The Gender Issue

So it has been requested that I say some things about the gender issue here in Zambia. One of things EWB would like to see is gender equality which is not necessarily prevalent in the less-economically-developed world. So I don’t have a lot I can say on the issue because I haven’t seen much of it. Within the MACO – which is the government – there are high powered women and there are low powered women like the secretary. The DACCO is male, and I suspect most of the really important positions are exclusively held by men. There is definitely the idea that women are equal in what goes on. The development sector is a major industry in sub-Saharan Africa, with many of the best jobs in these countries found with NGOs, and with gender equality thoroughly embedded in development rhetoric – which maybe a problem if it is not looked at as in issue in itself no one will take responsibility for seeing that it happens.

What I am trying to say is there is gender inequality, but the whole scene seems to be moving towards equality. Its in the minds of the development workers, and it can be seen in the villages. One of the questions we were asking during our interviews was “How many women are on the dam committee?”, and “Do you think there should be more? How many?”. Women definitely have their own ideas and want them to be heard, but there is still an ingrained hierarchy. In fact, much to my surprise 50% of the women we talked to didn’t think there should be more than the two [out of 16] women on the committee. That doesn’t mean 50% said there should be, only 38% said there should be more, the rest “didn’t know”.

Talking with Besta a Lweendo, both are going to school and want to get good jobs. Lweendo has actually gone up to the Copper Belt to work in the mines because she doesn’t like the hotel industry here in Livingstone. I don’t know how I feel about that, but I don’t really know what it is like to work in the mines here or anywhere. All I have is mental pictures of movies and pictures of the Industrial Revolution with the horribly coal mines. Besta was amazed to hear that I have been washing my clothes. She had to look at my hands because she didn’t think I could handle the job. I find the reversal of ideas of physical strength interesting. As I guy I am not strong enough to wash my own clothes, or cook nshima [nshima does tire me out, these people must have forearms of steel after cooking it everyday]. I tell them that I love to cook at home in Canada and they share their favourite chores with me. Besta loves to sweep and clean, but hates cooking. They tell me they know there aren’t these same gender roles in Canada [even though, as much as we try to avoid it, there still is underlying roles] but that’s the way it is in Zambia. They have almost a cultural pride in those roles. I guess its division of labor. I think you could get into a big discussion about the difference between equality and equity and which is more appropriate.

There are female extension officers too. At the end of the day it doesn’t seem like it’s a huge problem, but if you really looked you would see in the villages that the women do most of the work. Its not equal, or even equitable. But things are getting better. You can’t stop the emancipation of women. And if those women choose to have those roles, well it’s a lot different than that role being a prison one can not escape from.

I think it also important to note that Zambians have their eyes fixed on the U.S. Even when they dislike the U.S. government they try everything they can to achieve the North American lifestyle. All the Hollywood movies are available here. Those videos are propaganda for strong independent women, in a way. The girls watch them and see women not held back by anything but their ambition. And guys watch and see guys not holding women back and everyone just pursuing the lifestyle they want. So maybe we can’t completely condemn the pursuit of the American lifestyle.

This is an extension of the post after I wrote it originally:

I saw a Zambian beauty magazine the other day. It had the similar style of advertising its articles like you see an magazines in Canada. One of them read: “Why men won’t commit: what women are doing wrong!” I couldn’t believe it. There is a problem with the behavior of men but it’s the women doing something wrong. If books and magazines weren’t so damned expensive I might have even bought the beauty magazine just to find out if that is actually what they meant.