A recently published article in the Zimbabwe Herald was written by Joyce Jenje Makwenda on the impact of colonialism on the status of women inside the country.
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By Joyce Jenje-Makwenda
Zimbabwe Herald
Women’s personal time is determined by their family and society.
Patriarchy aims to confine women to the home where they do unacknowledged or unpaid work.
Often they combine the responsibilities of working to earn a wage and doing all the domestic work.
This unfair division of labour when girls are growing up and when they finally have their "own" homes, means that they do not have much time to spend on developing themselves and their talents.
In many patriarchal societies, women are supposed to confine themselves to the domestic sphere.
Their access to public space is very limited.
They are not supposed to develop a public persona.
There are some women who try to fight all odds when they are still young, and fulfil their goals, but when they get to a certain age, for instance if they get married, the structures set by the society remind them that they are "women" and they give up on their dreams.
This has contributed to a large extent to women lacking personal time to continue with their aspirations.
It becomes even more difficult when a woman wants to be in a field or profession that will take her away during odd hours or for a long time away from home.
Women who have chosen music as a career have had to find ways of dealing with their families or society in order for them to make it.
It could be easier when they are still single but once they decide to marry and have a family it becomes a challenge.
With marriage comes the responsibility of re-arranging priorities. As a wife, she is called to put her husband’s needs before her own. This often means compromising on the amount of time she spends on music, if her husband is at all interested in continuing with music.
In this day and age where women usually need to work to supplement the family income, it becomes almost impossible to be an effective wife, a good mother, a reliable employee and a great musician at the same time.
When the demanding lifestyle becomes stressful, music is often the first thing to be taken off the list. Laura Bezuidenhout an accomplished musician who has been in music since the 1970’s and has been involved in music in Zimbabwe and South Africa has made the following observations as regards women musicians and personal time, "A a lot of men who marry female musicians tend to become possessive and jealous after the marriage, and they often force their new wives to choose between their careers and their marriage.
Society also plays a role here — music is seen as an activity for youngsters, carefree, without responsibilities and more often than not, a little on the frivolous side.
Society expects a married woman to conduct herself as such, and the negative associations with music is often too overbearing for general societal acceptance. In the paternalistic society we live in, women are tossed from side to side when trying to chart their lives, and they are often not allowed to make the necessary decisions that will accommodate both her "talents and her in-laws", so to speak…," says Laura Bezuidenhout.
The structures of the society are designed in such a way that women find it difficult to work in the home and outside the home, this put pressure on them and they have to choose whether to continue with outside work or the home.
Usually it is the home that they have to choose as they are brought up to feel that they are obliged to make the home run smoothly and if it does not they feel they have failed the family and society.
Lina Gumboreshumba started her musical career at a young age and she had time to pursue her musical dream as she came from a musical family and she would accompany her father to play at bira’s (night vigils). She has taken music to another level and she now has a Master's in Music , which she teaches and also works for the Hugh Tracy Library.
While she has been one of the lucky few women musicians who have fulfilled their aspirations she feels that the requirements of music and marriage often clash, "I think the demands of a musical career and the demands of marriage for a woman as expected by the husband and the society at large clash.
Being a musician demands many hours of practising, and some performances are done outside the "normal" day hours, as a result many men are not comfortable with their wives tackling the heavy schedule and working odd hours. The demands of the family weigh down on the woman and in the end she has to make a choice and drop the other. So married women musicians really need their husbands’ and families’ support of their career to succeed," says Lina Gumboreshumba.
Despite the structures of the society which has made it impossible for women to fulfill their aspiration from an early age to adulthood, some women musicians have learnt how to create time in order to have their place in the music scene.
When Prudence Katomeni-Mbofana one of the best Jazz musician and a renowned actor was asked to be part of a musical play while she was breastfeeding her second child says the show was a success and even the producer did not know how she was able to do it as she would breastfeed her child just before going onto the stage. She created time for the play to be successful.
Prudence Katomeni-Mbofana’s career started at an early age while she was at high school and she seems to be going stronger, despite being a mother and a wife. She also gets support from her husband Comfort Mbofana.
Tambudzayi Hwaramba, who made her name in the urban grooves genre in the 90’s, was involved in music from a tender age and she managed to do this by creating personal time to accommodate her music in whatever she did, "I’ve always had a passion for song and dance. When I was in primary school I used to invite my friends over to my house for singing and dancing competitions. We would compete to see who could sing popular songs by musicians like Yvonne Chaka Chaka best.
"Of course, I would practise all week so that I could know every song by heart. I would watch all the music programmes on TV and imitate the dances and performances. At this stage, I just thought I enjoyed music but didn’t realise that God had given me a particular gift. I didn’t even realise that there was potential for creativity in me."
Tambudzayi continued with her music when she went to secondary school. "I went to High School (Arundel Girls High School). However, this was when I became aware of the fact that I had a God-given talent. I met a girl called Dumisani Nkala who was a brilliant piano-player.
We became friends and we would sit together in one of the school piano rooms while she practiced. As time went on and as we got comfortable around each other, we began singing together and writing songs together. By the time we were in our second last year of High School, Dumi and I were part of an all-girls gospel band called Milele.
Other members of the band included Farirai Mukonoweshuro, Ratidzai Magura and Nyaradzo Ngwerume. Milele performed at a few concerts in their time" Says Tambudzayi as she goes back in time.
Nyasha Bare, who is one of the few women musicians to enrol in music education in the late 80’s, realised her music talent when she was young and since then she has not looked back.
She now teaches music and she has also recorded a Gospel album. "I had interest in music from a very young age up to when I started my primary education. I used to participate in school choirs and traditional dance groups and when I went to secondary school, I was a choir leader for Sunday school and I also used to conduct a school choir at boarding school.
After my secondary school education I went to Chivhu where I was a temporary choir mistress for six years. My choir used to come out number one or two."
Stella Chiweshe, the Queen of Zimbabwe Mbira Music, realising that she had musical talent learnt to multi task while working, "When I was a child I used to herd cattle with my grandfather.
"As you obviously know cattle are herded so far from the house, from there I’d sing my voice loud so that people at the house would hear my voice.
"So when I got home (those days) my mind and body would form a rhythm which I still have up to this day. I would play the rhythm even on plates, the tables — anything that would give me sound."
The late Elizabeth Ncube, the first female Imbongi, was not all that lucky when she started her musical career as she was always reminded of housework and that as a woman she should stay at home.
Although she resisted this kind of treatment and she followed her heart she became the first female Imbongi and her parents were impressed.
In an interview that I had with her in the early 90’s, she said "I knew I was going to perform but I did not know what to say to my parents it was difficult for me to tell them as they used to say a woman must not be exposed too much to the outside world (umuntu wesifazana kumele ahlale pansi).
A woman was not supposed to go to a beerhall, a woman was just supposed to look after children at home. Sweep the house etc. But then what I had was too powerful for me. My parents were now the ones asking me when next was I going to perform?"
When Prudence Katomeni-Mbofana, one of the best Jazz musician and a renowned actor, was asked to be part of a musical play while she was breastfeeding her second child says the show was a success and even the producer did not know how she was able to do it as she would breastfeed her child before going onto the stage. She created time for the play to be successful.
Shuvai Wutaunashe, a celebrated Gospel musician since the late 70’s, encourages women to create time in order for them to be able to make it in the music industry.
"It takes effort and a woman has to be able to divide her time. Because I am a married woman, I am a wife and I have two children.
"There are the things I take seriously and am fortunate that family supports me. But a woman in my position needs to have time and at the same time working."
Women create personal time in order to fulfill your aspirations, as you continue to celebrate womanhood.
--Joyce Jenje Makwenda is researcher, archivist, writer and producer. She can be contacted on: joycejenje@gmail.com
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