Although, the main axis of patriarchal power is still the overall subordination of women and dominance of men—my research from both Kisii and Dar es Salaam clearly indicates that the deteriorating material conditions have seriously under­mined the normative order of patriarchy in both Kisii and Dar es Salaam. While men are in power structurally and […]

Even if condoms are now more widely referred to and also used, in particular in the urban contexts, interviews also clearly demonstrate that when a man has had intercourse with a new partner a few times, that person is no longer a stranger, and condom use is stopped. It is a well-known fact that it […]

Recurrent observations by men as well as women interviewed were that “a real man needs to demonstrate that he can handle more than one partner”—especially when a man needs to strengthen his self-esteem. According to men in Kisii “a man needs at least three wives: one to bear his children, one to work and one […]

In 1894, Dar es Salaam was a minor settlement with 10,000 inhabitants. By 1957 it had grown to 130,000 (Leslie 1963). Today, the population has grown to close to 2 million. In the 1950s men in the capital far outweighed women. Today there are only 0.9 men for every woman. About thirty per cent of […]

Kisii is among the most productive cash and food crop regions in Kenya. In 1907 the population was estimated at 75,000. Since then the population has multiplied at least 20 times. HIV/AIDS infections are alarming with more women than men infected (UNAIDS Update 2002). Unemployment is a serious problem, because the land available is not […]

As mentioned above, research—mainly based on qualitative interviewing with both men and women, case studies, life histories and focus group discussions— was carried out, first in rural and then in urban East Africa. The focus for the re­search was on changing gender roles and relations as well as sexual and reproduc­tive health and behaviour by […]

Margrethe Silberschmidt Introduction The AIDS epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa has thrust sexuality, sexual practices and sexual behaviour into the spotlight as a major public health issue. However, although sexual and reproductive health behaviour in Sub-Saharan Africa is at­tracting increasing attention there is an inadequate understanding of the struc­tures and processes influencing sexuality and sexual behaviour […]

As pointed out in the introduction, often research on single women, and particu­larly studies of single townswomen, has focused on how they utilise their sexuality for material gain and, more or less unproblematically, they have been labelled ‘prostitutes’. In this paper, I have tried to draw a more composite picture of single mothers, showing that […]

Most single women who are involved in a more steady relationship, and particu­larly with a cohabiting partner, are gradually faced with the ultimate dilemma be­tween, on the one hand, social respectability and economic security provided by the partner and, on the other hand, the increasing control exercised by a steady and more present partner which […]

It is reported from many parts of Africa that women may manipulate their child’s identity, i. e. fatherhood, to improve their social and economic positions when such options are available to them (cf. for instance, Bledsoe and Pison 1994). In her study of single mothers among Yoruba-speaking groups of Western Nigeria, Jane Guyer developed the […]