"Tanzania is engaged in a struggle to become a democratic socialist and developed nation... What is consistently disregarded (in this struggle), however, is the peculiar place of women in the midst of change and counter-change", states Dr. Marjorie J. Mbilinyi, lecturer in educational psychology at the University of Dar es Salaam. In this article, Ms. Mbilinyi examines some of the misconceptions about the traditional role of women in African societies and contends that in many ways women's place in modern society is declining. She also contends that at the same time that they are engaged in the struggle for socialism, women must work to remove the contradictions that oppress them as women. Originally published in the Journal of Modem African Studies, 10, 1, this shortened version of the article appeared in a documentation dossier Ujamaa and Self-Reliance: Building Socialism in Tanzania, available from IDOC, via Santa Maria dell'Anima 30, Rome, Italy (price: $ 3.95 plus postage).

It is my belief that the conventional image of the servile African woman is oversimplified. However, in Tanzania at least, the image is becoming more "true" as a result of women's changing relationship to the tradition and the new woman production process. A woman's place in a subsistence agricultural economy is not the same as her place in a money-oriented, cash-crop economy. The power and independence she might have had in the former is rapidly disappearing in the latter. So far, the contradictions developing in the modem sector (e.g. the dependence of the national economy on international monopoly capital) have been analyzed without as much concern for the contradictions developing in the subsistence sector or for those inherited from the past by the new socialist economy. Among these contradictions is that between men and women.

For example, recent moves to socialise peasant farmers into ujamaa villages seem to have suffered from an inadequate analysis of major contradictions within the peasant population. The peasant is enticed to join an ujamaa village because of the material and social benefits to be acquired there: schooling, medical care, security, the possibility of profit. Perhaps it is an error to reinforce the "acquisitiveness" of the peasant, rather than cooperative values and the habits of discipline and self-sacrifice necessary for full-scale socialist development. '

One vital lever of change could be women. The advantages of a socialised existence should be very obvious to individuals who own little or nothing, have little or no control over the actual process of production beyond their own tiny subsistence shambas, or farm plots, and who still provide the bulk of the productive labour -- the women. In Jack Belden's survey of the early years of the Chinese Revolution, the force of the women's struggle once their consciousness was aroused has been vividly portrayed (1). Chinese women's awareness of their own exploited position vis-a-vis men led to a realization of the contradictions inherent in the nature of feudalism and imperialism which had to be defeated for any change to take place in the social structure that supported male exploitation. As a result, women became a vital force in the revolution.

Despite so-called subordination to men, women traditionally have essential, semi-autonomous roles as producers and distributors of goods. The African woman thinks of herself as more than a wife and mother. She is a cultivator, a weaver, a trader, and ':her occupational role is part of her self-image" (2). How much economic autonomy a woman may have is a function of the structure of her society's economy. In general, women have had greater autonomy the greater the degree of economic differentiation. The woman not only produces, she has control over the distribution of at least some of the accumulation of surplus, as in traditional Nupe and Yoruba societies in Nigeria.

The impact of colonialism and Modernization

The impact of colonial administration on the role of women has been ambiguous. The administrators were inevitably men and brought their assumptions of male supremacy with them. No recognition was given to the status of women, either in the economic or the social-political life of the community. Administrators sought spokesmen or headmen. When the need to produce a class of semi-educated, white-collar workers developed, young boys were sought for schooling. Because the political power of women was usually indirect, often a function of their position as sisters or mothers, it was not openly recognized.

A common assumption is that urbanization and modernization inevitably lead to positive changes in women's status. For example, N.J. Smelser notes that women become "less subordinated economically, politically and socially to their husbands than under earlier conditions" (3).

Such a conclusion has been contradicted by events in some African societies. As the money sector has increased in importance, the role of women in many areas has correspondingly declined. Where once women contributed so much economically, their contributions now are often marginal, especially in urban areas.

Another by-product or social change, particularly that forced by missionary movements to Africa, has been the relative decline in the significance of traditional rituals; Mrs. M . Swantz shows how religious and magical rites have served an important function in safeguarding the dignity of women, whose role in society was thereby recognized (4). These rites ensured that men fulfilled their obligations to women. For, though the wife was ideally "submissive" to her husband, he had definite obligations to fulfill, as did her own male kinsfolk. Mrs Swantz shows how social changes has led to a relaxation of different rituals and has therefore reduced the powerful sanctions to ensure the fulfillment of these obligations.

The importance of agricultural productivity in the determination of female status has been offset by the effects of education as an important new source of social prestige and a prerequisite for entering the wage earning occupational structure. Women are not highly if at all, educated, and are therefore cut off from most job opportunities.

But, without the necessary technical skills and vocational training, women will remain unemployed or have access only to the lowest-level, least interesting jobs.

In most African nations women represent a minimal proportion of the total wage-earning labour force. Where they are "economically active" it is usually in agriculture, crafts, or commerce, .as low-level, self employed producers or traders. These sectors tend to offer an unsteady income with no workers' benefits. The majority of women wage-earners are employed in "service" occupations: primary school teaching, nursing, and -~ in some countries - domestic work. Women are rarely found in the newer economic sectors so vital for future economic development: manufacturing, science, technology, communications. For example, in Tanzania, although 50 per cent of both men and women are found in agriculture, this includes a substantial proportion of male wage-earners, but very few women. Women represent only 10 per cent of the total wage-earning force in all sectors, and most of these  are engaged in primary schools teaching and nursing: only 4 per cent of the total industrial jobs and 2 per cent of managerial posts are held by women.

Which characteristics of traditional life are now proving detrimental to a new conception of women's role? As has been said earlier, men own cattle and land, or control rights to land use. Moreover, inheritance is nearly always along the male line. As a result boys in the household are looked upon as the future "fathers" of the extended family, whereas girls are expected to leave the family and join another. Women are essential to the lineage process as the instruments of procreation. This does not mean that they enter into the husband's lineage, however, as is clearly seen in inheritance customs. If a woman's husband dies, she -  has no basic rights to the house, land, or household properties, other than certain material possessions clearly defined as her own (e.g. her cooking pots). In particular, her Children are retained by members of the husband's lineage. Similar results follow a divorce. A widow is not simply tossed out; in many areas she may be "married" to a brother of her husband or else be cared for by a grown-up son. Too often, however, she ends up a widow at her own father's homestead, minus children, minus any tangible product of a lifetime of toil.

The Marriage Act of 1971

The Tanzanian Government has enacted a new marriage law in an attempt to correct legally the oppressed situation of women (on the mainland only). One of the most debated sections was that ensuring rights of inheritance for a widow at the time of her husband's death. Many M.P.s were outspoken in their opposition to this, on the grounds that women did not own property and therefore could not be entitled to inherit any.

Another controversial section made it mandatory for a first wife to register consent in court before her husband could legally marry a second wife. The general feeling against this was summed up by one M.P. who said, "If a man has to get his wife's consent to a second marriage, the African tradition where man has always been superior to a woman will be endangered. Unless the Law of Marriage Bill intends to change men into women this clause should be removed".

The process of divorce has been unified for all citizens. In the past, according to Muslim law, a man had only to pronounce three "talakas" in order to denounce his marriage and sever the marriage bond. Now, all cases of divorce must be brought before a Conciliatory Board. Provision is made for the payment of some maintenance to the wife and for the custody of children, who will normally stay with the mother up to the age of seven years, after which they revert to the father. This is in compliance with patrilineal customary law, where children are considered the property of the father and his lineage. Under this section, women as well as men may now have recourse to legal action in the case of marital discord, which was not so previously. Furthermore, both parties to the marriage "have the freedom to consent to, the marriage or to withhold their consent, without any coercion". The minimum age for marriage is 18 for men and 15 for women.

Exactly what a wife will receive for maintenance upon the divorce or death of her husband is not made clear. It is stated that she retains her rights to any property she may have brought to the marriage or acquired during it; but no provision is made for the labour she carried out in the course of her married life, such as subsistence farming, housekeeping or child care, which demand her full energies but do not result in tangible goods. Women's work, like peasant subsistence production, is socially necessary but is not valued in the market place. It would seem that some kind of compensation should be provided for this.

The Anti-Woman Movement

We might expect that, as the equilibrium of social relationships is increasingly upset by changes in the economic and the social structure, a "strong conscious effort" to maintain traditional roles would be augmented. The conservative all-out attempt to keep things as they were "in the good old days" would strengthen in desperation, until socio-economic changes were so extensive as to make the traditional position untenable. If such an analysis is correct, we might say that Tanzania is embarking now on a last-ditch stand concerning the status of women. Attacks on miniskirts, "town" girls, and the bad manners of educated women represent in part an effort to keep women in their traditional place, subservient either to husbands or male kinsmen. The negative, conservative element in these attacks outweighs any positive, progressive attempt to affirm the African identity of women. If the reverse were true, the leaders of the anti-mini movement would be women. They would be shouting, not only for longer skirts, but also for a reaffirmation of the economic autonomy of women and the need to restructure the developing economy to give them a place in nation building.

This anti-women movement should be compared with the revolution in attitudes to women in China. There, a deliberate equalization of the sexes has been vividly symbolized by the trousers worn by all citizens, male and female. The change in dress is a symbol of the very real change in woman's status.

One possible source of the alarm over schoolgirl behaviour and the educated woman's "arrogance" may be the realization that women are no longer ignorant or that they are in the process of growing out of ignorance. A parallel reaction used to occur in the colonial past at the thought of higher education for , black Africans. Education is a dangerous thing in the hands of the oppressed.

What Must Be done

This article has focused primarily on the rural economy because that is where the majority of Tanzania's population are still rooted. Moreover, it seems essential to examine the productive processes of semi-subsistence economies in order to clarify the common assumption that men-women contradictions are a product solely of capitalism. It seems probable that such contradictions have arisen independently of, or prior to, the development of capitalism. Capitalist forces, however, have exploited the contradictions between men and women, and thereby accentuated them.

Industrialization will be the key to the future of Tanzania, and its structure will be crucial. At present, it seems to be following the pattern of developed capitalist economies, for example, in the emphasis on capital-intensive, profit-oriented business and industry. Social values may be considered of primary importance by the Government and the party, but in fact be neglected by economic institutions, both private and public. The implications for women are clear. The institutional innovations necessary for the full employment of women (such as child care facilities, retraining, mechanized laundries, and community eating facilities) are all costly ventures. If bureaucrats and managers of parastatal bodies make decisions solely on the criteria of efficiency and profit, such changes will not occur. Women therefore must participate in the struggle against underdevelopment. However, while engaged in that national struggle, they must be conscious of the peculiar contradictions of their own lives and act to remove them at the same time. In doing so, women will be "saving" their daughters and sisters and awakening them to the realization of their own true abilities and potentialities. Women cannot expect anyone else to do this for them. Their future rests in themselves.

NOTES:

(1) Jack Balden, "Sex and Revolution", in Monthly Review (New York), XXII, 4, September 1970.
(2) R.A. Levine, "Sex Roles and Economic Change in Africa" in Ethnology (Pittsburgh), IV, 2. April 1966, pp. 186-187.
(3) N.J Smelser, "Towards a Theory of Modernization", in G. Dalton  (ed.). Tribal and Peasant Economies (Garden City, J967).
(4) M Swartz, Religious and Magical Rites of Bantu women in Tanzania (Dar es Salaam 1996)