Continuity and Change: Performing Gender in Rural Tanzania

Tanzanian legislation for women’s rights is a product of decades of indigenous women’s struggles and considered amongst the most progressive in Africa. However, implementation has been problematic and some elements in the current discourse appear to push back against gender equality with an essentia...

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Main Authors: Badstue, Lone B., Farnworth, Cathy Rozel, Umantseva, Anya, Kamanzi, Adelbertus, Roeven, Lara
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Informa UK Limited 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/121039
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author Badstue, Lone B.
Farnworth, Cathy Rozel
Umantseva, Anya
Kamanzi, Adelbertus
Roeven, Lara
author_browse Badstue, Lone B.
Farnworth, Cathy Rozel
Kamanzi, Adelbertus
Roeven, Lara
Umantseva, Anya
author_facet Badstue, Lone B.
Farnworth, Cathy Rozel
Umantseva, Anya
Kamanzi, Adelbertus
Roeven, Lara
author_sort Badstue, Lone B.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Tanzanian legislation for women’s rights is a product of decades of indigenous women’s struggles and considered amongst the most progressive in Africa. However, implementation has been problematic and some elements in the current discourse appear to push back against gender equality with an essentialist framing of women and men as naturally different. This paper draws on the perspectives of 144 women and 144 men, in four rural communities in different regions of Tanzania, to build an understanding of how they perceive gender equality, and how their perceptions relate to decision-making, women earning incomes, women as homemakers, and control over assets. Understanding gender as a performance we contextualise our analysis through a historical overview of women’s struggles to secure rights from colonial times to the present day. We find that while local discourse appears to embrace the idea of gender equality, practice remains quite different with the threat of sanctions restricting the scope for re-negotiation of gender. The paper demonstrates how the continuous performance, reproduction and renegotiation of gender takes place as part of everyday life, as women and men seek to secure their personal well-being in a context of limited cultural and economic options.
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spelling CGSpace1210392024-10-03T07:40:54Z Continuity and Change: Performing Gender in Rural Tanzania Badstue, Lone B. Farnworth, Cathy Rozel Umantseva, Anya Kamanzi, Adelbertus Roeven, Lara gender women agriculture Tanzanian legislation for women’s rights is a product of decades of indigenous women’s struggles and considered amongst the most progressive in Africa. However, implementation has been problematic and some elements in the current discourse appear to push back against gender equality with an essentialist framing of women and men as naturally different. This paper draws on the perspectives of 144 women and 144 men, in four rural communities in different regions of Tanzania, to build an understanding of how they perceive gender equality, and how their perceptions relate to decision-making, women earning incomes, women as homemakers, and control over assets. Understanding gender as a performance we contextualise our analysis through a historical overview of women’s struggles to secure rights from colonial times to the present day. We find that while local discourse appears to embrace the idea of gender equality, practice remains quite different with the threat of sanctions restricting the scope for re-negotiation of gender. The paper demonstrates how the continuous performance, reproduction and renegotiation of gender takes place as part of everyday life, as women and men seek to secure their personal well-being in a context of limited cultural and economic options. 2021-02-01 2022-08-31T15:56:07Z 2022-08-31T15:56:07Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/121039 en Open Access Informa UK Limited Lone Badstue, Cathy Rozel Farnworth, Anya Umantseva, Adelbertus Kamanzi, and Lara Roeven. 2021. Continuity and Change: Performing Gender in Rural Tanzania. Journal of Development Studies, 57:2, 310-325
spellingShingle gender
women
agriculture
Badstue, Lone B.
Farnworth, Cathy Rozel
Umantseva, Anya
Kamanzi, Adelbertus
Roeven, Lara
Continuity and Change: Performing Gender in Rural Tanzania
title Continuity and Change: Performing Gender in Rural Tanzania
title_full Continuity and Change: Performing Gender in Rural Tanzania
title_fullStr Continuity and Change: Performing Gender in Rural Tanzania
title_full_unstemmed Continuity and Change: Performing Gender in Rural Tanzania
title_short Continuity and Change: Performing Gender in Rural Tanzania
title_sort continuity and change performing gender in rural tanzania
topic gender
women
agriculture
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/121039
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AT kamanziadelbertus continuityandchangeperforminggenderinruraltanzania
AT roevenlara continuityandchangeperforminggenderinruraltanzania