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2 From ‘Safety’ Zones to Public Spaces: Women’s Participation in Sport in Zimbabwe Molly Manyonganise Introduction This chapter focuses on gender inequalities in sport and argues that the majority of women are restrained from full participation in sporting activities due to the social construction of spaces earmarked for women and men. The focus on women emanates from the fact that in spite of achievements made by Zimbabwe in affording equal access for both men and women in the areas of education , employment, health, business, etc, the reality is that strong cultural and traditional practices restrict the progress of women in sport. The assumption of this chapter is that women are disadvantaged by the space which they culturally occupy, hence the need to interrogate the existence of these spaces in order to establish how women are restrained in their participation in sporting activities both as spectators and as sportspersons. In this chapter, safe spaces will mainly refer to the private domain of the home though references will be made to other similar spaces which restrict the participation of women in public activities such as sports. In order to explore how the notion of spaces control women’s participation in sport, interviews and discussions were conducted, involving a convenient sample of fifteen women, ten teenage girls and five men. The interviewer targeted both employed (generally those in the Central Business District of Harare) and unemployed women (house wives and single women) in Harare’s high density suburb of Mabvuku in order to ascertain their involvement in sport. These interviews were conducted between September and December 2009. While interviews provide insightful analysis, newspaper reports were also analyzed for information about the treatment of women in sports and what women in Zimbabwe are doing in order to challenge the status quo. The research used a qualitative research design. Data was analysed using the discourse as well as con- Gender, Sport and Development in Africa 14 tent analysis. Content analysis was chosen for its strength in allowing the researcher to gain an understanding of reality in a subjective but scientific way. It also emphasizes an integrated examination of speech and texts and their specific contexts . On the other hand, discourse analysis was chosen for its usefulness in the study of social identities since identity reproduces and sustains power relationships between social groups. In this case, it enabled the researcher to explore how language use and behaviour construct and replicate masculine and feminine spaces as far as sport is concerned. The following are some of the research questions that were asked research participants during data collection: 1. What is the role of the family in gender socialization? 2. What challenges do women face in their attempts to participate in sporting activities either as spectators or as sportspersons? 3. What could be the source of the gender inequalities that seem to be manifesting in the sporting arena in Zimbabwe? 4. How do you view women who go to sports venues to watch sports? 5. Do you think the sporting fields are safe places for women and girls in Zimbabwe and why do you think so? 6. How does society react towards women who challenge the status quo in sporting matters? 7. What could be the role of sport in women’s socio-economic development ? The research is informed by African Womanism which uses gender theory as an intellectual tool for critically analyzing discriminatory social, religious and political organizational structures (Mwale 2002). However, it should be noted that while the research is intended to be representative of all women in Zimbabwe, it is limited in that it was conducted among the Shona which is the dominant ethnic group in the country. The researcher recognizes that Zimbabwe has a heterogeneous population and that some of the findings may not be applicable to women in other ethnic groups. Future research may need to sample other ethnic groups not covered in this study. Cultural Taboos, Gender, Sport and the Family The family plays a pivotal role in the socialization of any child. It is within the family that children learn about gender roles. Doob (1988) states that socialization is a process by which a person becomes a member of a social group or society, learning the necessary cultural content and modes of behaviour and as a consequence , internalizing the culture of the society to which the person belongs.During primary socialization (that is, socialization that takes place in one’s childhood) the family is the principal agent, that is, the...

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