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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Patriarchy and Domestication of Women in Zimbabwe: A Critique of Female-to-Female Relations of Oppression |
Author: | Ndlovu-Gatsheni, Sabelo J. |
Year: | 2003 |
Periodical: | Zambezia (ISSN 0379-0622) |
Volume: | 30 |
Issue: | 2 |
Pages: | 229-245 |
Language: | English |
Notes: | biblio. refs. |
Geographic terms: | Zimbabwe Southern Africa |
Subjects: | patriarchy women Women's Issues Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Cultural Roles Sex Roles gender feminism Oppression (Psychology) socialization |
Abstract: | Mainstream feminist studies emphasize the role of men in the construction, sustenance and perpetuation of patriarchy in Zimbabwe. This article provides a critique of this standpoint, and examines the direct and indirect roles played by women in the domestication of other women in Zimbabwe. Focus is on elderly women who have internalized patriarchal oppression to the extent that they impart education for domestication to young women. Domestication refers to the confinement of women to the domestic sphere, rooted in the concept of marriage, attempts to exclude them from the urban centres and from active participation in the public realm, as well as the general expectation that women should be humble, submissive and subordinate to men. The author argues that failure to acknowledge the role of women in the construction, sustenance and perpetuation of patriarchy, and only focusing on the role of women in the struggle for democracy, is not only one-sided, but also ignores the role that women have played in shaping the societies they live in today. Notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract] |