Introduction to Gender Studies in Eastern and Southern Africa: A Reader

284 Pages·2016·14.88 MB·English

by  James Etim (eds.)

Introduction to Gender Studies in Eastern and
Southern Africa

Introduction to Gender Studies in Eastern and
Southern Africa
A Reader
Edited by
James Etim
Winston Salem State University, USA
A C.I.P. record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN: 978-94-6300-556-2 (paperback)
ISBN: 978-94-6300-557-9 (hardback)
ISBN: 978-94-6300-558-6 (e-book)
Published by: Sense Publishers,
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All chapters in this book have undergone peer review
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction vii
James Etim
Section 1: Theory and Research
1. Quo Vadis Women’s and Gender Studies in Africa? Assessing
the Activism/Academy Association 3
Gertrude Fester
2. Women and Society in Female Authored Short Stories and Poems
from Namibia: The Dimensions of Oppression and Violence 29
James Etim
3. Local Contexts, Local Theory: Revisiting Standpoint Theory through
Situated Ethnographic Vignettes 41
Maheshvari Naidu
4. Reinforcement or Transformation: A Feminist Critique of the
Representation of Women in Two Popular South African Television Dramas 65
Claudine Hingston
Section 2: Gender, Culture and Power
5. Women as Mediators in South Africa 79
Connie M. Anderson
6. African Marriages in Transformation: Anthropological Insights 95
Julia Pauli
7. LGBTI Rights and Experiences in Three Southern African Nations 115
Suzanne LaFont
Section 3: Gender and Education
8. Women, Education and Sustainable Development in Sudan 143
James Etim and Randa Gindeel
9. Women in Teaching and Educational Administration in Kenya 157
Victor F. O. Ombati
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Section 4: Gender, Law, Business and Economic Development and Politics
10. Women and Entrepreneurship Development – The Case of South Africa 179
Ravinder Rena
11. Women and Small Scale Entrepreneurship: Perspective from the SADC
Region 197
Mamorena Lucia Matsoso and Chux Gervase Iwu
12. Women, Land Use, Property Rights and Sustainable Development
in Zimbabwe 215
Average Chigwenya and Pardon Ndhlovu
13. The Role of Women in Political Decision Making in East and
Southern Africa: A Case Study of Kenya and South Africa 233
Michael Wabomba Masinde
Section 5: Gender, Health and Violence
14. Gender and HIV in Namibia: The Contribution of Social and
Economic Factors in Women’s HIV Prevalence 247
Shelene Gentz and Mónica Ruiz-Casares
15. Women and State Violence in Zimbabwe, 2000–2008 257
Darlington Mutanda, Howard Rukondo and Elizabeth Matendera
About the Contributors 277
Index 281
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JAMES ETIM
INTRODUCTION
In the last thirty years, the research and discussion on women and gender studies
in Africa has grown in diverse directions. We have moved from little or no studies
on women to now departments of women and gender studies, centers for women
and gender studies and in some countries, at the federal level, a ministry of women
affairs. One way to look at gender studies is the way gender has been constructed,
represented and enforced. For example, has the roles of both boys and girls beginning
in the home, school, family and the workplace from traditional through colonial to
post – colonial period changed? How have men and women been represented in
literature, history texts, the media from pre-colonial to post-colonial era etc? How
are expectations and roles ascribed to either sex been enforced? Another focus
in the discussion and study of gender has been on the empowerment of women,
the struggle for women to have a voice and to be heard and how to mitigate the
strictures and traditions that perpetually work to keep women down. The issues of
power, reproductive rights and body politics, violence against women in all its forms
including rape, sex slavery, female gender mutilation, health policy and disparities,
education for women and women and poverty reduction etc have also been fertile
areas of study. African feminists address the place of women in society and
according to Arndt (2002), African women and men “suffer not only from sexism
and patriarchal social structures, but are also victims of racism, neo-colonialism,
cultural imperialism, religious fundamentalism, socio-economic mechanisms of
oppression and dictatorial and/or corrupt systems” (p. 73). This introduction sets
out to discuss the conditions that have given rise to the growth of women studies
programs in Africa, some of the programs in the universities and how this book fits
into the current research and studies in women and g ender studies.
CONDITIONS THAT HAVE GIVEN RISE TO GROWTH OF WOMEN AND GENDER
STUDIES PROGRAMS IN AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES
Three issues will be discussed here – global quest for human rights, the role of
international institutions, and governments instituting gender policies.
a. Global quest for human rights
In 1948, member nations of the Untied Nations General Assembly ratified the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This milestone document “sets out, for the
first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected”. In the Preamble,
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J. ETIM
member nations “reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity
and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women”. The
30 Articles that follow the Preamble deal with various rights including equality
before the law, freedom of movement, right not to be held in servitude or slavery
and right to education. Article 1 is however very instructive here for it declares “All
human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” (United Nations, nd).
At national levels, the continued fight by blacks in United States for human and
civil rights was in part satisfied with the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964
and the Voting Rights Act in 1965. With this struggle for black human rights also
rose the women’s movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s. This second wave feminist
movement sought to achieve equality for women by challenging unfair practices
and discriminatory laws. The focus was “for equal pay for equal work, an end to
domestic violence, curtailment of severe limits on women in managerial jobs, an end
to sexual harassment, and sharing of responsibility for housework and child rearing”
(Walsh, 2010).
Finally, in 1979, the United Nations ratified the Convention on the Elimination of
all Forms of Discrimination Against Women. In the ratification of the Convention,
member states committed themselves to instituting measures to end all forms of
discrimination against women including:
• to incorporate the principle of equality of men and women in their legal
system, abolish all discriminatory laws and adopt appropriate ones prohibiting
discrimination against women;
• to establish tribunals and other public institutions to ensure the effective protection
of women against discrimination; and
• to ensure elimination of all acts of discrimination against women by persons,
organizations or enterprises. (UN Women, nd)
b. The role of international institutions and agencies
Many African countries have been signatories to the UN Declaration on Human
Rights and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women. The African Union in 2008 adopted the African Union Gender Policy which
sets out to establish a clear vision and make commitments to “guide the process of
gender mainstreaming and women empowerment to influence policies, procedures
and practices which will accelerate achievement of gender equality, gender justice,
nondiscrimination and fundamental human rights in Africa” (African Union, 2008,
p. 9). This Policy has encouraged member states to set up apparatus and mechanisms
to further gender equality and the empowerment of women (Republic of Namibia,
National Gender Policy, p. 10; Office on the Status of Women). At the same time,
international institutions have helped set up gender programs in African universities
aimed at the study of gender issues. For example, Ahfad University for Women’s
Regional Institute of Gender, Diversity, Peace and Right has benefited immensely
from funding by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation.
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INTRODUCTION
c. Governments and gender policies
Several African countries like Nigeria and South Africa and Namibia have set
up national gender policies. The South African gender policy framework “attempts
to ensure that the process of achieving Gender equality is at the very center of the
transformation process in South Africa within all the structures, institutions, policies,
procedures, practices and programmes of government, its agencies and parastatals,
civil society and the private sector” (Office on the Status of Women, p. ii). At the
core of the policy are several guiding principles including the following:
i) there is equality of all persons and that non-sexism and non-racism be enshrined
in the Constitution of South Africa;
ii) there is an understanding that women are not a homogenous group;
iii) women’s rights be seen as human rights;
iv) customary, cultural and religious practices be subject to the right to equality;
v) affirmative action programmes targeting women be developed and implemented;
vi) economic empowerment of women be promoted;
vii) serious attention be placed on changing policies and practices which have
hitherto hindered women’s access to basic needs, the economy and decision
making (pp. v–vi).
The National Gender Policy of Namibia was designed to “create a society in
which women and men enjoy equal rights and access to basic services. It serves
also to provide opportunities for women and men to participate in and contribute
towards the political, social, economic and cultural development of Namibia”
(Republic of Namibia, National Gender Policy, p. 4). The priority areas include
the following:
• Poverty and Rural Development
• Education and Training
• Health, Reproductive Health and HIV and AIDS
• Gender Based Violence
• Trade and Economic Empowerment
• Governance and Decision-Making
• Media, Information and Communication
• Environment (pp. 9–10).
Examples of gender studies programs in East and South African Universities
A. Gender Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
“Gender Studies is a multi-discipline that incorporates a variety of questions,
problems, theories, and methods in the analysis of structures, operations, relations,
and representations of gender. Amongst other sources, the discipline draws upon
several decades of work which has been informed by women issues studied within
the women studies field. The discipline uses diverse methodologies, theories, and
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