CHAPTER 7: THE GENDERED ASPECTS OF ACCESS TO AND UTILISATION OF
7.11 Decision making processes and intra-household gender dynamics
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167 performing duties traditionally undertaken by men. The changing roles were also confirmed by the differences in cultures across Zimbabwe. In Matabeleland, it is the women who do house thatching (FAO, 2014). This suggests that roles can evolve to suit the circumstances. This was clearly accepted by the community members who went as far as saying women are also becoming men. Nyashadzashe said,
You see the women are also now wearing trousers, so what is the difference. In the past we never saw women wearing trousers. What this means is they also want to be men now. What can we do but to look and pray we don’t upset our ancestors with all these new Western cultures? (Nyashadzashe, female participant, date of interview, 12 July 2016).
7.11.3.2 Women’s roles
Women took care of the traditional roles of cooking, home maker (food preparation, ensuring children went to school in time), chicken farming, gardening. Family members were all involved in herding livestock –goats, cattle, milk, herding when the male members were not available. Women however tended to be overwhelmed with their multiple responsibilities.
Other roles still rested upon them and they bore the brunt of the work load - they prepared the children for school, and did cleaning, ironing and all the other household chores in addition to the farming. Nyarai said,
“Even in the church, women are the ones who are in the forefront, if a child is sick, it’s the woman who has to make the necessary arrangements to get to the clinic. If a visitor comes, it is the women/wife who has to ensure the visitor is attended to. (Nyarai, femle participant, date of interview 7 July, 2016).
The contribution of women’s labour could be considered via time use where I considered the amount of time they had to themselves. Men’s time was easy enough as they worked in the morning then went to relax later. The women were comfortable with the fact that men spent less time helping with household chores as this was considered within culture. Culture was used by men to justify such practises as the work burden being more on women. The men were quite happy to say that they were more concerned about being the creators or visionaries within the household, and this took its toll emotionally on them. Some did not take kindly to women being labelled as being overworked and called it “un-cultural” to say a woman is overworked.
The men also cited the cliché that “a woman’s work is never done”. Tapiwa who considered himself a progressive male said,
168 You know certain practises are God given, why would we want to change the order God has set for us. We each have different functions within the home and we all respect that.
The reason we live in harmony is because we each respect each other’s roles. Its people from outside who want to bring in new ideas. Our wives are not complaining so why should someone tell us we are not happy. (Tapiwa, male participant, date of interview 19 July 2916).
Goebel (1994) and Cheneaux-Repond (1994) argue that men use religion and culture as a basis for entrenching male domination. Unpaid and largely unrecognized care work functions as a safety net, as women work harder to make up for inadequate government support, or for the reduction of such support in times of crisis because of public budget constraints (Dominelli, 2012).
7.11.3.4 Roles common to women and men
The roles that they undertook together included weeding, fetching water and planting. Even though the roles were considered common to women and men, when for an example, the men went to fetch the water, they used the scotch cart, whereas the women used 20 litre containers which they carried on their heads and at times wheel barrows. Vimbai explained,
I did not get to this age in marriage by arguing over things which existed before I was born. Why would I want to upset the way our society works? My husband respects me and I also respect him. We know what each is expected to do and we do so. I can’t imagine what people would say if they saw him doing the family’s laundry. We would be ridiculed by the whole village, let alone made to pay a fine by the Chief for undermining tradition. (Vimbai, female participant, date of interview 12 August, 2016).
The women went to great lengths to ensure harmony in the home, including working longer hours than their male counterparts.
7.11.3.5 Female headed households
For female household heads, the roles tended to be slightly different. They had to negotiate with their in-laws to support them with labour and farm implements such as draught power.
Tatenda whose daughter was to be married could not initiate any action without the authorisation of her in-laws. This was noted to be normal and was accepted by the community as the practice. It is also a practice that is considered to keep harmony and unity within the community and in households. It also keeps the traditions, cultural practises and customs in place. She did not find this disempowering but felt it maintained social order. She was in fact
169 proud that she could gather the clan for her daughter who was to be married. This was of significance as it was traditionally believed children, especially girls of widowed women lacked discipline. The women felt they were independent to some extent. It was also strategic on the part of the women to continue with the linkages with the extended family members. This was important for the children as linkages with their patriarchal relatives were considered important should they need to deal with ancestral spiritual issues in the future. Tatenda explained as follows,
A widow is not really respected in the village. People expect the worst from us and our children and I don’t know why this is so. I am particularly pleased that my daughter has shown the village that widowhood is not associated with failure. We are also capable of doing well and raising well behaved children. I feel proud to have set the example. My daughter is my pride. (Tatenda, female participant, date of interview, 27 June 2016).