbids coveting
the wife of a neighbour in the same way that it forbids coveting the other
property of a neighbour.In this particular case, women are viewed as the
private property of men.

ACTIVITY 5.11
1. Why do men marry?
11. Why do women get married?
111. Are married people ‘properties’ of their spouses? Explain giving
reasons.

The subordinate position of women in society is evident in passages from many

of the sacred writings of major world religious. Macionis (1989) observed that
the Koran- the sacred text of Islam- asserts that males are to have social
dominance over women.

“Men are in charge of women…hence good women are obedient ….As for those
rebelliousness you fear, admonish them, banish them from your bed, and
scourage them (Kaufman, cited in Macionis, 1989: 432).

79
Christianity, which is the dominant religion in Zimbabwe, also supports
patriarchy. Although Mary the mother of Jesus is highly revered within
Christianity, the New Testament contains the following passages.

“A man…is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. For
man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man
created for woman, but woman for man ( 1 Corinthians 11: 7-9) This clearly
illustrates that religion portrays females as not only subordinate to males but
rather as sex objects meant whose sole purpose is to satiate the appetite and
pleasure of males. Females therefore are viewed as second class citizens, not
only to be dominated by males, but to please them as well. This is further
evidenced by the following passage:

‘As in all churches of the saints, the women should keep silence in the
churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate, as
even the law says. If there is anything they desire to know let them ask their
husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.’(1
Corinthians 14:33-35).

It can be noted from the above passage that the public sphere is for males,
while females are destined for the private sphere, and religious sympathizers
are quick to subtly justify patriarchy by arguing that God’s word should not be
questioned. Such thinking subsequently maintains the status-quo as females
are confined to their traditional feminine roles. This is further elaborated in the
following passage:

‘Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the
head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church…as the church is subject to
Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands’ (Ephesians
5: 22-24).

It is evident from the ongoing discussion that religion is an integral social

institution in the construction and perpetuation of gender stereotypes and
inequalities. This is revealed in the following passage:
‘A capable wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart
of her husband trusts in her… She does him good, and not harm, all the days of
her life… and works with willing hands… She brings food… she rises while it is
still night and provide food for her household’ (Proverbs 31:10-15).

The above passage clearly illustrates females’ subordinate position and the
reproductive roles they undertake in the home and the wider society. .Maybe
this explains why females at whatever age wake up earlier than their male
counterparts, especially in the Zimbabwean context. By the time males and
other children wake up, they are certain to find their bathing water warm and

80
their food ready on the table. And to justify that the public sphere is for males,
consider the following passage:

‘Her husband is known in the city gates, taking his seat among the elders of
the land’ (Proverbs 31:23).

Such is the situation in most Zimbabwean families house holds where the
females are confined to their traditional reproductive roles in the private
sphere, and males are under perpetual societal pressure to participate in the
public sphere

CONCLUSION

This part of the unit has attempted to highlight the role played by religion in
not only constructing but maintaining gender inequality.

GENDER AND THE WORK PLACE

INTRODUCTION

Sex stratification has had mostly negative effects for women, the work world remains designed for
men and tends to benefit men (LaBeff, 1988).Henceforth, in this section we look at gender
inequality at the workplace. Although women have moved into the paid labour force in large
numbers in Zimbabwe, they continue to experience a wide range of discriminatory practices.
Activity 5.

(1)Enumerate the various ways in which women are discriminated

against at the work place in your country.
(2)Suggest some long-lasting solutions to these discriminatory
practices

From the activity above, you may have realized that in spite of the major
strides made to bring about gender harmony at the work place in Zimbabwe,
women still experience various prejudices. These range from income inequality
to employers unwillingness to hire them or unable to believe that they are
capable. Women continue to shoulder the overload of performing demanding
jobs on top of being wives and mothers. They continue to struggle to provide
adequate economic support as single parents, and they face sexual
harassment on the job.
81
Of these problems, the issue of income inequality has received greater
attention. Because women predominate in low-paying clerical and service jobs
and men in the higher-paying positions in business and professions, men
continue to earn much more than women. Even within the same occupation,
the average salary of women is always lower than the average salary for men
(Macionis,1989).

ACTIVITY 5.21
 Identify factors responsible for the income disparity between
males and females in Zimbabwe.
 For each identified factor, suggest a possible remedy.

FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE INCOME DISPARITY BETWEEN MALES

AND FEMALES

From the activity, it maybe observed that several factors are responsible for
the income disparity between the two sexes. As you may have established,
males and females tend to hold different occupations, and this fact strongly
benefits men. Most women work in low-paying , dead-end service jobs ,such
as waitressing and clerical positions. Men on the other hand , dominate high-
paying managerial jobs such as Company Secretary, Executive, or Director.
Less than one-forth of all professional, managerial, and technical jobs are held
by women, and most of these are in school-teaching (Richardson,1981).

Women in traditionally masculine professionals are often referred to in terms of

their gender: for example, lady lawyer, female physician- just as men in
traditionally feminine jobs are referred to in terms of their gender-E.G.: male
nurse. It has also been noted that women are rarely found in higher –paying
blue-collar jobs such as carpentry, masonry, and other crafts. The majority of
women in Zimbabwe are employed in traditionally feminine occupations such
as secretary (not Permanent Secretary), nurse, receptionist, typist, and office
orderly. The salaries for such jobs are pathetically low in Zimbabwe and are far
much lower than masculine jobs of doctor, dentist, and professor .etc. A critical
analysis of the situation reveals that even in the same occupation, women on
average do not make as much as men.

ACTIVITY 5.23
 What reasons could be used to explain the above situation?
82
  Suggest some solutions to alleviate the identified factors?

One major reason to this scenario is that male workers have somewhat better
educational qualifications than their female counterparts. In short, the higher
the educational qualifications, the closer women come to making as much as
men. But despite this observation, the gap still remains in every occupational
field.

Activity 5.24

(1)Suggest reasons to explain this gap.

(2)Also put forward solutions to each identified reason.

As you may have observed, this income gap may be partially explained by
several factors. First, women tend to be newer entrants into fields such as law,
medicine and lecturing, and have yet to reach positions of seniority and better
pay. Second, some women work on an intermittent basis, shaping their jobs or
careers to fit with their husbands’ jobs and with bearing and rearing children.
Some women drop out of the labour force while their children are young: when
they go back to work, they will have lost several months or years that would
have gone towards advancement and have lost seniority to others younger
than them. Third, men are more likely than women to have jobs that permit
overtime and part- time work, which further increases their income.

Finally, the issue of discrimination on the part of employers and institutions

cannot be over- looked. Women may be discriminated against in the hiring
phase by being offered lower –level jobs than equally qualified men are offered.
Moreover, women maybe passed over for promotion a number of times in
favour of men who may better suit the traditional image of the business or
occupation. Employers may feel that women are less able and therefore are
not willing to pay them higher salaries. Although laws have been passed to
make such forms of discrimination illegal, those laws are often not rigorously
enforced. In most cases, the women involved must take the time and spend
money for a lawsuit before a company is forced to change informal practices of
sex discrimination.

As women move into traditionally masculine jobs, they also face potential
resentment for upsetting the status-quo, or for contradicting accepted notions
83
regarding gender role stereotypes. In the ZRP\ZNA EG; men may react to
women entering patrol with resentment and hostility. The man may fear that
they are in more physical danger when working with a female partner or when
a female partner responds as a back-up to a crisis situation. Martin (1980)
found that women police/ army officers are pressured into feeling a sense of
inferiority by a variety of verbal and non-verbal cues, including phrases used to
describe them, joking, gossip, traditional gender role etiquette, and sexual
harassment. Such negative male reactions act as barriers to full acceptance
and co-operation, and are perhaps the most serious problems faced by female
officers in particular and female workers in general.

Conclusion
The experience of women in the paid labour force is but one instance of our
society’s overall devaluation of women. Schur (1984) suggests that women
experience systematic inferiorisation in society, which then becomes self-
fulfilling and self-perpetuating. However, despite the obstacles created by sex
stereotypes at the work place, women have made considerable gains in the
Zimbabwean society. Of late we have seen the first woman in the Zimbabwean
Presidium, the first women officer cadets , the first women Vice Chancellors,
Permanent Secretaries, ministers,etc, but still, more needs to be done to see
w omen in decision- making positions in companies, organizations and
professions.

5.5.0 GENDER AND HIV/AIDS

5.5.1 INTRODUCTION

AIDS/HIV has , in a period of just one and a half decades, reached

unprecedented crisis levels in Zimbabwe. It is estimated that up to 25% of
people aged between 15 and 49 years are infected with HIV in
Zimbabwe(GOZ,1999). This section therefore examines the issue of HIV/AIDS in
Zimbabwe with particular reference to women and children , as they are the
most vulnerable in the Zimbabwean society due to a number of reasons some
of which are the subject of this discussion.
Gender analysis suggests that slightly more males than females are infected
with HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe(UNICEF,1994). However , the current situation
shows that women and girls are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS in
Zimbabwe(UNICEF,2003). According to UNIAIDS(2004), nearly 50% of the 38
million people living with HIV /AIDS globally are females. On average, there are
13 women living with HIV/AIDS for every 10 men(UNICEF,1994), and the gap
continues to grow. In most countries, women are being infected with HIV/AIDS
at earlier ages than men. Recent studies show that there are on average 36
young women living with HIV/AIDS for every 10 young men(UNAIDS,2004).
84
.
Activity 5.25
(1)What makes women more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infection in your
country?
(11) What measures may be put in place to alleviate the problem?

5.5.2. WHY WOMEN ARE MORE VULNERABLE HIV/AIDS

5.5.2.1 Biological vulnerability

According to UNICEF (1994), women can far more easily become infected
through penetrative sex than men, and vaginal and/or anal sex is much more
risky than other modes. To explain this situation, Gender links and the AIDS
Law Project (2004) came up with the following reasons;

 The vagina and anus have larger areas of exposed and sensitive skin
 The virus can survive for longer in the vagina and the anus than on the
surface of the penis
 There is a higher viral load of HIV/AIDS in the semen than there is in the
fluids of the vagina or anus
 The vaginal and anal walls are much more likely to be ruptured during
vaginal or anal sex, especially if the sex is violent or coercive or when a
woman is very young and the cervix is not yet fully developed. Cuts,
scrapes, and bruises allow easy access for the HIV/AIDS VIRUS into the
blood stream.
5.2.2.2 Socio-Economic Status
In Zimbabwe, AIDS appears to be present among the professional elite and
could result in severe disruption in administrative and economic activities. At
the same time , as a virus that thrives on poverty ( UNICEF,1994 ), HIV/AIDS is
likely to advance to its terminal stage fastest among the most disadvantaged
economic groups who have a poor nutritional status and little access to social
services such as health and education . With fewer opportunities in the formal
and informal sectors, more and more women may resort to selling sex for an
income, putting them at greater risk of infection. This situation is particularly
rampant among female university students in Zimbabwe.

ACTIVITY 5.18
(1)Who is more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS male or female students in Zimbabwean
universities?
(11) What could be done to reduce their vulnerability?

UNAIDS(2004) FOUND OUT THAT;

85
  Women may be unable to negotiate safer sex or the use of condoms.
Marriage does not protect women from HIV/AIDS infection because more
than four-fifth s of new infections in women result from their husbands or
primary partners.
 Women in Zimbabwe are mostly economically dependent on their
husbands’ or partners and fear rejection and/or violence if they insist on
condom use
 Poverty undermines women’s opportunities to seek the knowledge ,
power or time to be concerned about safer sex
 Women are expected to bear children to demonstrate their fertility and
fulfill their roles as mothers
 Because women are traditionally perceived as care-givers the ‘burden’ of
care that the HIV/AIDS epidemic has created more frequently falls to
women than men
 Women and young girls may use sex as a commodity in exchange of
goods , services , money, accommodation or even status. This situation is
rampant in Zimbabwean universities and tertiary colleges , more often
than not with older men.

ACTIVITY 5.19

(1)What measures may be adopted by the Zimbabwean Government to

curb the rise of HIV/AIDS infection in general, and among female
students in tertiary colleges?

CONCLUSION

The issue of HIV/AIDS vis-a- vis gender equality needs serious consideration
from all stake- holders and the Government if gender equality is to be a reality
rather than an elusive myth in Zimbabwe. This calls for focused attention on
developmental policies and processes with a ‘human face’ if we are to achieve
the objectives of the Zimbabwe National Gender Policy and curb the increasing
rise of HIV/AIDS infection .

POVERTY AND GENDER

INTRODUCTION

86
This part of the unit looks at poverty in relation to gender issues in Zimbabwe.
We begin by looking at the various dimensions of poverty.

WHAT IS POVERTY?

Defining poverty is not an easy task. With the constantly changing features of
the modern economy as well as the conceptions of what is necessary and what
is not in modern life, it is difficult to establish who is considered poor.

Although poverty always signifies deprivation(Brym,1995), the concept is

commonly used in two different ways, relative poverty and absolute poverty.
According to Haralambos and Holborn (2004), relative poverty refers to a state
of deprivation of social resources in relation to some standard of greater
privilege.

ACTIVITY 5.12

(1) In Zimbabwe, is there equal access to social resources such as

land, capital and technology?
(2) What can be done to ensure that equal access to resources is
achieved?
(3) Do men and women access resources equally in Zimbabwe?
(4) What measures may be implemented to achieve equal access to
resources between the two sexes in Zimbabwe?

From the exercise above it may be noted that there are disparities in accessing
social resources in Zimbabwe based on race, ethnicity, social class and
gender. This implies deprivation of vital resources useful for social mobility. A
much more serious matter is absolute poverty, which means a state of
deprivation of social resources that is life-threatening (Haralambos and
Holborn,2004). Being in a state of absolute poverty is not a matter of
comparing oneself with others, rather, it means that survival itself is in doubt.
Judging by the current Zimbabwean situation, most families , both urban and
rural fall into this category of poverty, where they survive on either two meals,
or worse still on one , that is ,if it is there at all.

ACTIVITY 5.13

(1) What constitutes poverty in Zimbabwe?

(2) How can levels of poverty be reduced in Zimbabwe

87
POVERTY AND GENDER

Poverty does not affect males and females equally. Consequently, growing
attention has been directed towards the ferminisation of poverty which means ‘
a trend by which females represent an increasing proportion of the poor
(Macionis,1989:273).

ACTIVITY 5.14.

(1) Is the above quotation a true reflection of the situation in

Zimbabwe?
(2) What could be the possible reasons for this situation?
(3) Suggest possible solutions to alleviate the situation.

From the activity above, we may notice that the majority of poor
Zimbabweans are females. The problem of poverty is most serious for women
who are the heads of house holds (UNICEF,1994). They often have the financial
burden of raising children, and if working, the majority typically hold low-
paying jobs. This leaves them vulnerable to prostitution as they struggle to
make ends meet.

ACTIVITY 5.15
(3)

(1) What are the major causes of prostitution in Zimbabwe/

(2) Who is more vulnerable to prostitution in Zimbabwe ,males or
females?
(3) What could be the possible reasons for this?

Zimbabwe has experienced serious macro-economies instability with limited

foreign exchange, rising inflation and negative growth since 2000 (UNICEF
2003). This scenario has led to increased poverty among many Zimbabwean
households increasing poverty continues to seriously undermine the country’s
ability to ensure adequate access to quality basic services that include health
and education. This has resulted in the increased vulnerability of children and
females as they find themselves excluded fro growth and development.
Consequently because of poverty, some females married or not, find
themselves as small houses as they struggle for survival. The most hard hit are
children of the poor particularly the girl child. These depend on the resource
allocation decisions of adults who often cannot properly feed and clothe
themselves in the current Zimbabwean context. According to UNICEF 2003,
children of unmarried mothers especially unmarried adolescent mothers may
be particularly disadvantaged because of their mothers’ immaturity, poor social
position and educational deficiencies. Poor children especially girls are
88
disadvantaged by the lack of continuity as they often assume the adult roles of
caring for younger siblings and working including engaging in child labour and
commercial sex thereby exposing themselves to HIV/AIDS.

The Impact of Poverty

Poverty has had negative effects on the Zimbabwean society, with a profound
impact on women who must see that their families are fed. The inflationary
pressures and high cost of basic commodities has torn many families apart.
Stunting chronic under- nutrition has been on the increase. A deficiency and
anaemia have remained a perennial problem with about 31% of women of
child-bearing age affected (UNICEF, 2003). The rise in hospital and medical fees
has affected access to health-seeking status for children and women in
Zimbabwe. The effects of HIV/AIDS and the related demands on the health
sector have compounded the situation.
The effects of poor or inadequate access to quality basic social services are
wide-ranging. Indications are that school enrolment and retention of teachers
and medical experts have declined over the last couple of years, particularly
because of the increase in poverty and effects of fees and other related costs.
Such a situation makes the poor females vulnerable to abuse.

CONCLUSION

Unequal access to socio-economic resources is a major cause of poverty in

Zimbabwe. Inequality has continued to be severe particularly in relation to
income, access to credit, land and other vital productive assets (UNICEF,
2003).Equally significant as a cause of poverty has been the HIV/AIDS
pandemic. HIV/AIDS has undermined most families’ ability to secure stable
incomes and expand their asset bases. The relationship between poverty and
HIV/AIDS is controversial and debatable, but poverty causes people, especially
young women to engage in sexual activities to alleviate their financial
problems. Poverty remains a serious impediment to gender equity and
equality, and it remains the greatest challenge the Government and stake
holders need to address if equality between the two sexes is to be achieved in
Zimbabwe.

References
89
Brym,1995

Chalfant and Labeff (1988

Haralambos and Holborn[1995]

[Haralambos and Holborn, 2004;

LaBeff,1988

Macionis (1989

Martin (1980

Richardson,1981

Rodney, 1981

Schur(1984

UNAIDS,2004

UNICEF,1994

UNICEF 2003)

UNIT 6 : GENDER ISSUES IN EDUCATION IN ZIMBABWE

Tenson Tawanda Mugodzwa

Discussion Questions

1. Critically examine “the part played by schooling in the socialization of young

girls and thus in determining their occupational choices and eventual level
of achievements” (Mahoney: 1985:11)

90
 - Particular attention should be given to aspects of the hidden
curriculum, e.g. the portrayal of women in textbooks, the
classroom/school climate/environment, curricular vis-à-vis teacher
attitudes and expectations, and career choice.

2. Schools are partriarchal institutions, which have served, and continue to

save to perpetuate women’s subordinate position in society” (Lemmer;
1993;7) . Critically assess the validity of this statement.
3. Assess the role played by the hidden curriculum in the creation and
perpetuation of gender stereotypes and gender inequality, in Zimbabwe
educational institutions.

6.o ITNRODUCTION

 In all societies and at all times the education of girls and women has
been considered less important and has assumed a different form from
the education of boys and men (Gilbert and Taylor, 1994).
 Social scientists have of late begun to reappraise the role played by the
school in determining the status and life outcomes of women.
 It has now become pertinent to analyse the way in which educational
practices and processes shape women’s social and educational
inequality. This involves examining the process of education and
activities in schools rather than the outcome of that education. In this
unit, we look at gender issues in education in Zimbabwe ,focusing on how
females are discriminated in the various subtle ways in the school
system.

6.1 OBJECTIVES

BY THE END OF THIS UNIT, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO:

 Explain giving examples, the various ways in which the girl child
is discriminated against in the school system.
 Discuss the role played by the hidden curriculum in the social
reproduction of gender inequality in Zimbabwe.
 Examine the part played by schooling in socializing the girl child
and thus determine her occupational choices and eventual
achievement.
 Suggest some recommendations towards a gender responsive
environment in schools in Zimbabwe

6.2 The school as an agent of socialization

91
  The school is seen as a formal agent of gender role socialization (Dekker
and Lemmer,1993). Gender role socialization refers to the means
whereby social expectations regarding gender – appropriate
characteristics are conveyed to the child. These expectations are usually
based on stereotyped beliefs. Gilbert and Taylor (1994) conclude that
gender role socialization has a dual significance for children ;

i. It provides them with a model for present behaviour , and

ii. It prepares them for adult life.

 Gilbert and Taylor (1994) also noted that differential gender role
socialization for boys and girls occurs largely through the processes of
formal schooling and the effects thereof are best discerned in,;

i. unequal educational outcomes e.g. the different patterns of

achievement
ii. aspiration and self evaluation shown by males and females.

ACTIVITY 6.1
What reasons may be used to explain the usually unequal educational
outcomes between boys and girls in Zimbabwe? Suggest solutions to alleviate
the unequal outcomes.

The Curriculum

The school transmits culture to its learners in the form of knowledge and skills
which together with aims of the school and education system as a whole, are
detailed in the official curriculum.

 The school curriculum operates on two levels,

i. intentional and official and

ii. unintentional and unexamined, which is called the hidden
curriculum.

 While it is possible that the transmission of culture which takes place in

schools via the curriculum can improve the life chances of the
disadvantaged, it can also perpetuate existing class, racial and gender
divisions in society (Haralambos and Holborn, 2004). In this respect the
hidden curriculum is recognized as a potent agent in communicating
gender appropriate behaviour

Toys

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Toys are an important means of informal learning, particularly during the pre-
primary phase of schooling. Research findings show that “masculine toys were
found to be more varied, complex, active and social and encouraged spatial,
mathematical and scientific skills whereas feminine toys were simpler, and
focused on passive and solitary activity” (Lemmer; 1993;10). Kelly
(1981:1981) and Samuel (1981) similarly found that toys which orientate a
child to mathematics and science are marketed virtually exclusively for boys.

Learning and Resource materials

A major source of unintentional teaching and learning about gender roles takes
place through educational materials and media. According to Gilbert and
Taylor (1991) textbooks present limited portrayals of women and girls and
although attempts have since been made to reverse this trend, more recently
published school textbooks are still narrow in their representation of gender
roles.

Textbooks

Preschool and primary school textbooks especially basic reading books, provide
children with models against which they measure their own parents and also
provide models of acceptable behaviour. Mostly males are portrayed in a
variety of occupations whereas female occupations are confined either to
FANTASY ROLES, such as witch and princess, or to a narrow list of traditional
female roles, such as housewife, mother and nurse. A more recent publishing
date does not necessarily signify an end to gender stereotyping.

- Secondary school textbooks have also been criticized for their

unbalanced portrayal of women. The main charge against history
books is that women, their social history and their achievements are
conspicuous by their absence (Lemmer, 1987).
- Although Mathematics and Science are traditionally considered to be
impersonal and even neutral subjects, analyses of textbooks used in
schools have shown a qualitative and quantitative difference in their
portrayal of men and women. Women are associated with
stereotyped occupations, illustrations favour males, books frequently
refer to the students exclusively as “he” and texts suggest that
Science and Mathematics represent a male preserve (Killy, 1981).
Moreover, according to Bazler and Simonis (1992), editions of science
texts published in the 1980s show no significant improvement in the
portrayal of women.

Teachers

93
Teacher attitudes, teacher expectations and the positions occupied by male
and female teachers within the school hierarchy are important components of
the hidden curriculum and contribute to the way in which children perceive
themselves.

Teacher Expectations

Teacher expectations of pupils’ performance and abilities can operate as a self

fulfilling prophecy within the classroom, i.e. there is a tendency for the
performance of the pupil to conform with the expectations prescribed by the
teacher.

 Unspoken assumptions about gender roles and the attitudes towards

women maintained by teachers have a potent influence on the gender
role socialization of male and female pupils. Research suggests that in
spite of the professed egalitarian ideals of some teachers, educators
often act according to sub-conscious prejudices in the classroom
(Stanworth, 1983). Consider the following aspects as illustration;

Behaviour

Teachers generally consider girls to be appreciative, calm, cooperative and

sensitive but less independent, creative and autonomous than boys in the
classroom. Pupils who do not measure up to the teacher’s gender expectations
are considered deviant. Teachers also cherish implicit expectations about the
social roles that males and females should play both in the classroom and in
adult life e.g. teachers expect girls to enter subordinate occupations and to
have their careers disrupted by marriage and they communicate these
expectations to pupils.

Achievements

Teachers believe boys to be more logical and quicker to grasp concepts; girls
to be neater and more precise at written work. This is clearly illustrated by
Spender’s (1982) study in which teachers on five occasions and in three
countries were issued report cards which sometimes featured the name of a
boy and sometimes featured the name of a boy and sometimes the name of a
girl. Teachers were asked to make recommendations about the future of the
children on the basis of identical information on the reports. In all cases
teacher expectations of boys wee more varied, challenging and prestigious and
more financially rewarding.
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Teacher - Pupil interaction

It has been noted that teachers treat children according to expected gender
roles in the classroom e.g.

 Talk – teachers spend about two thirds more time talking to boys, who
are in turn allowed about two thirds of pupil talk (Spender, 1982). Boys
receive significantly more assistance from teachers as a result of this
increased verbal communication.
 Waiting – teachers encourage girls to seek attention by conventional
methods e.g. raising of hands whereas boys are more likely to make
verbal requests which usually result in more immediate to response.
Teachers ignore girls for longer, periods of time, boys obtain attention by
rowdy a social behaviour, girls are addressed collectively, boys by
individual names (Mahoney, 1982).
 Identity – Teachers tend to know more personal detail about the boys
they teach than about the girls. Girls are an anonymous group, “faceless
bunch” about when little personal detail is known (Stanworth; 1983:45)
 Reward and Punishment – children’s self esteem is not only shaped by
the quantity of teacher attention they get but also by the quality of that
attention. Rewards and punishment meted out within the classroom
differ for boys and girls and thus also reinforce gender role expectations.
Boys are regarded as aggressive unruly but essentially intelligent and are
given more attention in the form of rewards and even punishment. Boys’
failures are seen as the result of a lack of effort rather than lack of skill
(Safilios – Rothschild, 1982). Girls are more often rewarded for
conforming behaviour and are encouraged to be compliant but not
autonomous.

Effects of biased interaction

The overall effect of biased interaction in the classroom is that girls experience
the inferior status afforded to them within the intimate sphere of the classroom
daily. It can be concluded that this does not constitute the kind of climate in
which confidence and a sense of personal worth is inspired. Sadker and Sadker
concluded that day to day life in classrooms has remained fundamentally
unchanged with boys receiving overall preferential treatment during formal
education, despite the implementation of various equity programmes.

Teachers as Models

Measor and Sikes (1992) have observed that teachers provide important role
models for children, in this regard, concern has been expressed by educators
about the under-representation of women in positions of leadership in the
95
education system and the identification of male and female teachers with
specific age groups.

 Most school teachers worldwide are female, with the greatest

concentration of women in pre-primary and primary school teaching. In
contrast, women are under represented in headships and other positions
of leadership. This reinforces the perception that women teach and men
control. The employment of women teachers is accompanied by overt
and covert discrimination in terms of promotion and tenure practices.
Global patterns also show that women teachers tend to be under
represented in certain subjects such as Mathematics and Science and
concentrated in stereotyped women’s fields, i.e. the care of young
children and teaching so called girls’ subjects such as Home Economics,
Languages and the Humanities.
 Occupational choices are made from primary school onwards and the
school assists directly and indirectly in this process. Literature on the
pattern of job selection and career choice of adolescent girls suggests
that the majority indeed “drift into a career or job” (Dobie, 1993:149)
with parents and teachers taking a far more passive role when advising
girls than when advising boys. The career choice of girls is further
complicated by issues concerning the formation of the personal, social
and sexual identity which reaches a crucial phase during adolescence.

96
References

Gordon, R. (1995) Can Sex of Girls’ Academic Under Achievement: The

Influence of Teachers’ Attitudes and Expectations on the
Academic Performance of Secondary School Girls, in
Occassional Paper Number 8, ZJER, UZ, Harare

Gordon, R (1994) National Policies for the Education of Girls and Women
in Zimbabwe in Sutherland, M. R. and Bardoux, C. (Ed)
Feminines et Education Politiques Nationales et Variation
International, University of Laval, LABRAPS, Quebec

Williams, T (1975) Social Inequalities, Teacher Expectations and Sub

Fulfilling Prophecies; in Journal of Education Research and
Perspectives, Volume 2 No. 1 University of Western Australia

Gordon, R and Chimedza (1995) Access and Equity

97
The Rationale

Education is a basic human right. The 1989 United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child re-affirmed the right of every child to education irrespective
of colour, race, creed, sex, ability, disability and socio economic status (Gordon
and Chimedza (1995).

 Unfortunately groups such as these are often denied both the right of
access to education, and equal treatment in educational institutions,
which leads to unequal educational outcomes and life chances for these
groups.
 Article 3 of the World Declaration of Human Rights is concerned with
universalizing access to, and promoting equity in education emphasizing
that Education For All means ensuring that particular attention is directed
to the education of the under served (Gordon and Chimedza, 1995).
 As well as being a basic human right, education is a necessary condition
for the upward social mobility of disadvantaged members of society.
Knowledge gained through education is a means by which they can
improve the quality of their lives.
 Equity of access to education and equal treatment in the school are
essential conditions for all forms of social equity (Gordon, 1994).
 Equal educational opportunities for all maximizes the possibility of equal
educational outcomes, and thus equal opportunities for all members of
society to secure employment.
 Equality of educational opportunity is necessary if women, are to become
self sufficient producers of wealth, charity, the goodwill of individuals,
organizations and the state.

National Policies For The Education of Girls and Women in Zimbabwe

 Its not possible to isolate national policies for the education of girls and
women in Zimbabwe, from socio economic policies and the economic,
legal and political statuses of women. Educational policies both prior to
and since independence have been an integral part of overall
government policies, all operating within the context of a patriarchal
society.
 Since independence the stated policy of the government has been based
on the policy of the rising party, ZANU (PF). Of the fundamental human
rights and freedoms recognized by ZANU (PF), one is gender specific, i.e.
98
 the right of women to equality which men “in all spheres of political,
economic, cultural and family life. Men and women will enjoy equal pay
for equal work”. (ZANU (PF) Manifesto, 2015).
 Education is seen as a human right and necessity and an important
instrument for the achievement of equity.

Girls and Education since Independence

 Despite the tremendous increases in educational provision countrywide

and the introduction of non gee paying primary education, fewer girls
than boys attend primary school (Gordon, 1994) and worse still only 41%
of secondary school pupils are girls (Gordon, 1994).

Constraints to the Education of Girls

The issue of sexual equality of educational opportunity has of late received

some attention in Zimbabwe. In particular, emphasis to schooling for girls, and
more recently, upon the higher drop out rates for girls.

 Little attention has however been given to what happens to girls in the
schools, i.e. the treatment experienced by girls within the schools.
Equality of educational opportunity involves not only equal access to
schooling, but also equal treatment of boys and girls within the school
itself (Gordon, 1995).

1. To what extent and in what ways do teacher attitudes and

expectations affect the academic and social self concepts of girls, and
thus their aspirations and academic motivation?
2. How do teachers explain the poor performance of girls?
3. Do they perceive themselves and the school as contributing to the
problem?

Equality of Educational Opportunity

 At Independence in 1980 the government embarked on a programme of

educational reconstruction and expansion in an effort to make access to
education a reality for all Zimbabwean children. Equality of educational
opportunity for all was a stated aim of the government and education
was perceived not only as a human right but also as an important means
by which deponents and the redress of social inequalities inherited from
the colonial period could be attained.
 Yet the girl child remains disadvantaged in the Zimbabwean education
system.
 Dropout rates in every cohort in Zimbabwe since 1980, as elsewhere in
the sub region (Duncan, 1989; Hyde, 1991), have been higher for girls
99
 than for boys (Gordon, 1995). The drop out rate for girls increased
particularly in the upper levels of primary and secondary school.
 In Zimbabwean secondary schools the ratio of male to female pupils is
3:1 (Gordon, 1995).
 It has also been noted that girls perform more poorly than boys in all
public examinations up to form IV. The under achievement of girls is a
critical factor for their further education and training and employment
opportunities.
 Girls in Zimbabwe, as elsewhere in the world, particularly under achieve
in mathematics and science. As a result girls and women are under
represented in the sciences at ‘A’ level and in tertiary education.
 Arguments that schools are failing to provide the equality of opportunity
that is part of their mandate could be the basis for explaining the
disadvantaged position of girls in education.
 Schools are actually accused of perpetuating social inequalities from one
generation to another (Bowles, 1972). One particular component to this
argument is the notion that teachers engage in subtle forms of
discrimination within classrooms, and thereby, set in motion self-fulfilling
prophesies.
 Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) examined in depth the alleged processes
of the self-fulfilling prophecy. They found that teachers get just what
they expect from students in the way of performance in schools. If
teachers expect post performance from certain children, these children
will perform poorly in school.
 The linkage of this argument to the broader issues of opportunity and the
maintenance of social un equalities across generations is fairly
straightforward. Social class and sex differences in achievement, self
esteem, aspirations and so on, are explained in terms of the relative
degree of fit between the child and the school.

How do girls (primary and secondary) socialization fit into the school culture
and the education system as a whole?

100
 Unit 6
Redressing Gender Imbalances
By Daniel Mawere, Winfrida Matsa and Efritha Chauraya

6.0 Introduction
In this unit we are looking at ‘redressing of gender imbalances’. Let us start by
getting the meaning of the word “redress”. What do you think is meant by this
word: redressing? You are correct! To redress is to put right a wrong or an
injustice. An imbalance is a lack of evenness; therefore a gender imbalance is
a lack of evenness in treatment of males and females. Redressing gender
imbalances therefore looks at ways in which treatment of males and females
can be created, so that equality between the two sexes is achieved. This
equality does not mean that women and men are going to be the same in the
sense of the word ‘sameness’. It is equality in the sense that their enjoyment of
rights, opportunities and life chances are not governed or limited by whether
they we born female or male. There are many ways in which gender
imbalances can be redressed. In this unit we are going to look at the following
key ways: enactment of gender responsive policies and laws; creation of
gender responsive environments, carrying out gender research and gender
analysis; education and empowerment programmes as well as engagements of
gender projects. Following is a brief exposition of each of these ways.

6.1 Objectives

By the end of this module you should be able to:

 6.1.1 Identify and explain gender responsive policies and laws.
 6.1.2 Highlight the interrelationship between physical, social and
academic environments in creation of gender responsive environments.
 6.1.3 Assess the extent to which gender research and gender analysis
contribute to redressing gender imbalances.
 Examine the extent to which education and empowerment programmes
contribute to redressing gender imbalances.
 Evaluate the role of gender projects in bringing about a gender equal
society.

Enactment of gender responsive policies

Kabeer (1992) quoted in March, Smyth and Mukhopadhyay (1999:20-21)

makes a gender classification of policies as follows:
 Gender blind policies which recognize no distinction between the sexes.
Such policies make assumptions, which lead to a bias in favour of
101
 existing gender relations. In view of this therefore such policies tend to
exclude women.
 Gender-aware policies recognize that both women and men are
development actors. How ever the nature of women’s involvement is
determined by gender relations which make their involvement different
and unequal. As a result women may have different needs, interests and
priorities which may conflict with those of men at times. Within gender-
aware policies, Kabeer further distinguishes between gender-neutral,
gender-specific and gender redistributive policies.
* Gender-neutral policies use the knowledge of gender differences
in a given society to overcome bias in development interventions,
in order to ensure that interventions target and benefit both sexes
effectively to meet their practical needs. Gender-neutral policies
work within the existing gender division of resources and
responsibilities.

* Gender-specific policies use the knowledge of gender differences

in a given context to respond to the practical needs of women or
men; they work within the existing gender division of resources and
responsibilities.

* Gender-redistributive policies are intended to transform existing

distributions of power and resources to create a more balanced
relationship between women and men, touching on strategic
gender interests. They may target both sexes, or women or men
separately.

In the context of Zimbabwe, a National Gender Policy (NGP) was introduced to

show the country’s commitment to promote gender equality and equity. The
policy provides guidelines and institutional framework to engender all sectoral
policies, programmes, projects and activities at all levels of society and
economy.

Affirmative Action Policies are made to allow females to enter or qualify for
certain jobs or education opportunities with lower qualifications. Affirmative
Action means positive steps taken to increase the representation of women
and minorities in areas of employment, education and business from which
they have been historically excluded. Affirmative Action involves preferential
selection on the basis of race, gender or ethnicity. An example is when a
university guides the recruitment procedures by stating that at least 50% of
the admitted students should be female. Another Affirmative Action Policy is
the Midlands State University Bridging Programme for girls aspiring to embark
on Mathematics and Science related degree programmes.

Activity 6.1
102
 1. Make a survey of gender specific policies that have been
introduced in your country.
2. Give explanations to each of the policies and discuss the
extent to which each of the policies attempt to redress
gender imbalances in your country.

Gender imbalances and legal redress:

This section is linked to UNIT 8 especially section 8.5. Here we are looking at
how the law can help to redress gender imbalances. We are turning to the law
for removal of barriers that put men and women in differential positions. The
law is also being looked at using the gender lens to see if it has biases that
lead to differential treatment of men and women. The major aim of doing this is
to enable women and men to exercise and enjoy their rights to the full.
The legal redress of gender imbalances involves the following:
 Enactment of gender equality act.
 Gender audit and review of all legislation to make it gender sensitive and
responsive.
 Gender training for state administrators and law enforcing agents
 Legal literacy.
 Legal education and sensitization.
 Community gender and human rights training.
For a successful legal redress of gender imbalances there is need for a
thorough gender analysis of the law and of the issues concerned. This analysis
will show where the problem lies. The problem may be on the implementation
and meaning of the law, knowledge of the law among other issues. When these
factors are addressed it is hoped that the law will be doing its best to promote
gender equality. This analysis will also enable us to group laws as either
progressive or retrogressive.
Retrogressive Laws are against gender equality. They do not promote equal
treatment of men and women before the law. At times they even worsen the
condition of the disadvantaged sex in a particular context. For more
information on retrogressive laws see unit 8 (8.2 and 8.3).
Progressive Laws promote gender equality. They promote the rights of all
sexes, regardless of race colour, sex, or belief.

Activity 6. 2
 How is legal education and sensitization done in your
community?
 To what extent are these programmes changing gender relations

103
 in your community?
 Make a gender analysis of progressive and retrogressive laws
obtaining in your country.

Creation of gender responsive environments

Gender responsive environments respect human rights and ensure that issues
of gender equality and equity are promoted. A gender responsive environment
is one in which both males and females are empowered to achieve their
highest possible potential. The Forum for African Women Educationists has
referred to these environments as Centres of Excellence (COE). The focus in
creating gender responsive environments is on physical, academic and social
environments in the context of the school.
 The Physical Environment refers to the infrastructure , for example, in a
school setting, this includes , school buildings, fences, toilets, hostels,
health facilities, library, laboratories, amenities for sports, water,
electricity and sanitation. Adequate, secure and gender appropriate
infrastructure is emphasized. This is achievable when parents, the
community, students and teachers mobilize adequate resources.
 The Academic Environment refers to:
* Students who are empowered, good academic performance,
bursaries for needy students, access to carrier guidance and
students who are well grounded in democratic practice.
* Teachers who are gender responsive, empowered, innovative
and creative, adhering to the teachers’ code of conduct and ethics.
* Adequate and gender responsive teaching and learning
materials.
* School Management which is gender responsive and
championing the transformation of gender responsiveness.

* The Social Environment refers to teacher- student, student-student,

teacher-teacher, boy-girl, girl-boy, boy-boy, girl-girl, school management-
teacher relationships which should be gender responsive.

Activity 6.3
 Suggest how you can make your institution an environment in
which both males and females are empowered to achieve their
highest possible potential?
 What challenges, do you think, are likely to be faced in striving
to achieve this goal?

Gender Analysis
104
We looked at gender analysis in unit 4 where we learnt that gender analysis
examines the relationships between women and men. It examines their roles,
their access to and control of resources and the constraints they face relative
to each other. As a strategy to redress gender imbalances, gender analysis
should be integrated in carrying out needs assessment or situational analysis
to ensure that gender-based injustices and inequalities are not exacerbated by
likelihood interventions. Gender analysis starts with the smallest unit, that is,
the household to understand how each family member participates, what role
they play and what they need in order to improve their well being, for example,
one could ask what factors affect access to services. Who obtains resources?
Who decides on the use of resources? Through gender analysis we get an
insight into cultural understanding of the different roles of men and women. For
example a widow or single mother as ‘head of household’ has serious
implications in terms of access and control to goods and services. The analysis
of relations and roles can help us to identify vulnerabilities, potentials for
backlash and also solutions to critical issues in a bid to promote greater
equality and justice in gender relations.

Gender Research

Gender Research is another way of redressing gender imbalance, intended to

empower students with skills and knowledge of investigating gender related
problems, issues and concerns in society. Gender responsive research probes
into the gender dimension of constraints at all levels of the educational process
(policy, community, household, school and classroom levels). Gender research
explores problems that are researchable such as: Causes of poor performance,
school drop out, classroom participation, teachers, attitudes and skills in
handling gender related issues and problems in the classroom. The knowledge
so gained will enable students to use gender responsive research as a strategy
to solve gender related problems they come across in their own endeavours. In
addition it will enable them to recommend strategies that will address the
constraints which hinder girls and some boys from enrolling, performing,
staying and transiting to higher levels of learning.

Activity 6.4
 Carry out a mini-gender research on any one of the following
areas:
a) Causes of poor performance amongst female
students in your institution.
b) High school drop out rate among girls/boys
c) Low class participation among boys/girls.
d) Teacher/Lecturer attitudes and skills in handling
gender related issues and problems in the
105
 classroom/lecture room.
 From your findings make recommendations to solve the gender
related problem you have researched on.

Education and Empowerment programmes

Education and empowerment programmes go a long way into redressing

gender imbalances. Most obstacles in girls’ social and academic development
are rooted in the culture of silence that is instilled in girls’ socialization process.
Hence these disempowered girls see those obstacles as God given and they
can not be challenged. However, boys also need to be empowered in order to
accept gender equality and be able to cope with empowered girls. In most
circumstances, it is taken for granted that boys are born empowered but the
truth is the opposite. For a detailed understanding of how education and
empowerment programmes bring about gender balance we refer you to Unit 7.

Engagements of gender projects

Gender projects are support programmes for the disadvantaged males and
females. They normally offer economic support in the form of special tuition,
legal support as well as socio-political support. How ever they may also be in
the form of general support, for example, food schemes. These projects
normally target groups rather than individuals, as beneficiaries, note they are
of interest to gender because, through benefitting say all orphans, they will be
benefitting say the girl child orphan who has been the object of discrimination
historically. With most care-taker families, in times of shortages and a choice is
made on who between the girl child and the boy child to pull out of school,
research has shown that it is the girl child who normally enters the school last
and is the first to leave school. In other cultures, girls feed after boys have fed.
In this way the education of and general welfare of girls and women has always
been compromised. These projects therefore protect human rights and
promote equality through provision of assistance to the vulnerable groups.
Following are a few examples of gender projects:
 The Zimbabwe Basic Assistance Module(BEAM) which offers financial
support to orphans;
 The Zimbabwe legal Foundation which offers free legal support to males
and females who do not have the capacity to hire a lawyer to represent
them in times of need;
 The Musasa Project Centre which offers free socio-political support to the
males and females through offering gender education, gender
empowerment and free counseling services to affected males and
females especially when it concerns domestic violence and other forms of
gender based violence.

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  Men’s Forum for Gender (MFG) (Padare) which is a gender organisation
formed by a group of men to campaign against Domestic Violence. In
Zimbabwe it is known as Padare. It has challenged fellow men to
contribute towards national development by getting involved in gender
issues. The group, the first of its kind in Zimbabwe and perhaps in the
sub-region has embarked on activities to promote gender sensitive
attitudes and behaviour. The organization is concerned with the problem
of gender inequality as a moral and political challenge. Society is viewed
as continuing to promote a culture and attitudes based on domination
and exploitation of women by men. These need to be constructed.
Source: Lopi, B. (1998) for SARDC in Beyond Inequalities : Women in
Zimbabwe ZWRCN.
 Other gender projects include; Forum for Gender, Zimbabwe National Platform for Action,
Zimbabwe Women Resource Centre and Network, National Aids Council, Women
Leadership and Governance Institute, SHAPE Zimbabwe, Women of Zimbabwe Arise
(WOZA), Young Women Christian Organisation (YWCO), Young Men Christian
Organisation and Girl-Child Network, among others.
Activity 6.5
 What gender related projects are being carried out in your
country?
 To what extent do these projects help in redressing gender
balances in your country?

Conclusion

Redressing gender imbalances should be conceptualized as a process and not

an end in itself. Although efforts are being made to address the issue,
resistance, negative attitudes, poor funding, inadequate resources,
misconceptions of gender issues and many other factors hamper progress. If
the intention is to achieve gender equity and equality, then there is need to
seriously consider alternative ways of solving the problem. All stakeholders and
interested parties should continuously review their approaches to the problem.

107
References

March, C., Smyth, I. and Mukhopadhyay, M. (1999). A Guide T o Gender

Analysis Frameworks. Oxford, Oxfam.

Beyond Inequalities: Women in Zimbabwe

Forum for African Women Educationalists (2005). Introduction to Gender

Studies: A Teaching Module for Student Teachers. Gweru. Midlands State
University.

Lopi, B. (1998) for SARDC in Beyond Inequalities: Women in Zimbabwe ZWRCN.

Zimbabwe National Gender Policy (2004) Government Printers, Harare

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UNIT 7
Gender Empowerment
By
Manuku Mukoni and Charles Chikunda

7.0 Introduction
In Unit 6 we learnt about gender issues that act as constraints to gender
equality. In this unit we will explore in detail the concept of gender
empowerment which is one of the strategies that can be used to redress the
imbalances caused by these issues. For details see Unit 8. In this unit focus will
be on the various types of empowerment, models of empowerment as well as
strategies of empowerment.

7.1 Unit Objectives

By the end of this unit you should be able to
 Define empowerment as it applies to men and women
 Identify the various types of empowerment
 Describe the models/ frameworks of empowerment
 Examine the various approaches to collective empowerment
 Recognize an empowered man and an empowered woman.

7.2 Understanding Power

To understand the term empowerment we need to analyze the idea of ‘Power’
which is the root of the term empowerment. For this purpose we need to
understand the various forms in which power is interpreted, because power
means different things to different people. Therefore it is important for us to
explore the perceptions of power

Albert (1985 :12) define power as the capability of human beings to organize or
manipulate their environment ( including other human beings, their thoughts,
motivation, needs and desires as well as their creations and artefacts) for
human end. Adair and Howl (1989:20) define power as the ability to do what
one chooses. Power is the ability to make others do what we want regardless of
their own wishes or interests ( Weber in Czuba 2003 : 2) Traditional social
sciences emphasize power as influence and control often treating power as a
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commodity or a structure divorced from human action (Lipps, 1991). Conceived
in this way power can be viewed as unchangeable or unchanging.

If we look at Albert (1985), Adair and Howl (1989) as well as Weber’s definition
of power. -They give us a key word beyond this limitation by recognizing that
power exists within the context of relationship between people or things. They
show that power does not exist in isolation nor is it inherent in an individual. By
implication this shows us that since power is created in relationships then
power and power relationships can change making empowerment as a process
of change possible. A brief activity makes the importance of this discussion
clear

Activity 7.1
1. List three words that immediately come to your mind when you
hear the word power?
2. Have you ever felt powerful? Was it at someone’s expense? Was
it with someone else?
3. How can you tell you have power?
4. What are the characteristics of lack of power?
5. How is power exercised, maintained, perpetuated and
distributed?

For most people words that come to mind when we think about power often
revolve around control and domination. Focusing on these aspects of power
limit our ability to understand and define empowerment while to other people
power is a zero sum it is something you get at the expense of others. Such an
understanding of power cuts most of us off from power. A zero sum conception
of power means that power will remain in the hands of the powerful unless they
give it up, for example men will not voluntarily relinquish that patriarchal
power which gives them privilege over women and which give them less work
than women but a larger share of the rewards. Although this is certainly one
way that power is experienced, it neglects the way power is experienced in
most interactions, power can be understood as operating in a number of
different ways.

7.2.1 Forms of Power

There are various forms of power. Do activity 7.2 below to brainstorm on forms
of power

Activity 7.2
1. What do you understand by
(a) Economic power
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 (b)Political power
(c) Social power
(d)Inter-person

The activity above on power and the definition of power by Weber (1946),
Albert (1985), Adair and Howl (1989) in section 7.2, shows that power exists
within the context of a relationship between people or things. Hence we have
various forms of power as discussed below:
Power over- this form of power involves an either/ or relationship of
domination / subordination.
 This is whereby an individual or a group in authority uses their
power to make decision and control others
 .It is when one uses power to get another person or group of
people to do what they do not want.
 This form of power is based on socially sanctioned threats of
violence and intimidation
 It requires constant vigilance to remain and it invites active and
passive
resistance.
 .In this case power is finite the more power one has the less the
others have
 .It is coercive
 E.g. most man has power over woman. If a woman makes more
money or attaints a position of power, violence can result.

Power with –relates to the collective strength of people working together.

Some researchers and practitioners call this aspect of power ‘relational
power’ (Loppe and Du Bois 1994) “generative power ‘’ (Korten, 1987),
“Integrative power ‘’ (Kreisberg .1992)
 This is the type of power that is characterized by collaboration,
sharing and mutuality (Kreisberg, 1992)
 It involves people organizing with a common purpose or common
understanding to achieve collective goals
 It is by coming together and sharing each other mutual support
that we are in a position to challenge the zero type of power.
 It acknowledges the fact that power multiples with individual
talents and knowledge
 It is the form of power that lies behind the common sayings such
as ‘united we stand divided we fall’ ‘one for all and all for one’’
 This form of power means that gaining power actually
strengthens the power of others rather than diminishing it such as
occurs with domination power.

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Power to – This form of power relates to having decision making authority,
power to solve problems and being creative and enabling
 It refers to the potential in every human being to take action in their own
life and the world
 It is based on authority and mutual support and, it opens possibilities for
joint action
 It refers to potentially transformative power which is in every person
which enables him/ her to take control of his / her life.

Power within- refers to self confidence, self awareness and assertiveness

 It relates to how an individual can recognize through analyzing own
experience, how power operates in one’s life and gain the confidence to
act, to influence and change this (Williams et al 1994)
 It refers to creative, spiritual and emotional strength that resides within
each person
 It comes from self esteem, self acceptance, self knowledge and self
respect.
 It stems from the belief that ‘I am a human being and I am worthy’

Activity 7.3
1. What form of power do you think the following people have
(a) Conservative bosses
(b) Abusive husbands
(c) Men over women
2 What is the source of their power?

Kreisberg (1992: 57) suggests that power defined as the capacity to implement
is broad enough to allow power to mean domination, authority influence and
shared power or power with. It is this definition of power as it occurs in
relationship that gives us the possibility of empowerment. Empowerment
therefore involves the redistribution of power and this power cannot be given it
has to be taken (Longwe, 2001, Kabeer in March et al 1997)
7.3 Understanding empowerment
Empowerment is a construct shared by many disciplines and arenas:
community development psychology, education, economics and studies of
social movements and organizations among other. As a multidimensional
concept it had wide variations and how it is understood varies among these
perspectives. To demystify the concept we need to understand the term
broadly:-
 Empowerment refers to the creation and expansion of one’s knowledge,
skills, decision making and other power bases giving them the capacity
and capability to exercise influence and leadership on their own
( Zimbabwe National Gender policy 2004: 12)

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  Empowerment is a process whereby individuals who are marginalized
individually or collectively become aware of how power structures,
processes and relations operate in their lives and gain the confidence
and strength to challenge the resulting gender inequalities ( Hannan ,
2003)
McWhirter (1991) in Eade (1999) defines empowerment as a process by which
people organization or groups who are powerless.
(a) Become aware of the power dynamics at work in their life contexts
and them
(b)Develop the skills and capacity for gaining some reasonable control
over their lives.
(c) Exercise this control without infringing upon the rights of others
and
(d)Support the empowerment of others.
From these broad definitions of empowerment we can deduce that
empowerment is essentially a process which covers the following basic
aspects:
 Actions involved in confronting and changing unequal power relations
 Acquiring the capacity (psychological readiness, social analysis,
organizational skills) and need to take action.
 It has both individual and collective dimensions.

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 An
Table: 1 What is empowerment then?
-In brief empowerment is about
Bringing people who are outside the decision making process into it
Individuals being able to maximize the opportunities available to them without or
despite constraints of structure and state
Access to intangible decision making process
Having power to exercise control over all aspects of your life, being in a position
to determine or decide their own destiny.
Having freedom of conscience, expression, independent judgment and self reliance
Being able to maximize the opportunities available to one without constraints
Having the right to make choices
Having education, information, authority and power in decision making on issues
affecting one and others.
Undoing negative social constructions so that one can come to see self as having
the capacity and the right to act and influence decisions.
Acting collectively in order to change or control
Challenging the basic assumption about power, helping achieving and succeeding

activity on empowerment below will help elucidate the concept of

empowerment further

Activity 7.4
Which statements below define empowerment?
1. Being able to engage in decisions on budget allocations
2. Women’s improved socio- economic status
3. Women’s improved levels of literacy or education
4. Taking account of gender differentials
5. Being consulted during the preparation of the poverty reduction
support project
6. Giving a fair hearing to a women in a public meeting comprising of
men and women
7. Elimination of discriminatory legislation
8. Equality in the gender division of labor
9. Women’s increased ownership of capital
10. Formation of unions for immigrant workers which allow them
to negotiate working conditions with employees
11. A battered woman is freed from the threat of violence and
becomes able to make decisions about her life

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Statement 2, 3,4,7,8 and 9 above may contribute to the process of
empowerment or may result from the process of empowerment they cannot
define what is empowerment for example women’s increased levels of literacy
or education provided by an intervention does not address the underlying
patterns of discrimination which generally prevent woman from obtaining
education and which generally maintains their subordination and oppression.
The forms of power in section 7.2.1 revealed that power must be understood as
working at different levels including institutional household and individual, thus
giving rise to three dimension of empowerment as illustrated below.

7.4 The three dimensions of empowerment

Empowerment has three dimensions as shown below

Close relations
Personal

Collective

Adapted from Rowlands, 1997

7.4.1 Personal empowerment

 Is where empowerment is about developing a sense of self and individual
confidence and capacity, undoing the effects of internalized oppression
 It is based on the assumptions that

(i) People have inherent ability and power to evolve and progress
(ii) True power cannot be best owned but it comes from within
 It involves developing confidence in oneself, self esteem and a sense of
agency
 It is all about realising the potential in oneself to perform and increase
output
 It is being an individual who can interact with own surrounding and
obtain results
 It is all about undoing the effects of internalized oppression and
subordination

It leads to positive self concept, high self esteem, confidence, and self-
development, decision making ability to interact outside the home, breaking
criticism and developing communication skills
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Sources of personal disempowerment
 Lack of exposure and encouragement
 Dependency an external motivation
 Self put downs, negative inner dialogue
 Lack of confidence
 Failure to take criticism
 Procrastination
 Not choosing one’s battles

Steps to self personal empowerment

 Build self confidence
 Attitudinal tune up – think of the positive do not always put yourself down
 Develop communication skills – seek to understand and be understood.
Increase the ability to formulate and express opinions
 Teach and practice forgiveness, however begin with forgiving yourself
for all the mistakes you have done
 Allow yourself and others to say ‘NO’
 Break the criticism pattern, focus only on the criticism that builds you up
 Understand the situation and get the power through other systems
 Acquiring certain skills that you lack so that you become more efficient
 Increase your ability to interact outside the home
 Participate in and influence areas of activity

Table 2 key elements in personal empowerment

__ in brief, the key elements to personal empowerment includes
Self awareness (who are you?)
Making decisions about issues that affect you, being in control
Ability to share power as opposed to wielding power over others
Personal development
Independence
Developing a positive self image
Having self esteem and confidence

7.4.2 Close Relationship

This type of empowerment entails the ability to negotiate and influence the
nature of a relationship and decisions made within it. For example husband/
wife relationship, parents / child and boyfriend/ girlfriend etc – individuals work
together to achieve a more positive impact.

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7.4.3 Collective Empowerment
Individuals’ abilities to negotiate communicate and defend their rights
It builds on individual empowerment. To achieve collective empowerment
individuals must have personal empowerment individual should be able to work
together to achieve greater impact in locality or surrounding than what one
person could have achieved for example pressure groups such as trade unions,
workers committees, Affirmative Action Group (AAG) in Zimbabwe, Women and
Gender (WAG) in Zimbabwe It involves groups because it is through
involvement in groups that people most often begin to develop their
awareness. Thus empowerment occurs in a chain.

7.5 Chain of Empowerment

Empowerment occurs at various levels such as individual, group and
community ,hence to achieve group or community empowerment,
empowerment should start at the personal level since without empowerment at
personal level it is very hard for individuals to be active collectively. Because to
have a sense of empowerment in relation to other people is associated with
and to a large extent, dependent upon self confidence, self esteem and sense
of agency. It also depends on the individual’s ability to negotiate, communicate
and defend his or her rights.

Collective
Personal Relational empowerment
Empowerment empowerment

7.6 Understanding Gender Empowerment

Society instills a culture of silence in women during the socialization process

hence these disempowered woman see these obstacles as God given and they
cannot be challenged. Empowerment programmes hence think only women
need to be empowered to challenge these internalized views. However men
need also need to be empowered in order to accept gender equality and be
able to cope with empowered women. In most situations it is taken for granted
that men are born empowered hence they are always deprived opportunities to
acquire gender responsive empowerment skills

7.6.1 Sources of disempowerment of women

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  Culture, social and physical conditions in which women live and the
gender role to which they are expected to conform.
 Myths, proverbs, stories , stereotypes and language
 Economic – most women do not have access and control over resources
 Political- few woman participate in decision making yet it is within the
public space that decision that affect them are made.
 Elements of oppression under which women live both as female and as
poor people
 Culture of machismo, alcohol consumption and other vices and the
among culture of violence
 Legislation e.g. in Zimbabwe customary law is given precedence in some
areas

6.2 Effects of lack of empowerment

Women Men
 Not speaking out  Uses force instead of
 Being harassed negotiating
including sexual  Shout out instead of speaking
harassment out or communicating
 Risk of being HIV  Being sexual harassed by
infected other men/ older women
 Lack of self confidence  Become violent and
 Low self esteem aggressive
 Negative self concept  Failure to share their problems
 Dependent and feelings
 Passive  Harassing women
 Shy  Risk of being infected with HIV
 Inferiority  Dependent
 Confusion  Low self esteem ( inferiority)
 Unwanted pregnancy  Dominance / superiority
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  Confusion
 Alcoholism
 Clumsiness’
 Alienation/isolation

From the effects of lack of empowerment in man and women discussed above.
It becomes clear that both man and women need empowerment hence we talk
of gender empowerment.

Table 3 What is gender empowerment then?

Is the process of enabling women and men to take an equal place and to participate
equally in the development process
It entails recognizing one’s strength and exploding sexist misconception, challenging
socialization ideas that breed the feeling of inferiority and superiority attitudes among
women and men respectively
It is a process through which men and women increase their capacity to shape their
own lives and environment
It also calls for the transformation of the structures and practices in the institutes to
those that does not reinforce or perpetuate gender discrimination and social inequality
It is an evolvement in men and women’s self awareness, stratus and efficiency in
social interaction giving them increased opportunity to control their lives
It gives men and women the power
To make decision
Have their voices heard
Put things on the agenda
Negotiate on something that is not negotiable
5. Challenge past customs

7.6.3 Understanding women’s empowerment

Women’s empowerment is enabling women to take an equal place with men
and to participate equally in the development process in order to achieve
control over the factors of production on an equal basis with men (Longwe,
2001)

* Women Empowerment means

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  Having control or gaining further control
 Being able to define and create from a women’s perspective
 Being able to influence social choices and decisions affecting the whole
society
 Being recognized and accepted as equal citizens
 Being able to make a contribution at all levels of society and not just in
the home
 It is having one’s contribution recognized and valued
 Having a say and being listened to
Thus empowerment for women brings to the process of empowerment an
existing experience and history, as women bring to the process of
empowerment societal values stereotype, myths and beliefs which for a long
time have made women accept inferiority. Women empowerment involves the
undoing of internalized oppression and the rejection of the definition of
femininity

7.6.4 Understanding men’s empowerment

Men’s empowerment is the ability to understand and accept gender equality. It
is the liberation of men from false value systems and ideologies of oppression
leading to a situation where men become wholly regardless of gender and use
their fullest potential to construct a more human society for all.

From the above definition of gender empowerment and our previous

discussions it s evident that the idea of power is at the core of empowerment.
(Hannan,2003,Williams,1994,Kabeer,2003)
According to Czuba (2003) the possibility of empowerment depends on two
things first empowerment requires that power can change. If power cannot
change. If it is inherent in positions or people then empowerment is not
possible nor is empowerment conceivable in any meaningful way. In other
words if power can change then empowerment is possible. Secondly the
concept of empowerment depends upon the idea that power can expand. Thus
empowerment is more than simply opening up access to decision making it
must also include the process that lead people to perceive themselves as able
and entitled to occupy that decision making space and so overlaps with the
categories of ‘power to’ and ‘power within’

Empowerment therefore comes from within. It involves individuals themselves

setting the agenda and managing the pace of change. Outsiders such as
development cooperation agencies non governmental agencies can only play
an important facilitating role through use of established frameworks or models.
(Kabeer,2003)

7.7 Model / Framework of Empowerment

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A framework is a system of ideas or conceptual structures that help us see the
social world, understand it, explain it and change it (Wallace and March 1991)
When applied to empowerment an empowerment framework or model
therefore is a systematic way of examining how the empowerment process can
be achieved in this section the Sarah Longwe empowerment framework and
the Tuseme model of empowerment will be discussed

7.7.1 Sarah Longwe empowerment framework

It is also known as the women empowerment framework. Though a feminist
model it can be applied to empowerment. For details see unit 4
The framework is used as an empowerment model as well as a gender analysis
framework see unit 4. It comprises of two tools
1. women’s empowerment tool 1: levels of equality
2. women’s empowerment tool 2: levels of recognition
This framework / model is based on the notion of five different levels of
equality. as discussed in unit 4 The extent to which these are present in any
area of social or economic life determine the level of empowerment as
illustrated in the diagram below

Control
Participation
Conscientisation Increased equality increased
Access empowerment
Welfare

These levels of equality are hierarchal. If a development intervention focuses

on the higher levels, there is greater likelihood that women and men’s
empowerment will be increased by the intervention than if a project focuses on
lower levels If the intervention concentrator only on welfare, it is unlikely that
women and men will find it empowering. For example equal participation in
decision making process about certain resources is more important in
achieving women and men’s empowerment than equal access to resources. We
need to note that although the levels, of empowerment are hierarchal, they are
not really a linear progression as discussed in unit 4 but rather circular.

The Empowerment Cycle

Welfare

Control
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 Empowerment
Access

Mobilization

Conscientisation

Adapted from Longwe (2001)

The achievement of women’s increased control leads into better access to

resources and therefore improves socio- economic status. The process of
empowerment is also self propelling and self reinforcing that is issues at one
level provides a better basis for success at other levels. It is therefore a
synergic process The levels of the framework are therefore not intended to be
interpreted as steps in a linear sequence but rather as interrelated elements in
a cycle or spiral of self reinforcing process Do activity 7.5 below to enhance
your understanding of this model

Activity 7 .5
Recent attempts by women activists to pass legislation on granting
married women a large share of their husband’s household property
in Uganda has met with open objection from president Museveni, and
woman activists threatened for the first time to lobby women against
voting for the president in the next election. Women activists argued
that if women did gain these rights this would not only significantly
promote their own opportunities for action, it would also limit men’s
opportunities to acquire several wives and to exercise control over
them.
How would Ugandan women use the Sara Longwe empowerment
framework to solve this problem?

7.7.2 Tuseme Model of empowerment

‘Tuseme’ is a Swahili word that means let us speak out
Origins
The model was initiated in Tanzania in 1996 by FAWE to empower boys and
girls

Applicability
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The model can be used in an academic institution to empower boys and girls so
that they can overcome problems that hinder their academic and social
development

The Tuseme model of empowerment is carried out in nine stages. It involves

the entire school community (teachers, workers and students) as participants
in the activities of the difference stages (FAWE, 2004)

Stage 1 Preliminaries
Facilitators discuss with the school authority about the intention to carry out
a Tuseme process. They inform the school community about the intention
and dates
This is done to ensure that the school authority and community are ready
for process
Stage 2: Familiarization
The purpose of this stage is to have a better understanding of the working
environment and to get preliminary information on the subject matter. To
achieve this facilitators introduce Tuseme to the relevant authorities in
order to familiarize with the social set up of the school community- these
are major groups that constitute the school community, relationship with
the neighborhood.
The physical set up of the school- boundaries, library, facilities, Sports
ground to determine whether they are adequate or not.
The academic performance of the school in general and the cohort groups in
particular.

Stage 3: Data Collection

This is done to get information on the issue of concern that impedes social
and academic development of boys and girls. Participant are divided into
small research teams and assigned to carry out interviews with a certain
number of community members about issues related to the goals and
objectives of Tuseme, its strengths and constraints. The teams are asked to
submit their findings in writing.

Stage 4 Data Analysis

This is done to get a deeper understanding of issues as well as to acquire
skills in analyzing issues. It is also done to get a better understanding of the
community’s potential in solving some of the issues. Data analysis process
is undertaken as follows.
1 List all the findings
2 Cluster / group the findings leaving out the findings / issues that are not
related to the topic.
3 Verify the authenticity of the findings
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 4 Prioritize the finding in the order of urgency
5 Classify the findings according to their similarities and differences
(clustering and collapsing)
6 Find out root causes of the findings
7 Find possible solutions to the problem
8 Identify responsible people or parties to help solve different problems.

Stage 5 Theatre Creation

Discuss in groups which issues from the data analysis you want to include in
your performance. Select forms of arts which you are competent and
comfortable to use. Create you performance in such a way that it can
provoke discussion. Prepare a Joker (one, who leads the post performance
discussion). Organize the performances for the stage presentation. Ensure
that costumes, pups and scenery are designed and are available
NB all cohort members should participate in theatre creation

Stage 6 Performance
Discuss with the participants and the school administration about the
possible day and time to do the performance .Make sure that the entire
community is invited to the performance

Stage 7 Post Performance Discussions

Make sure the Joker involves all stakeholders in the discussion
Joker should avoid answering but challenging the audience to answer the
questions.
The joker should make sure that all issues are discussed thoroughly

Stage 8 Action Plan

Carry out this exercise either immediately after the performance or the
following day.
It usually involves the Tuseme cohort group although it is also possible to do
it with the entire school community. Whatever the case the action plan
should be endorsed by the school administration for it to be effected. The
exercise is done on a chart which indicates the following.
1. The problem
2. Root causes
3. Solution
4. Activities
5. Time frame
6. Responsible person /part
7. Resources / budget
8. Indicator

Stage 9 Creation of Tuseme Club

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 These are a functioning student based management system formed in the
school
They are established in order to encourage students to speak out as a way
of empowering them. Elections should be held to nominate office, bearers.
They provide a forum for students to discuss their academic and social
problems critically. The main functions of the Tuseme club is to.
 Help each other in academic matters through group discussion, debates,
individual consultations and sharing learning material
 Link students ( Tuseme club members) with teachers and the school
administration
 Reinforce discipline amongst club members
 Speak out about day to day problems arising in the schools
 Provide peer support, guidance and counseling.
 Access role models
 Share experience with students from other school
 Produce material for use in the Tuseme club e.g. newsletters , magazines
 Design annual action plans at the school level
 Use theatre for development as a tool for research, empowerment and
participatory planning
 Develop leadership qualities among Tuseme students

Strengths of the Model

 It uses theatre for development approach, an approach that makes sure
that as many stakeholders as possible are involved as central
participants in the process
 It always guarantees democratic and active participation of all the
stakeholders at the school
 Provides life skills through out its implementation that empower girls and
boys at the individual level e.g. it provides skills for speaking out,
assertiveness, leadership, decision making and so on

Limitations of the model

 Only applicable to a learning / academic environment
Let’s do activity 7.6 below to enhance our understanding of this model

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Activity 7.6
1. What do you consider to be the school’s
(a) Academic Environment?
(b)Physical Environment?
(c) Social Environment/

2. In what ways does the above environment hinder the social

and academic development of boys and girls?
3. Conduct a Tuseme process in your institute to identify the
academic, physical and social constraints that impede your
academic and social development in the institute

The physical environment generally refers to the infrastructure of the school

which includes such things as building, the compound of the school, toilets,
water, power supply boarding facilities, first aid and medical facilities,
amenities for games and sports, laboratory and library. Research has
demonstrated that inadequate or poor physical facilities adversely affect the
quality of education. It has also been proven that in such environments the
girl child always comes off the worse because of the tendency has been that
the poorer the physical facilities the less gender responsive they are. The
special needs of the girl child especially at puberty tend to get ignored

Academic environment refers to the curriculum content and its relevance,

the teachers and their attitudes, the school management system, teaching
methodologies and approaches, teacher/ student interaction, the students
and their attitudes, the teaching and learning material. The teaching
environment if not gender responsive can lead to poor academic
performance and output

The social environment refers mainly to the community and cultural

surroundings of the school. It normally includes parents and other relatives
of the girls, the district commissioner, village leader the chiefs and assistant
chiefs, local religious leaders, local educational leaders, other stakeholders
as well as other residents of the area near and around the school, Research
has shown that cultural practices such as the female genital cutting, early
marriages, improper attitudes and the economic status of the community
are factors that influence girls enrolment and retention in school. On a more
global scale, the country’s gender polices’ are an important part of the
social environment

7.8 General strategies of empowerment

According to Homelink (1994: 33) empowerment can be the outcome of an
intentional strategy which is either initiated externally by empowerment
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 agents or solicited by disempowerment people. Whilst its acknowledges that
empowerment is a personal thing since true power cannot be bestowed it
should be noted that some people can act as agents of empowerment by
providing access to a new body of ideas and information that can not only
change a person’s consciousness and self image but also motivates one to
act. Empowerment by external agents will therefore involve:
* Awareness-raising
* Building of self confidence
* Expansion of choices
* Involvement in decision making
* Increased access and control (Hannan, 2003)

Thus in the long term empowerment will result in :

 Changing consciousness and attitudes
 Identification of areas needing change.
 Developing strategies and actions to be taken
 Monitoring these actions and outcomes

To achieve all these outcomes the following strategies of empowerment can be

employed see also unit 9

 Education- It helps to expand human capability such as being able to

read and write and gain knowledge and skills
 Networking See unit 4
 Participation See unit 4
 Mobilization -This involves coming together as a group and demand
space as well as change. e.g. women’s support groups in Zimbabwe for
details see unit 4
 Capacity building see unit 9
 Sensitization see unit 9
 Public awareness campaigns see unit 9
 Legal instruments See unit 8 and 9
 Aid related projects e.g. income generating projects see unit 9
 Policies See unit 9
 Affirmative action to increase participation See unit 9

7.9 manifestations of empowered women and men

7.9.1 Making the modern women

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The ‘ disempowered ‘women ‘ Empowerme “The empowered women’’
nt process
The rational mind
 without a plan  organized
 Ignorant  knowledgeable
 Emotional  analytical
 Fatalistic  vision for the future
 Caught up in own  able to solve
emotions problems
 Does what she has always  innovative
done  realistic
 Dreamer
 The autonomous self  self confident
 Insecure  self aware
 Self effacing  autonomous
 Relies on others  self determined
 Externally driven  decision maker
 Recipient of decisions  sense of dignity
 Lack of shame  independent
 Dependent  responsible
 Childish  assertive
 Can’t stand up for herself  strong negotiating
 Does not know what to skills
say  high self esteem
 Low self esteem  involved with public
 Only looks pretty in public life
 The disciplined self
 No control over own body  plan’s family size
 Accept drinking / drinks  objects to alcoholism
herself  hygienic / clean
 Dirty  good mother / wife
 Bad mother / wife  healthy family
 Victim of diseases
 Control over time and
space future orientate  mobile
 Static  hardworking
 Lazy  investor
 Squanders resources/  sends children to
consumes school
 No particular effort to
educate children  articulate
 Doesn’t know how to talk
 Universalism
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  Stuck in traditional peer  group member
group  involved with public
 Doesn’t vote life
 Doesn’t feel entitled to  aware of her rights
anything  transact successfully
 Transactions medicated using money
by personal ties  active
 Passive

Adapted from Fiedrich and Jellema, 2003

7.9. 2 Making the Modern Man

“Disempowered man” Empowerment “Empowered man”

 Uses force / he is process  Does not use
aggressive and force but
violent negotiates.
 shout instead of  communicates
speaking out instead of
 dependent shouting out
 alienation /  independent
isolation  group member
 dominance/  accept gender
superiority equality
 low self- esteem  high self esteem

Men display these qualities in addition to the qualities displayed by women.

7.11 Conclusion
This unit focused on gender empowerment trying to answer the following
questions: what is gender empowerment? How can we recognize it? Evaluate
it? It also showed that gender empowerment is a bottom up process and
cannot be bestowed from the top down. Although the outside professional can
facilitate empowerment, he or she cannot expect to control the out comes of
authentic empowerment

129
References
Adair, M and Howell, S, (1989) The subjective side of power, in healing the
wounds. The promise of ecofeminism .New Society Publication Philadelphia

Albert, D.H (1985) People Power – applying non-violence theory New Society
publishers, Philadelphia

Czuba, C.E (2003) Empowerment: what is it @ http: / www. Cczuba

@carn/cag.uconn.edu accessed 19/09/09

Eade, D (Ed) (1999) Development with women Oxfam publication Great Britain

FAWE 2004 Tuseme “speak out Tanzania best practices in girls’ education
Africa Nairobi

Fiedrich, M and Jellema, A (2003) Literacy gender and social agency:

Adventures in empowerment action aid London

Hannan.(2003)Trans

Homelink, C.J (1994) Trends in world communication on disempowerment and

self empowerment Southbound Third World network, Penang, Malaysia

Korten D.E (1987) Community Management kumarian press West Hartford, C.T

Kreisberg, S (1992) Transforming Power Domination, Empowerment and

Education New York State University Press Albany NY

130
Lipps, H (1991) Women, Men and Power, Mayfield Mountain View, CA

Longwe, S (2001) Gender, Equality and woman empowerment @

http:/www.quets.kwinnoforum.se/measuring/ Namibia report .htm accessed
31/07/09

Loppe, FM and Du –Bois P.M (1994) The Quickening of America: Rebuilding our
nation remaking our lives jossey- Bass, and Publisher.San Francisco

Wallace T and March C (1991) Changing Perceptions: Writings on Gender and

Development Oxfam Ireland.

Willam, S (1994) Oxfam Gender training manual Oxfam (UK and Ireland)

Zimbabwe National Gender Policy (2000)

Unit 8

Gender Law and Human Rights

By Nyevero Maruzani and Doreen Mazambani

CONTENTS
8.0 Introduction
8:1Objectives
8.2 Understanding Gender and the Law
8.3 How the law institutionalizes gender inequality
8.4 Progressive and retrogressive legislation
8.5 Gender analysis of laws
8.6 Legal redress of gender imbalances
8.7 Gender and human rights
8.8 Linking gender and human rights
8.9 Conclusion

8.0 Introduction

In the previous units an attempt has been made to define the term gender.
Various concepts have been looked at in an attempt to clarify the fact that
gender is a social construct. From that foundation, this chapter seeks to unveil
how the law acts both as a legitimiser and regulator of asymmetrical gender
relations. The critical role that the law plays in maintaining sexual stratification
and shaping the inferior social and economic position of women in society will
131
be discussed. It is also the aim of this chapter to show how the law reflects and
shapes fundamental social values. Considering that gender is a variable that
operates in a social context the interrelationship of gender and human rights
will also be discussed

8.1 Objectives

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

 Highlight the interrelationship between gender, law and human rights

 Highlight progressive and retrogressive laws on gender issues
 Highlight the interrelationship between gender and human rights
 Assess knowledge of gender ,law and human rights through tasks

8.2 Understanding Gender and the Law

The law reflects and shapes fundamental social values as postulated by legal
sociologists Nadder and Todd:
Law has many functions. It serves to educate to punish and to protect private
and public interests, to maintain the status quo, to maintain class systems and
to cut across them, to integrate and to disintegrate societies, all these things in
different places at different times with different weightings (1978:1)

This evidences the fact that there are legal contradictions at work in society
and that the law is not a finished product of historical social processes. Thus
the law can be both an instrument of social change and an obstacle to it.

What is the law?

It is important that you understand what we mean by the term “law”. For this
reason you need to be clear in your mind about the various divisions within the
body of the law. An understanding of these divisions of the law will enable you
to correctly classify the wrongful act thereby enabling the parties concerned to
determine their rights.

The law according to David and Colin (2002) may be defined as a rule of
human conduct, imposed upon and enforced among the members of a given
state. Rules or laws are therefore drawn up to ensure that members of a
society ,that is you and me ,may live and work together in an orderly and
peaceable manner.

ACTIVITY 8. 1

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  Do you think that the laws in your society are making men and
women work together in a peace able and orderly manner?
 Do these laws protect one sex at the expense of the other sex?
 Is the punishment for law breaking satisfactory? Why do you say
so?

The law is the official rule that people must obey. It refers to the collection of
rules imposed by authority. Laws have often been described as gender neutral
and others as gender specific. Gender neutral laws are those that apply
equally to everybody regardless of one is a man or woman. Most laws
generally fall into this category. At least on paper such laws apply equally to
everyone without discrimination even though in reality their effect on men and
women maybe different. Although most countries today have laws which give
equal rights to men and women the fact is that such laws tend to affect men
and women differently because of the different roles and paths in life that each
follow. This is often referred to as the difference between law in the book and
law in reality.

Gender specific laws on the other hand are laws that apply specifically to either
men or women. This is mainly because men and women are different
biologically so there maybe instances where women require special laws when
the reality of their biological differences is taken into account. Laws on breast
feeding and maternity leave are gender specific in that they apply to women
because they are the ones directly affected by pregnancy and childbirth. In
pursuit of gender equality especially in the caring of children paternity leave
has been introduced to allow fathers to take time off to look after their newly
born children.

The law as given by Reynolds and Russell (1981) can be divided into two major
categories that is the public and the private law as follows:

Public-law – deals with relationships between the state and

individuals e.g.
criminal law, administrative law and constitutional law.

Private Law: deals with relationships between individuals amongst

themselves e.g. law of delict, law of contract, law of property,
law of succession, law of obligations and family law.

Procedural Law: deals with how the rules governing state and individual
relationships are administered and enforced e.g. criminal
procedure, civil procedure and law of evidence. This type of

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 law falls under public and private laws(Reynolds and Russsel
1981:39)

Public/private dichotomy
The public sphere (work and politics) and private dichotomy (domestic life
home and family is deeply ingrained in the law. Regardless of the operative
legal system or cultural context laws concerning the public area e.g labour law
have been modernized and brought in line with more enlightened thinking
while family and personal matters in the private sphere have for the most part
left untouched by the state e.g Section 23 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe
which permits discrimination in issues of customary family and personal law.

ACTIVITY 8. 2
State any public law and the procedural law that is used in trying to
bring peace between the two parties concerned.

Applying the concept of gender to the law means that we must seek to
understand how each law affects men and women differently. If a law is gender
neutral it does not mean that it affects men and women in a similar way. A
gender analysis of the law requires that we appreciate sameness as well as
differences between men and women. In any society laws we also need laws
that recognize the differences between men and women.

A gender analysis of the law is also important because simply changing the law
does not mean the end of discrimination. Often even after a law is changed
there is need to understand the different factors that prevent that law from
being effective. There are many reasons why the law may not be effective.
Administratively those who apply the law may not be doing the best they can
to make sure that it works effectively. Equally important is that society’s
attitudes and beliefs may also prevent the law from being effective. If we
understand what these attitudes are, then we can work effectively towards
changing them.

8.3 How the law institutionalizes gender inequality

Four mechanisms are key to this process:

 Unjust formal law that are discriminatory and limit the
scope of women.

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  Prejudicial enforcement of laws favourable to women
by administrative and state enforcement agents such
as police, courts and prisons.
 Lacunae/gaps in the law. In some instances women’s
inferior status results prejudicial social practices not
changed by the law.
 Remoteness of the law. There is general ignorance of
the law despite the prescription of awareness which
makes ignorance of the law not a defense ignorance of
the law and law making processes especially by women
who tend to be unaware of their status of the rights
they posses, of the effect laws have on than, or the role
they might play in changing the law.

Societies regulate the acquisition and control of land, jobs credit and other
goods and services through their legal systems and adjudicative processes.
Women’s subordination based on unequal gender relations is manifest in the
law in several key areas particularly labour law, criminal law and civil law which
governs legal capacity, rights and obligations in marriage, guardianship,
inheritance income, land rights and participation in public affairs.

Laws reinforce women’s oppression by legitimizing hierarchical gender

relations, proprietary relations of men over women unequal division of labour
and power over the allocation of resources.

8.4 Progressive and retrogressive legislation

Examples of retrogressive legislation

a) Constitution of Zimbabwe Section 23

b) Companies Act Section 171(3) (b)
c) Communal Lands Act and land reform programme
d) Customary marriages Act
e) Guardianship of minors Act
f) Land Acquisition Act
g) Mining Act

Constitution of Zimbabwe Section 23

Section 23 of the constitution of Zimbabwe is the non-discrimination clause. It

makes discrimination on the grounds of among other things race, colour, creed,
tribe, and religion, sex impermissible. This section was amended in 1996 by
Amendment 14 to add ‘gender’ as another impermissible basis for
discrimination. This same section excludes discrimination in matters relating to
‘adoption, marriage, divorce, and devolution of property on death or other
135
matters of personal law’. What this means is that while the constitution
purports to protect women against gender-based discrimination, it excludes
from constitutional regulation, family, personal and customary law yet these
are the areas of law in which gender discrimination is mostly entrenched.

Section 173(1) (b) Companies Act

The section reads:

Disqualification for appointment as director:
(1) (a) a minor or any other person under legal disability
(!) (b) provided that a woman married in community of property may be
director if her husband gives his written consent and that consent is lodged
with the Registrar of Companies.

What this means is that only a woman requires the husband’s consent for her
to become a director but the woman’s consent is not required for the husband
to become a director. This stems from the issue of power where the husband
as head of family and home decision-maker should sanction any actions of
other members of the household including the wife especially where such
actions can result in legal and financial liability to the matrimonial estate.

Communal Lands Act (1982)

In communal areas land should be apportioned in accordance with the customs

and practices of the people of the area in consultation with traditional leaders
and the district administrator.

There is no enabling legal framework to ensure equality in the redistribution of

land. Colonial land tenure arrangements that discriminated against women
have been perpetuated in the present day through the Communal Lands Act.
Under this law, women in communal areas, where most rural Zimbabweans
live, are still expected to depend on men for land, denying them land tenure
rights. Even though section 16 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe stipulates that
every citizen has an equal right to ownership of property, another
constitutional provision, section 23 has permitted discrimination against
women under customary law. Given the fact that customary law places heavy
emphasis on land rights being enjoyed by the head of the household who in the
context of Zimbabwean customary law is generally considered to be male,
women’s land rights are not adequately protected. The fact that women lack
access to and control over land makes them unable to acquire credit,
marketing facilities and excludes them from decision making powers over
agricultural production activities and benefits.

Land reform programme

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In October 2000, the Government of Zimbabwe undertook to allocate at least
20% of all land identified for resettlement to women. It was discrimination in
itself to allocate only 20% to women when they make up 52% of the
population. Despite this, by August 2002 when the President announced that
the fast Track Land Reform Programme had been officially completed, the land
quota for women had not been put into law and the number of females
allocated land was very low countrywide. According to the 2003 Utete land
Audit Report, female-headed households who benefited under model A1
(peasant farmers) constituted only 18% of the total number of household while
female beneficiaries under the Model A2 (commercial farmers) constituted only
12%.

Guardianship of Minors Act

Guardianship involves having the capacity to make decisions on behalf of a

minor in both contractual and judicial matters and pertaining to the child’s
welfare. This law makes the father of a child born in wedlock (in marriage) the
natural guardian so entitled to make decisions pertaining to the child’s welfare
and his consent is required un juridical acts like acquisition of birth certificates,
passports and performance of surgical processes. There is no joint
guardianship with the mother.

This emanates from the social norm that children belong to the father whose
name they take after. The woman is just a medium reproduction of that which
does not belong to her.

For children born out of wedlock (out of marriage) the mother of the child is the
sole guardian. The father does not have any rights towards the child except for
purposes of maintenance if the mother so wishes to claim it.

Mining Act

The Act does not permit women from working underground in mines it seems
to be based on the notion of women’s fragility and irrationality hence the need
to prevent harm to themselves and others since mining is considered a
hazardous occupation.

Examples of progressive legislation

a) Administration of Estates Amendment 6/97

b) Deeds Registries Amendment Act
c) Income tax Amendment Act
d) Labour Relations Amendment Act
e) Matrimonial causes Act
f) Minimum Wages Regulations
137
 g) Prevention of Domestic Violence and Protection of Victims of Domestic
Violence Bill
h) Sexual Discrimination Removal Act

Administration of Estates Amendment 6/97

The amendment now allows women to inherit from their husbands, although
there is still discrimination in polygamous marriages where senior wife gets a
bigger portion in spite of contributions by junior wives.
The Act also:
- Abolished concept of male heirship and male beneficiary in own personal
capacity and replaced it executorship where an executor usually
surviving spouse is tasked by the court to oversee distribution of estate
and benefits from estate together with other beneficiaries including
surviving children both male and female.
- Surviving spouse (male or female) and children (male and female) now
prime beneficiaries of deceased estate.

Magaya V Magaya

This case involved inheritance rights. The Supreme Court of Zimbabwe made a
landmark decision that gave precedence to customary law over the
constitution. The ruling that women cannot be considered equal to men before
the law in issues of inheritance because of African cultural norms and the
nature of African society was in itself discrimination on the basis of sex.

A female eldest child was denied the right to inherit in preference of a younger
brother. The judge in the lower court held that:
“The claimant is a lady and therefore cannot be appointed heir to her father’s
estate when there is a man…”

The judiciary backed up its decision by referring to Section 23 of the

constitution of Zimbabwe. The Constitution prohibits discrimination in Article
23(1) but in Article 23(3) recognizes exceptions to this general prohibition
against discrimination in issues relating to among others adoption, marriage,
divorce, burial, devotion of property on death or other matters of personal law
as well as the application of African customary law. Essentially, by making this
judgement, the Supreme Court elevated customary law beyond constitutional
scrutiny Outcry after the decision led to Amendment 6/97 as discussed above.

Deeds Registries Act

138
Women can now register immovable property in their own name (applies to
urban and rural commercial land where title deeds are obtainable.

Equal Pay Regulations (1980)

s
The Regulations provide for equal pay for work of equal value.

Income Tax Amendment Act

The Income Tax Act was amended in favour of women, in 1990. Prior to the
amendment; married women’s income was taxed as part of the husband’s
income. Now spouses are taxed separately. This resulted in women ending up
with little money, because allowances such as children’s allowances were
credited to men.

Labour Relations Amendment Act (2004)

- Non-discrimination in the workplace on the basis of sex or gender in

recruitment, promotion, training, retrenchment and other benefits.
- 98 days fully paid maternity leave for both public and private sector
employed women
- Prohibition of sexual harassment

Legal Age of Majority Act (LAMA) (1982)

In 1982, the Legal Age of Majority Act conferred on all persons of both sexes
full legal capacity on reaching 18 years of age.
- Section 3 thereof bestowed majority status on African women who were
previously considered perpetual minors upon attainment of the age of
18.
- Bestowed legal capacity on African women who previously lacked it so
women can now perform legal and juristic acts such as entering into
contracts without the assistance of male guardians and control over their
sexuality. Women of 18 years or above, not their guardians cannot sue
for seduction damages.
- Reduced age of majority from 21-18 for both males and females.

Chihowa V Mangwende SC 84/87

The then Chief Justice held:

The legislature by enacting LAMA made women who in African law and
custom were perpetual minors majors and therefore equal to men who
are majors.
139
Concern has been raised over the Act’s failure to pronounce the legality or
otherwise of the payment of lobola. Some women believe that their oppression
is rooted in this system and recommend that it be made illegal. However there
are dissenting voices on the issue.

Maintenance Act

Provides for maintenance claims for spouse and children or for children born
out of wedlock against spouse of child’s parent who is obliged to materially
support dependents and has been failing to fulfill the obligation and is
financially capable of doing so.

Matrimonial Causes Act (1985)

The Act allows for equitable distribution of property between spouses on

divorce in a registered marriage. The Act empowered the courts to override
customary law and to effect a more equitable re-distribution of matrimonial
property upon dissolution of a marriage. The law takes into account a woman’s
economic or domestic contribution to the well being of her family and thus
ensures equitable distribution of matrimonial property between the spouses.
Unfortunately the Act does not apply to unregistered customary marriages,
which are legally not recognized as valid marriages except for purposed of
African law and custom relating to the status, guardianship, custody and rights
of succession in the children.

Minimum Wages (1980)

Minimum wages for various unskilled occupations the majority of whom are
women were set. Seasonal workers (tobacco, tea and cotton pickers) were
categorized as permanent for purposes of pension benefits.

Sexual Offences Act (2001)

- Provides protection from sexual abuse to all children not only the girl
child as was previously the case.
- Both men and women are deemed capable of performing sexual offences
including rape.
- Protection of women from non-consensual sexual intercourse within
marriage (marital rape protection)
- Spousal liability for willful transmission of HIV

140
Prevention of Domestic Violence and Protection of Victims of Domestic
Violence Bill

- Seeks to eliminate violence be it physical, verbal or economic in

relationships of a domestic nature e.g. husband/wife boyfriend/girlfriend,
child/parent etc
- Both males and females can be perpetrators or victims of domestic
violence
- Social, religious and cultural practices such as virginity testing, chiramu
(in-law flirtation), kuzvarira (pledging) chimutsamapfihwa (substitute
wifing) etc are outlawed as constituting domestic violence.

Matrimonial Causes Act (1985)

- Recognises a married woman’s right to matrimonial property upon

divorce.
- Introduced equitable distribution of matrimonial property upon divorce,
which takes into consideration domestic work input.

8.5 Gender Analysis of Laws

Case law is a body of available writings explaining the verdict in a

case(Oran,1983: 5). It is most created by judges in their rulings when they
write their decisions and give the reasoning behind them as well as citing
precedents in other cases and statutes that had a bearing on their decisions
case law is often referred to as common-law in many regions of the world.
Oran(1983) also referred to it as judge made law. The term judge made law is
derived form the fact that while legislation is technically passed in most
countries by a legislative branch, courts are able to exercise moderate amount
of quasi-legislative power through the use of precedent case-law. Case law
allows courts to transform decisions that may have taken a great deal of time
and energy to arrive at into a de-facto law, making future cases much easier to
decide.

Curzon(2002) concurs with Oran(1983) on the view that statutory or statute

law is written law set down by a legislative body. Statutes are enacted in
response to a perceived need to clarify the function of government, improve
civil order, to codify existing law or for an individual or company to obtain
special treatment. Statute law refers to the law that has been created by
parliament in the form of legislation. It can also be described as an act of
parliament.

ACTIVITY 8. 3
 What is the advantage of doing gender analysis of laws?
 Who benefits from that analysis?
141
With the given explanations of case and statutory law we are going to look at
the gender analysis of certain laws. The idea of gender analysis will not be
discussed here as it has been looked at in detail in a previous chapter.

Examples of gender dimensions in Zimbabwe’s Law

Table 8.1
Law Gender Analysis
S23 of the The constitution grants equal right to
Constitution of everyone and protection from discrimination
Zimbabwe on the grounds of race, tribe, place of origin,
political opinions, color, creed or gender.
However, its protection of customary law in
matters such as adoption, marriage, divorce,
burial, devolution of property, on death or
other matters of personal including rights
relating to communal land impact on men and
women differently since customary laws in
these areas tends to disadvantage women.
The constitutional provisions relating to non
discrimination can be said to be worded in a
gender neutral manner but they impact on
men and women in a very gender specific
way.
The Legal Age of The legal age of majority Act is a gender-
Majority Act (Now neutral piece of legislation in that it gives
part of the general equal rights to everyone at the age of 18.
laws Amendment however, it impacts more on women because
Act Chapter 8:07) of how society has tended to regard their
status as being inferior. Matrimonial causes
Act contains guidelines on distribution of
property on divorce. It is largely gender
neutral but also contains some provisions,
which can be looked at from a gender specific
viewpoint. Of importance is the recognition
amongst other things f contributions made to
the family by looking after the home, and
caring for the family as well as any other
domestic duties. It is mainly, though not
exclusively, women who are involved in this
kind of work and therefore stand to benefit
more from a direct recognition of housework.
The Labour It contains some gender specific provisions

142
Relations Act particularly those relating to maternity leave
and breastfeeding rights.
The Deceased It is a gender-neutral piece of legislation,
Persons Family which allows a person who was being
Maintenance Act maintained by the deceased to claim support
from the estate. It also protects the estate
from property grabbers. In reality when we
look at the effects of this Act, it is again quite
clear that because of the social realities that
exist on the ground it tends to have a different
meaning for men and women.
Administration of Puts emphasis on the surviving spouse(s) and
Estates children as the primary beneficiaries of the
Amendment Act estate. It can be descried as being both
gender neutral and gender specific at the
same time. It is gender specific in that it
treats the distribution of the estate of a
polygamous man differently from the death of
one of his spouses. While widows can expect
to share 1/3 from the estate of each of his
wives should they die before him.
Infanticide Act Allows the court to examine the special
circumstances of women who kill their babies.
Since it is women who give birth, the Act is
largely gender specific although it also
contains some provisions relating to the father
of the child.
Customary This is an example of a law that is seemingly
Marriages Act gender neutral but favours men. It allows
polygamy as a practice for men only in that
they can take on more than one wife.

8.6 Way Forward – legal redress of gender imbalances

- Enactment of Gender equality Act

- Gender audit and review of all legislation to make it gender sensitive and
responsive
- Gender training for state administrators and law enforcement agents
- Legal literacy
- Legal education or sensitization
- Community gender and human rights training

8.7 Gender and Human Rights

What are Human rights?

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Human rights refer to basic rights or legal claims to which all humans are
entitled by virtue of them being human(English and Stapleton,1997:7).
Professor Jack Donnely in Chiweshe et al (2003) define human rights as the
rights that one has simply because one is human. He goes on to say:

Human rights, because they rest on nothing more than being

human are universal, equal and inalienable. They are held up
by all beings universally. One either is or is not human
and thus has or does not have rights equally.And can no more lose
these rights than one can stop being a human being .No matter
how inhumane the treatment one may suffer. One is entitled to
human rights and is empowered by them(page 9)

To put it in simpler terms, human rights can be given as those freedoms or

claims that every human being is automatically entitled to, just because you
are born a human being
Examples of rights and freedoms which are often classified as human rights
include right to life and to liberty, freedom of expression and equality before
the law, economic, social and cultural rights, the right to participate in culture,
right to food, right to work and the right to education. All human beings are
born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and
conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Human rights are rights which people are entitled to simply because they are
human beings regardless of their nationality, race, ethnicity, gender or religion.
These are rights that every human being automatically qualities for at birth.
No personal factors can lead one being denied these rights. Central to the
concept of human rights is the protection of human dignity.

The gendered nature of human Rights

The promotion of gender equality remains one of the greatest challenges of our
times, globally and locally. At a global level there are many international
human rights instruments that on the face of it grant equal rights to men and
women. Some of the major instruments include the Universal Declaration of
human rights as well as the Covenant on Social and Economic rights.

From a gender perspective it is also important to understand how the different

human rights instruments deal or do not deal with issues of gender.

Human rights have often been spoken of in terms of different generation of

rights depending on what they deal with.

- First generation of rights Civil and political rights

- Second generation of rights Social economic and cultural rights
- Third generation of rights Collective/solidarity or group rights
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The analysis below discusses briefly some of the criticisms that have been
made against each of this generation of rights in terms of how they deal with
the gender issues.

First Generation of Rights: Civil and Political Rights

The major criticism against this generation of rights is that they are mainly
founded on the experiences of men in public as opposed to highlighting the
experiences of both men and women. Women tend to experience violations of
their rights in the private sphere. In other words, what has come to concern us
under this generation of rights has largely excluded the experiences of women
as illustrated more fully in the examples below.

For example, the right to life which is a granted to all in Article 6 of the
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, is criticized for being interpreted in a
manner which treats the threat to the right to life as coming from state actors
only. The global interpretation is criticized for excluding important spheres
that also threaten the right to life for women when compared to men such as:
- Abortion
- Infanticide (eg killing of girl children in cultures that favour male children)
- Malnutrition (e.g from feeding men first in some cultures)
- Less access to health care compared to men (death from pregnancy and
lack of access to health care)
- Violence against women, which can result in death

Freedom from torture is also criticized for being interpreted in a manner which
assumes that most torture takes place at the hands of public officials when for
most women when compared to men the greatest level of torture takes place
in the home, the private sphere as opposed to the public sphere.

The interpretation of the right to liberty and security of the person is also
criticized for being interpreted in manner which addresses actions of the state
only and does not address violations to liberty and security of the person that
result from sexual violence against women.

The right to privacy, another major civil political right is also criticized from a
gender view point for protecting the home and the family as private sites when
they can be very dangerous places for women because of the violence which
often takes place inside them.

Second Generation Rights: Social Economic and Cultural Rights

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The criticism of social and economic rights is that like civil and political rights,
they have tended to be interpreted in a manner, which takes men’s
experiences more into account compared to the experiences of women. For
example, Article 7 of the Covenant talks of the right to work, equal
remuneration of workers, favourable working conditions, equal opportunities
for promotion and so on. The bulk of women, when compared to men are
confined to work in the private sphere, yet the article is more concerned with
work in the public sphere.

Cultural and religious rights which are also guaranteed by this covenant are
areas that often present problems for women.

Another criticism is that state parties are regarded as central in achieving

social and economic rights when for most women, their rights are often
negotiated through individual men or groups of men.

Third Generation Rights: Collective or group rights

The right to development and the right to self-determination constitute some of

the major collective or group rights. They tend to emphasize the rights of
groups and collectives as opposed to the rights of individuals. From a gender
perspective, these rights are regarded as problematic for several reasons.

The right to development for instance has often been interpreted to suit male
economic needs. An example is land distribution that has tended to favour
men at the expense of women.

The right to self-determination has also often been interpreted in a manner

that masks the oppression of women. Women are often neglected in
nationalists’ movements.

The major criticism from a gender perspective of third generation rights is that
they have generally addressed male interests in political life rather than taking
Summary
care of criticismofofboth
of the interests mainstream human
men and rights from a gender perspective
women.
The process through which the rights were formulated did not include women and
therefore it is largely the experiences of what human rights are.

The priority given to civil and political rights marginalizes social and economic
rights.

Many issues of concern to women such as underdevelopment, illiteracy, gender

segregation, lack of reproductive choice, have either not been defined as human
rights in main stream instruments or are not binding in terms of enforcement.

Governments, in the name of culture often justify violations of human rights.

Women as compared to men are also seriously underrepresented in human rights

bodies. 146
ACTIVITY8. 4
 What is your definition of human rights?
 What are the characteristics of human rights?
 In Zimbabwe how do laws impact on human rights?

Are Women’s Rights Human Rights?

One may wonder why this section asks about the rights of women only. You
may be very correct to wonder that way, may be you see the need for an
address of the rights of women or you are thinking otherwise but after reading
this section I am sure together you and i can justify our standpoints.

Women’s rights are human rights. Why? Women are human beings! Women’s
equal dignity and human rights as full human beings are enshrined in the basic
instruments of today’s international community. From the Charter of the
United Nations endorsement of the equal rights of men and women (1945) to
the universal declaration of human rights (1948) and the subsequent
international treaties and declarations.

The rights of women are central to our democratic society. These declarations
and treaties and even the Vienna Declaration of (1993) and the Declaration of
Beijing (1995) stand in sharp contrast to the daily realities for millions of
women, of the 1.3 billion people living in poverty 70% are women, the majority
of the world’s refugees are women, female illiteracy. Women and girls are
treated as commodities in cross boarder prostitution rackets and in the
pornography industry. Millions of girls are still subject to genital mutilations
while women in every country are regular victims of domestic violence, in
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many countries women lack access to reproductive health care and everyday
women are targeted in armed conflict. Women’s economic, social and cultural
rights continue to be neglected. There can be no peace, security or
sustainable economic development in societies which deny human rights
including the human rights of women. Fighting for women rights is a positive
struggle, which recognizes the quality of women’s contribution in every aspect
of the community, in politics, industry commerce, education, academic,
agriculture and home. Women’s rights are human rights and the United
Nations High Commissioner for human rights is committed to work in
partnership with UN agencies and programmes, governments, regional
organisations, academic institutions, the NGO community and women
throughout the world to promote and protect women’s rights and to translate
these rights to a better quality of the life for all. Hillary Clinton at the fourth
World Conference on Women in Beijing China presented a speech in which he
strongly pronounced that women’s rights are human rights. Consider an
important quote, which says:

The human rights of women and the girl child are an inalienable, integral
and indivisible part of the universal human rights. The fall and equal
participation of women in political, civil economic, social and cultural life
at the national regional and international levels and the eradication of all
forms of discrimination on the grounds of sex are priority objectives of
the international community (Vienna Declaration and Platform of Action
Part 1 Paragraph 18).

S
I am sure our discussion on the issue of women ‘s rights as human rights has
been justifiedAs you can see women are denied their rights due too a number
of reasons .These reasons may be big or small,economic,cultural and many
others ,the point remains; some rights are granted or denied due to one’s
sex .The next section highlights this aspect.

8:8 Linking Gender and Human Rights

Analysis of content and nature of human rights as well as measures to ensure

their enjoyment should be informed by gender based considerations. There
are many processes at the domestic and international levels through which the
content of human rights is clarified and their implementations occurs. The
systematic integration of gender factors into these processes, into measures
for implementation and into domestic and international monitoring is a global
challenge.

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In the enjoyment of rights women face constraints and vulnerabilities which
differ from those that affect men and which are of significant relevance to the
enjoyment of these rights. This variable mean that women maybe affected by
violations of rights in ways that are different from men. Women are
disappropriately affected by poverty and social marginalization. They suffer
systematic and unsystematic discrimination which results in deep patterns of
inequality and disadvantage. The overall level of development and of resources
available to countries, women’s literacy levels and women’s access to
information and to legal remedies also have an impact on women’s enjoyment
of their rights. The gender based division of labour with women being primarily
responsible for reproductive work and work related the family and men for
productive work, also contributes to the perpetration of gender inequalities.

Many women experience multiple barriers in gaining access to rights such as

employment, housing, land, food and social security. These barriers include
the disproportionate burden of reproductive and care-giving work performed by
women, the sexual division of labour and segregated employment practices,
discriminatory traditional and cultural laws and practices, unequal
representation by women in political and other decision making structures at
all levels and the widespread violence perpetuated against women. Women’s
social position, marital status class or membership in particular vulnerable
groups such as refugees or migrant women rural or urban poor women are
often linked to discrimination.

When laws, customs, traditional roles family responsibilities or attitudes and

stereotypes provide women with fewer opportunities or place them at a
disadvantage as they seek to access opportunities remedial measures are
needed to eliminate such disadvantages to prevent them from recurring.
When policies are designed in the context of respect for promotion and
protection of human rights then unequal outcomes for women in the economic
and social spheres oblige governments to design procedures in a way that
reduces inequality.

Human Rights Instruments and Gender

Over the last decade the concept of gender has increasingly informed policy
programming and treaty interpretation both within and outside the UN system.
The principle of equal rights of women and men was recognized in the UN
Charter and is contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all
subsequent international human rights instruments. The need for women’s
participation in all spheres of society both in the public and private domains
and the recognition of inequality and discrimination in the private domain led
to the creation of specific standards for the protection of women’s rights.

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In (1979) the United Nations adopted the convention on the Elimination of all
forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). CEDAW establishes women’s
right to non-discrimination on the basis of sex and affirms equality in
international law. It provides that women and men are entitled to equal
enjoyment and exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms in civil,
cultural, economic, political and social fields. The (1993) Vienna Conference of
Human Rights the (1994) Cairo Conference on Population and Development
and the (1995) Beijing Women’s World Conference recognized the need to
build on these principles to assert women’s rights. These global conferences
promoted the review of policies and programmes from the perspective of their
impact on women and men that is the re-evaluation of policies and
programmes from a gender perspective. This has led to gender mainstreaming
(discussed in Unit 1), which aimed at correcting disparities in different policy
sectors and ensuring their enjoyment of civil, cultural, economic political and
social rights. Gender mainstreaming also requires action to identify areas
where gender constitute a risk factor for violation or abuse of human rights for
example gender based violence. All in all gender mainstreaming is an
organizational imperative so as to reinforce the principle of non-discrimination
on the basis of sex for the achievement of gender equality and the enjoyment
of human rights.

Major human rights instruments which have been adopted within the UN
framework include the following:

 ICCPR—The International Covenant On Civil and Political Rights (1966)

 ICESCR---The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights (1966)
 ICERD-----The International Convention on the Elimination Of All Forms Of
Racial Discrimination1965
 CEDAW--------The Convention on the Elimination of All Form Of
Discrimination Against Women(1979)
 CRC-----The Convention On The Rights of The Child(1989)
 CAT-----The Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984) (Chiweshe et al 2003:12)

Implementation of human rights instruments on gender equality

The Women’s Convention: A Search for Gender equality?

Because of the limitations of the major human rights instruments in addressing

gender issues, women successfully lobbied for a major international human
rights instrument dealing with women’ issues. It came into force on the 3 rd of
September 1981. Its approach is to seek to improve the lives of women by
making them equal with men.

150
Among its provisions, the Women’s Convention calls for the ending of
discrimination against women through constitutional and legal reforms. It also
seeks for women’s equality in political and civil life. It also calls for equality in
marriage and family life and specifically addresses the rights of rural women.

The African Charter on Human and People’s rights

Regional Instruments are an important frame of reference for human rights in

addition to international instruments. In our case the Africa Charter on Human
and People’s Rights plays as a crucial role in defining human rights from an
African viewpoint. While the Charter is largely gender neutral in its approach it
contains some Articles that speak directly to women. For example, Article 18
requires states to eliminate discrimination against women and ensure the
protection of women and children as required by international instruments.

From a gender analysis viewpoint, the African Charter talks of preserving

positive African cultural values. Cultural values that are preserved should not
be the ones that seek to oppress women. Within the African context talk of
cultural values raises important questions about practices such as lobola,
female circumcision and widow inheritance, to mention a few.

The Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women

Because of the limitations of the African Charter as a largely gender neutral

document in bringing gender equality particularly for women, the heads of
state adopted an additional instrument in 2002 called the Protocol to the
African Charter on the Rights of women. Like the CEDAW, it seeks to address
key areas where women need to be uplifted. It singles out practices that need
to be done away with if women and men are to achieve equality, such as
circumcision and widow inheritance and polygamous marriages.

While it is a progressive instrument the problem is that it can only come into
force when at least 16 African countries have adopted it at the country level.
So far only four countries have.

The SADC Declaration on gender and development

Another instrument which is of use in understanding gender issues is the SADC

Declaration on Gender and Development. It was adopted by the heads of state
of the Southern African Development Community in 1997. It is informed by the
understanding of gender equality as a fundamental human right and more
significantly by the appreciation of the role of gender equality in the
sustainable development of the SADC region. It also acknowledges the
significant point that most SADC member countries have ratified CEDAW or are
in the process of doing so. As such, the SADC Declaration, as is the case with
151
the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, has to be in line with the
letter and the spirit of CEDAW. Also emphasized are the gains to be made from
closer cooperation and collective action on gender issues within the region.
Areas identified as needing particular attention are the gender disparities in
decision-making, power sharing access and control over reproductive
resources, education, health and legal rights. Especially noteworthy is the
undertaking to repeal and reform all laws, amend constitutions and change
social practices that continue to subject women to discrimination.

National Efforts

Zimbabwe is party to the major international human rights such as the

Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Covenant on Social and Economic
Rights the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against
Women. It is also a party to the African Charter on Human and People’s rights.
However, it has not yet adopted the Protocol to the African Charter on the
rights of women. While a lot of progress has been made at the country level in
terms of changing laws and adopting new ones that seek to equalize the rights
of men and women, the biggest challenge in Zimbabwe remains in the
implementation of these laws both administratively and at societal level.

A significant limitation from a gender viewpoint is that our Constitution as the

highest law of the land still contains provisions, which tend to protect
customary law from the non-discriminatory provisions. The constitution as the
highest law of the land needs to be an instrument that fosters equality without
fear or favour.

8:9 Conclusion

From the foregoing it is evident that Zimbabwean society is relatively unequal

in terms of gender. This inequality between men and women is negatively
impacting on income distribution, political participation, power relations, access
to, control and ownership of economic and productive resources leading to
impediment of human development efforts aimed at addressing issues of
equity, social justice and human rights. Various pieces of legislation are in
152
place to maintain the status quo. It can also be concluded that despite the fact
that 52% of the Zimbabwean population are women, men continue to have a
higher human development index as compared to females in terms of political
participation, decision-making and education. However, the government is
making strides in attempting to promote gender equality in both the public and
private sphere but section 23 of the constitution seems to be a provision
carved on stone and has remained etched in the supreme law of the land.

REFERENCES

Armstrong A., (1998), Culture and Choice Lessons from Survivors of Gender
Violence in Zimbabwe (Harare: Violence Against Women in Zimbabwe Research
Project

Chiweshe,F.G.,Moyo,L,Mupita,H, Ncube,K, Ngulube,P .and Sibanda,B.K.Human

Rights And The Media (2003)Human Rights Trust Of Southern Africa Harare

Cook, R (ed) Human Rights of Women National and International Perspectives

(University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994)

Critical Reviews and Annotated Bibliographies Series(2001) Gender ,Society

and Development. Gender ,Perspectives on property and Inheritance .A Global
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Curzon, L.B.(2002) Dictionary of Law (6thedition) Longman England

David, B. and Colin Padfield (2002) Law Made Simple London, Made Simple

English ,K. and Stapleton,A.(1997) The Human Rights Handbook.APractical

Guide To Monitoring Human Rights.Juta Cape Town

Nader L & Todd H.F (Jr) The Disputing Process-Law in Ten Societies, New York,
Columbia University Press

Oran,D(1993) Oran’s Dictionary of the Law.(2nd edition)New York,West

Publishing

Reynolds,D.A. and Russel J.A.—Officers of the ministry of justice(1983) An

Introduction To Law Ministry of justice ,Harare
153
Southern African Research and Documentation Centre & Zimbabwe Women
Resource Centre and Network (1998) Beyond Inequalities: Women in
Zimbabwe, Harare, Southern African Research and Documentation Centre &
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Schuler, M., ed, (1992) Freedom From Violence: Women’s Strategies From
Around The World (Washington, OEF International)

Stang Dahl, Tove, Why Women’s Law in An Introduction to Feminist

Jurisprudence (Oslo, Norwegian University Press, 1987)

Tsanga, A.S. (2003), Taking Law to the People: Gender Law Reform and
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List of legislations cited

Matrimonial Causes Act
Minimum wages Act
Mining Act
Prevention of Domestic violence and Protection of victims of Domestic
violence Bill
Sexual Offences Act
Prevention of Domestic Violence and Protection of Victims of Domestic
Violence Bill
Administration of Estates Amendment 6/97
Communal Lands Act and land reform programme
Companies Act Section 171(3) (b)
Constitution of Zimbabwe section 23
Customary marriages Act
Guardianship of minors Act
Intepretation Act
Labour Relations Amendment Act
Land Acquisition Act
Legal Age of Majority Act
Case law cited
Chihowa v Mangwende SC 84/87
Magaya v Magaya SC 101/99

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