Negotiating gender and tourism work: Women’s lived experiences in Uganda

Abstract

The growing research on tourism and gender has emphasised the descriptive patterns of tourism employment by gender and related constraints, with little focus on women's active agency. Based on feminist understandings, this paper discusses how women in Mukono Parish, Southwestern Uganda, are navigating their local gender relations in order to work in tourism. The research followed a qualitative approach and utilized semi-structured interviews, participant observation and document reviews over an extended period of fieldwork between 2009 and 2011. Findings indicate women's willingness to exploit tourism work opportunities but still constrained by gender relations, which they keep negotiating. Mukono women are cautiously considering their immediate gains and losses for working in tourism, thereby associating with gender discourses and practices that limit their work opportunities. However, as women begin to work in and earn through tourism, some dominant local gender discourses and practices are slowly being challenged. Conclusions have broad-reaching implications for the field of tourism development and gender.

Men and women farmers’ perceptions of adopting improved diets for pigs in Uganda: decision-making, income allocation, and intra-household strategies that mitigate relative disadvantage

“…The entitlements that household members may have over the benefits from increased pig productivity resulting from adoption of the improved diets may also vary and be influenced by societal norms, attitudes, and perceptions that shape ownership patterns and resource access. Others have documented east African gender norms associated with employment, and livestock and crop production, the ways in which gender norms vary between households, and signs that the gender norm status quo is not always maintained [1,[30][31][32]. The degree to which pig keeping benefits men, women, and families, as well as various family members' investments in pig keeping, is largely unknown.…”

“…Gender norms and disparities between statutory and customary law that dictate household members' ability to control, retain, and make decisions about investments and assets, and their within-household bargaining power, may result in differential benefit allocation between household members [1,32,33]. In this study, customary law refers to "customs that are accepted as legal requirements or obligatory rules of conduct; practices and beliefs that are so vital and intrinsic a part of a social and economic system that they are treated as if they were laws" [34].…”

“…In Uganda, women are expected to be obedient and submissive to men and must seek permission from their husbands to work outside their domestic domain [20,32]. This power differential is promulgated by the practice of bride-wealth payment (bride price).…”

“…This power differential is promulgated by the practice of bride-wealth payment (bride price). Women are responsible for tasks such as cooking, housekeeping, and childcare even when employed outside the home [20,32]. Women are also responsible for pig and poultry-rearing [40].…”

“…Women are also responsible for pig and poultry-rearing [40]. Culturally, men are head of households and men are the decision-makers [32,41]. They are responsible for providing an income and shelter [41].…”