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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Women and Wages: Gender and the Control of Income in Farm and Bantustan Households |
Authors: | Sharp, John S. Spiegel, Andrew D. |
Year: | 1990 |
Periodical: | Journal of Southern African Studies |
Volume: | 16 |
Issue: | 3 |
Period: | September |
Pages: | 527-549 |
Language: | English |
Geographic terms: | South Africa Qwaqwa Transkei |
Subjects: | women's employment household income women women's work Women's Issues Economics and Trade Labor and Employment Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Ethnic and Race Relations Cultural Roles economics Marital Relations and Nuptiality migration Status of Women Sex Roles |
External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/2636893 |
Abstract: | Concentrating on gender relationships, this article compares two bantustan areas in South Africa: the Matatiele district in the Transkei and Qwaqwa in the Orange Free State. Significant characteristics all bantustans in South Africa share are the overwhelming dependence of households on income derived from remittances, and the fact that migrant contract employment opportunities are mainly restricted to men. This article looks at the way in which different local experiences of the overall process of capitalist development have shaped people's perceptions of propriety in gender relationships and the nature of the relationships themselves. In Qwaqwa, virtually all of the married men were opposed to their wives' engaging in local income-generating activities; the main target of male opprobrium being shebeening and door-to-door hawking. In Matatiele, where many households had direct access to arable resources, it was allowed that women used a small portion of the grain harvested to brew beer for sale. This difference in perception needs to be explained not only in the context of local circumstances, but also in terms of the macro-level processes of capitalist expansion. The remainder of this article describes the experiences of people on white-owned farms in the Orange Free State prior to their relocation to Qwaqwa and considers the situation in Matatiele over time, showing some of the continuities and changes in social relationships in this area. Ref. |