Category — Gender Roles in Malawi by Katherine Poirier

Since my return to Montreal, I have been asked to write a report about a given issue that sparked my interest during my trip to Malawi. I knew I could discuss many subjects, but I wasn’t sure which one to select. One day, I found the inspiration that led me to write the following report in a documentary entitled “Tough Guise: Violence, Media & the Crisis in Masculinity”, written by Jeremy Earp and Jackson Katz. The video discusses how the portrayal of masculinity has been completely distorted over time, and how social and cultural factors have led men to feel the need to put on a “tough guy” facade in order to be accepted as a man in society. Although there cannot be a complete comparison between western civilisation, and African village life (simply because the media is not as overwhelmingly present in the latter), similar principles can still be applied. Gender discrimination that has resulted from men’s need to overpower, dominate and control women is a worldwide issue. As I watched the video, a particular moment from my trip came to mind. This moment occurred after we finished painting a classroom at the primary school.

“As we were cleaning the room, we noticed that the floor desperately needed to be mopped. Mr. Chiroua sent all the girls to get more water. When they returned with filled buckets, he told them to mop the floor. Complaining, the girls said that the boys should take over, but the boys just laughed and said that mopping was “a girl’s job”. Mr. Chiroua shoved the bucket into one of the girl’s hands and ordered her to mop.

Then, a male Standard 7 student took the bucket from the girl, and began to wash the floor himself. His friends ridiculed him and stared at him the entire time. The Vanier group watched  the boy and smiled. We were amazed that he had taken the initiative to mop the floor, even though it was considered “a girl’s job”. We were even more impressed that he did so in front of all of his friends. We thought to ourselves, ‘now this is a true sign of courage’. We commended him for helping us, and thanked him for his job well done.”

During our stay, many members of the group focused on understanding gender issues in Malawi, with a particular interest in discovering ways to empower young women who faced adversity.  Our goal was to develop a support system that would allow girls to feel comfortable discussing topics such as education, relationships, teenage pregnancy and what it means to be a strong woman. What I hadn’t yet considered but came to the realization of, after watching the documentary, is that young men need a support system as well. The boy who helped mop the floor after we painted the classroom is quite an exception. Most boys would have let the girls do the work. This is because the ideas that men and women have distinct roles, and that women are inferior to men is instilled in boy’s minds from a young age. Most boys refuse to be associated with doing “female chores” because they fear being disrespected by their peers or being considered “unmanly”. Although this may seem innocent on a small scale, on a larger scale it creates many problems. Gender discrimination has been the reason why many girls have not been able to go to school. In poverty-stricken areas, if a family has more than one child of different sexes, the boy is deemed as more intelligent, thus has a higher chance of attending school. Furthermore, household chores are completed by females; therefore a girl might not be able to attend school if she is needed at home. In addition, if a girl becomes pregnant, she is expected to leave school to take care of the child, whereas the boy can continue to pursue his education.

Many other social and cultural factors have not been discussed, and I am aware that I have only scratched the surface of an issue that has been ongoing for many centuries. However, as I mentioned previously, if we are to alleviate any of the consequences caused by gender discrimination, it is important to develop a support group for both females and males. As much as we need to empower women, men equally need positive role models to show them that succumbing to gender discrimination is not acceptable.  Only by presenting young boys with men who can break down traditional views of gender roles, and re-evaluate the true definition of “masculinity” can we hope that someday, all boys will gladly mop a floor.