State Construction of Gender

Abstract

A common thread running through most of the articles included in this edition
of UTAFITI (New Series) is the role of the state in constructing gender. Four
of the seven articles focus on formal schooling-Meena's "Situational Analysis
of Education of GirlslWomen in Tanzania", Mushi's "Tanzanian Secondary
School Science Teachers Perception and Reaction to Gender Differences in
Performance in Science", Malekela's "Tanzanian School Women Talking: Are
the Traditional Patterns of Thinking Changing?" and Possi's "Gender and
Education of People with Disabilities in Tanzania". Manji's "The Case for
Women's Rights to Land in Tanzania: Some Observations in the Context of
AIDS" is a strong critique of dualistic state policy concerning customary and
common laws pertaining to land and other property. Mbonile and Lihawa's
analysis in "Rural-Urban Female Migration in Tanzania, A Case of Oar es
Salaam City" can be read as an indictment of the government for its failure to
provide mechanisms to protect workers' rights for people employed in marginal
jobs such as waitressing in bars (bar girls) or domestic service.
The texts, taken as a whole, provide a wealth of information, especially
about formal education. Readers are challenged to read beyond the facts; to
consider what kind of social forces have propelled the education and legal
system in a certain "direction,whose outcome is to systematically deprive girls
and women of their rights as human beings and to reinforce male domination in
society as a whole!
In the next major section, I will explore some of the common themes that
emerge among the articles, as well as some differences. A brief summary of
each article is provided in the third and fInal section.