Female Circles and Male Lines: Gender Dynamics along the Swahili Coast

Askew, Kelly M.

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Title:	Female Circles and Male Lines: Gender Dynamics along the Swahili Coast
Author:	Askew, Kelly M.
Year:	1999
Periodical:	Africa Today
Volume:	46
Issue:	3-4
Period:	Summer/Fall
Pages:	67-102
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	East Africa Kenya Tanzania
Subjects:	gender relations Swahili Women's Issues Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Cultural Roles Sex Roles Religion and Witchcraft gender
External link:	http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/africa_today/v046/46.3askew.pdf
Abstract:	This article analyses historical changes in the gender dynamics of dance performance ('ngoma') as well as other social domains along the Swahili coast of East Africa. It traces transformations in gender relations within the Swahili communities of coastal and inland Kenya and Tanzania by means of an analysis that explores connections between politics, kinship and postmarital residence patterns, economics, and musical performance. A comparative analysis of present-day data and a collection of ethnographic data on Bagamoyo in the 1890s and consideration of earlier history of the Swahili coast suggest that we cannot blindly accept the idea that today's gender-segregated 'ngoma' reflect gender relations of the past, even if they accurately reflect gender relations in contemporary Swahili society. The evidence presented indicates that there have been shifts in Swahili society from a time when women held more political, social and economic autonomy than is available to them today; that this has entailed the cultural elaboration of an opposition between Arab and African designations; that this opposition has a strongly gendered dimension; and that musical practices play a central role in this historical and cultural process. The Swahili coast presents an ideal case study for demonstrating the intangibility of cultural boundaries. App., bibliogr., notes, ref., sum.