By Thandekile A. Ncube
Zimbabwean women continue to struggle from historical sidelining and structural inequalities that exist in the political, social and economic spheres. Colonization era ensured that women remained in rural areas, whilst men were in towns or mines working, and that reinforced the patriarchal system and gender inequalities approved by some cultural, religious and traditional customs.
Our society has continued to subject women to societal prejudice whenever they want to partake in politics or encounter any male, especially in the political arena. In our culture, a proper Zimbabwean woman is expected to be wedded, passive, reliant on men and hard working. When a woman displays fierceness, independent, determination and economically emancipation, a lot is said about her. Those who have attempted to enter the political arena have often been welcomed by animosity particularly from their male counterparts who feel intimidated by strong women usually accompanied by terrible stereotypes with their reputation being dragged to the mud by other fellow women who have accepted their oppression and are reproducing it. A woman who is brave enough to run for office in Zimbabwe remains to be seen. Women who make it to the political circle in most circumstances its because of their spouses who got high ranking positions in politicians. These women do not get appreciated for their individuals efforts without their spouses being mentioned.
Women also face patriarchal obstacles in efforts to enter into mainstream politics. In rural areas, young girls are married off at a very young age with poverty or religious beliefs being the main reasons thus they are deprived their right to education and freedom of conscience. Women also have a weak financial muscle to fund an election campaign thus those with strong financial muscle are mostly men who do not believe in women leadership skills. A research conducted shows that about 37% of women in Zimbabwe have no access to media especially those in rural women suffer from lack of information thus contributing to their low participation in politics. Young women living in rural areas are further marginalised because of lack of access to information. Huge family tasks pose a big challenge for women to dedicate themselves to political careers. Women spend more time doing unpaid chores.
NUST JOURNAL-ZW 