Gender Representation and Culture:

A Critical Survey of Tanzanian Entertainment Newspapers

Charles M. Mustapha Kayoka (ckayoka@yahoo.com)

Dip. Ed, B. A. (Ed), Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

The Open University of Tanzania

July, 2001

1.0 Introduction

Our self-identities as individuals or members of a social collectivity are always shaped by the external realities around us. The society has created models of behaviors which we, as individual, and according to set norms and values should adopt or emulate. The models represents what both society and culture deign as ideal and worth protecting respectively. The representative models does also impose limits beyond which as members of society, or as beings belonging to certain categories, are not supposed to trespass. The feminist critic, Marj Kirb says that the 'representation always, and necessarily, entails use of codes and conventions of presentation within a specific discourse, limiting the possibility of depiction." In the same way, media, electronic, print or the traditional communication forms like theatre, dances, rituals, which have always been recognized as powerful agents of cultural socialization operates through representation models that are considered ideal and worth imitating. Since the contemporary, modern, society's mode of life is always influenced by the media such textbooks, cookery or beauty manuals, newspapers, television and cinema, radio have columns or programmes that have direct effect on life styles (Gibson and Hanna:1992) then the dominant ideology uses this same means to influence certain patterns of thinking, behaving and interpreting realities. Media tend to give us the cue of what we should do, what and how we should think and some messages "urge us to act immediately," in most cases without giving us a break so as to ponder on long or short term effect of the messages we receive or things we are supposed to do. It is the same way when we study the way media condition gender relationships in any society. "The mass media sell not only products but also a way of life."(Lundy and Warner(1988), thus tacitly telling us that the images they present "reflect ideas about how the world ought to be. " (Johnshon(1996)

Feminist critics regard mass media as agents of "ideological control" (Kirby et al: 1997). They are uses to facilitate 'socialization of traditional gender roles and constructs and ideological "femininity' to be followed by both girls and women alike." Mass media delimit and police images of gender to be emulated; use genderized language; slot women in gender stereotypical jobs thus making women not news and information. Commercial advertisements, says Vivian Gornick, (as quoted in Johnson (1996) use familiar images and personalities that belong to known gender stereotypical roles telling the audience that what they watch is the reality they should adopt. Such messages "serve the social purpose of convincing us that this is how men and women are, or want to be, or should be, not only in relation to themselves, but in relation to each other...that orientation Accomplishes the task a society has of maintaining...order, an undisturbed on-goingness regardless of the actual experience of the participants themselves. Mtambalike (1996) and Komisar (1971) maintain that media do not invent/create the cultural structures that prescribe the dos and don'ts which reflect the type of gender relations that members of a society are allowed to enter. Media operate as "propaganda machines" in that they reinforce those gendered images the culture approves. Komisars further explains that the images of women, negative or positive, we observe in advertisements, is a reflection of the cultural practices in the society; In the case of women, she says, media tend to legitimize "the idealized, stereotyped roles of woman as temptress, wife, mother, and sex object, and portrays women as less intelligent and more dependent that men"

A research report on advertising by Merrill de Voe ( an extract of which was published in John Daniel(1965:226) provides what the researcher viewed as proof of poor intellectual rating of the woman in the American society. The report indicates that the average American woman reading interests are centered on the realm of the domestic; child care, personal health, sex, beauty, home decoration, food, romance, and the like that do not require much intellectual investment. He explains,

"It is about as simple as this. She wants to take care of and bring up her children properly: she wants to do a good job in caring for her home and managing her household. And she wants to achieve results that will reflect credit upon her family. She wants to do the best she can with the money she has. She wants to make a good showing with her home, her children- and herself. She wants security and prestige, and she wants time to spend with her husband and her friends. The average woman wants to succeed both as a homemaker and as a woman."

Thus in de Voe's opinion, the woman never aspires to engage in realms that are outside home and herself- her body. Tending to define them as narcissists, de Voe says women's utmost aspiration is appearing beautiful and more lovely, and making their houses homely. Their sole concern is to get the attention of the husband! Media, as purveyors of sexist "messages and images", in this case, become effective tools of "shaping, moulding and changing attitudes, perceptions and values concerning women in society."

A content analysis of the media in Britain by one Gaye Tuchman (reported in O'Donnel: 1991) found that women appeared only as domestic and sexual characters while men appeared in public spheres of life- politics, employment, family, etc, emphasizing the dominant-subordinate dichotomy with the women "accepting this situation submissively and passively." Tuchman says woman are symbolically annihilated in the media and indeed this annihilation is "akin to the 'real annihilation' of women in society." She says that in the media women are condemned: given such identities that define them as beings with suspect morals, in our case women carry all such condemning labels as, manungayembe, shangingi, changudoa, kibaiskeli cha geto (a getho bicycle- Mtandao: Fourth Edition; July, 2001), jamvi la wageni (a guests' mat- Ijumaa: June 15-21, 2001). the giving of the condemning labels to women, argue Leghorn and Parker(1981)is meant to confine women within confined sexual and social limits when they "appear to be stepping outside their assigned behavioural patterns....through the use of socially unacceptable stereotypes and labels, women are compelled to conform to social norms through fear and threat of socialization.."; women are trivialized, that is they are interested in inconsequential aspects of their existence like romance, wives, mothers and domestic workers: and they are absent from positions of power and authority thus are not able to influence publishing of articles that put them in a positive light. Similarly a study on gendered images of women in Tanzanian newspapers by Mtambalike (1996) shows that women are involved in aspects of life that do not require more mental and intellectual accomplishment; that most news reports show women inclined more towards the stereotypical traditional roles like dress fashions and beauty models, health services, married women and mothers; arts and music, and in other areas that emphasize their role as sexual objects, or beings with suspect moral qualifications.

Hanke (1998) reports that gender representation studies on the cinema medium, for instance, indicate that films are effectively used to promote hegemonic masculine images. He says these studies reiterate that the body, that of both the man and woman, radiates powerful messages on the status of the man and the women in any society, i.e. they reinforce the traditional dichotomy of masculinity and femininity. The former being superior and the latter inferior. He argues that the film medium, the combat films particularly, promotes a particular view of the man whose body unleashes messages that emphasizes the power of masculinity; It is through the films one learns,

(1)"When power is defined in terms of physical force and control" (particularly in the representation of the body), (2) "when it is defined through occupational achievement in an industrial, capitalist society" (3) when it is represented in terms of familial patriarchy, (4) when it is "symbolized by the daring, romantic frontiersman of yesteryear and of the present day outdoorsman," and (5) "when heterosexually defined " and centered on the representation of the phallus."

In the light of the preceding discussion on the way media reinforce gender dichotomies according to fixed cultural patterns, this essay attempts a feminist analysis of gender representation, with particular emphasis on the portrayal of the woman, in select entertainment newspapers and pamphlets in Tanzania published in Kiswahili language. (The study does not deal with cartoons and short fictions published in the newspapers as the genres have been adequately dealt with by the author elsewhere). These newspapers have, of recent, increased in number and are specialized in sporting, society, culture, and other forms of news reporting and columns whose purpose it to entertain the target audience. Although they are deemed trivial, they enjoy popular patronage from the majority readers from the lower rungs our society, and enjoy significant readership from the learned class, hence their continued thriving. Indeed new titles keep on appearing on regular basis. And more importantly they have generated a debate among members of the public and in the government on whether they should be banned since they seem to run articles that promote vices contracting Tanzania's cultural prescriptions. Some of the have already banned or suspended on grounds of publishing materials that border pornography contrary to the so called national ethical and moral standards.

With the adoption of liberal economic polices about fifteen years ago, all the superstructural elements in the economy, media being one of them, have developed an unprecedented diversity within a short span of time. In the media, "for the first, Tanzanians are now exposed to views, opinions and commentaries other that those of the dominant ruling class," (Mtambalike: 1996) The ideological liberalism had engendered a kind of more receptive, more lenient, environment that allowed journalists to report on issues and social themes, e.g. sex and sexuality, formerly considered taboo subjects, with less restraint and consideration to inherent immoralities associated with the topics, and to the national cultural and ethical standards (if there any at all). Mtambalike charges, however, that the present state of affairs in the media has not brought any positive outlook on the situation of the woman in the Tanzanian society, at worst it has further entrenched the subordinate role of the woman and made her the object, a victim, of the "unethical" and sexist reportage. In the view of this charge, this essay makes a critical exploration of gender representation in the newspapers, making a radical analysis of gender relations espoused by our culture set up,, arguing that what we read in the newspapers is recreation, re-enactment, of what is actually taking place in the larger society, in the families, homes and between people engaged in heterosexual relationships.

2.0 Subversive Sexual Politics, Culture and Media

Subversive sexual politics, or "counter culture" (Monteiro), in this essay refers to those non-conventional sexual tendencies seemingly violating culturally set standards of sexual relations and sexual practices. I call these non-conventional sexual tendencies subversive because, some of them not only violate codes of sexual intercourse and body representation as prescribe by culture, but also, by extension, threaten the power of the phallus which hitherto calls the tune in heterosexual relationships. Such subversive sexual tendencies, as displayed by both men and women in the contemporary Tanzanian society are: homosexuality- gay and lesbian culture; wearing of miniskirts/skin-tight costumes as public costumes. We are going to look at some of these aspects in turn.

(a) Gay and Lesbian Culture

The last few years have seen an increase in incidents (at least as reported through the media) of gay and lesbian sexual relations with some of the perpetrators" coming to the open and proudly admitting that they are homosexuals (see for instance Amani: Second Edition, July 2001/ Maisha: June 13- 19, 2001, Amani: Fourth Edition:July,2001). Mtandao (Fourth Edition: July, 2001), for instance, reports that in Unguja (Zanzibar) it is now an open practice with gays, dressed in women clothes appearing in public functions, work in restaurants or line up in streets during the night among women commercial sexual workers waiting for clients. On the other side we have culture conservatives condemning homosexuality demanding both the state and the society to administer punitive measures against the culprit. The counsellor in Risasi, Dada Natasha, says homosexuality is an unwanted element in our country! A column in Cheko (Second Edition, June 2001) in defense of Tanzanian culture condemns lesbianism thus: "Kila kukicha utu na utamaduni wa Mtanzania unazidi kumomonyoka kwa vitendo vya ajabu vilivyo nje ya maadili yetu vikiendelea kufanywa na kizazi hiki."(with every new day Tanzanian culture is being eroded by queer behaviors, which are alien to our ethical principles, being perpetrated by this generation). The columnist quotes members of the public, women especially, who wanted explanations on whether lesbians enjoy in their love play as they do in heterosexual intercourse. At least one young girl said she would go for same sex sexual relationship since it prevented unwanted pregnancies and HIV infection. Those interviewees opposing lesbianism charge that the Almighty God was no fool in creating Eve (a woman), the purpose was to make her "mapoozeo". i.e. a man's sexual pleasure machine. The respondent says: "Mungu alikwisha panga ndio maana alipomuumba Adam akamtafutia Hawa ili awe mapoozeo. Sasa inakuwaje wanaume kuingiliana na wanawake kushikana na kunyonyana?" (The Almighty God had already planned, when he created Adam he found Eve for him so that she becomes his pleasure object. Now how comes men go after each other and women holding and sucking one another?) A columnist in the weekly Sunday Observer (July, 22, 2001) accuses both the government and the society for being "indifferent" towards homosexuality: "The increasingly inexcusable act is regarded as inconsequential not only by law enforcers, but also by the legislators themselves." This journalist argues that it is wrong for both women and men to trespass into sexual identities, practices and roles that are "traditionally believed to be the domain of the opposite sex." She attributes the prevalence of the "cancerous" sexual behavior to weak legal provisions saying it is not criminalized and, may be, due to the reports alleging that some senior citizens are clients of the homosexuals.

The conceptualization of lesbianism by most of our journalists is myopic and shorn of its theoretical and practical aspects as it is really conceptualized by lesbians in other parts of the world. Abbot and Love (1971) broadly define lesbians as women whose relationship transcends sex and love. It is a relationship "in which two women's strongest emotions and affections are directed toward each other. Sexual contact may be a part of the relationship to a greater or lesser degree, or it may be entirely absent. (Szilka:1996). Negating the traditional image of women as propagated in such women-created slogans as- "mwanamke kuolewa bwana" (women is marriage!) which invites men to affirm a woman's existence, lesbianism sort of reinvent women self-identity and self-actualization, searching for images that are not appended to men: "lesbians are the women whose relationships attempts a true break with the old sexual-emotional division." Lesbianism, like feminism, is an expression of women's search for sexual and personal liberation from patriarchal sexual, social and economic domination. Moreover, lesbianism seeks to advance a novel dimension of sexual inter-course; that it should no longer base "on the outmoded notion that sex was reproduction.... people must come to realize and admit openly that there are varieties of sexuality, of which heterosexuality happens to be the most popular but not necessarily the most valid." The traditional concept and practice of sex, explain lesbian feminists, is based on the ideal of complementation, that is, "the differentness of female sexuality has been used to show how it complements male sexuality and thus legitimates heterosexuality as the natural and normative condition of sexual existence for women (Raymond:1989). Indeed this dimension of sexuality is radical and sort of an affront to and subversion of cultural and religious values which promote patriarchy and phallucentrism.

Kiu (June 22-28,2001 ) and Tamasha (No 15: First Edition, July 2001) in effort to prove that lesbianism is a wrong practice argue that the enticement to become one is based not on innate inclination to become a homo but due to economic pressure, that once a girls, supposedly the inferior partner, finds other means of survival she will call it quits. Characterized as a vice, prevalence of lesbianism in Tanzania is blamed on the rich, divorced or unmarried women, who attract young girls to the practice. Various media reports, lacking scientific proof, falsely indicate that lesbians face the danger of psychological breakdown and HIV infection. The so-called psychological problems may arise due to social stigma attached to homosexuality and in the case of HIV infection the same preventive measures used by heterosexuals apply to the homos as well.

Of recent gays have been more open in admitting involvement in the culturally unsanctioned game. Maisha (June 13-19) reports of a gay who admits to getting sexual pleasure just like any other man in heterosexual intercourse. Another gay in Kibaha has no qualms admitting that he has homosexual relationship with a married man who supports him materially (Amani, Second Edition, July 2001). One's explanation to patriarchy's opposition to lesbianism is that gays are seen as fifth columnists who betray they fellows, men- on who nature and divine will, has decreed to practice phallucentrism on women, thus it is inappropriate to apply on men the tool of power designed for use on women! An open defiance against mainstream heterosexual culture. But another gay, Anti Ally, (Maisha June 13-19, 2001), is so hopeful that as the Tanzanian society is changing it incorporates new elements: "Kadri miaka inavyokwenda jamii ya Kitanzania itaelewa na haitaona jambo hilo kama in la ajabu kama inavyoonekana sasa."( As years pass by the Tanzanian society is changing and it will no longer see things of this nature as queer as it is seen now).Some columnists (see for instance in Hamu No 12) sigh with a sense of relief, offering little condemnation of gays, if the gay subject shows that he is capable of using his penis as well.

It is not the intention of this study to suggest that gays and lesbians be accepted by the society and become the alternative sexual relationship, parallel to heterosexuality. Rather, one could see the ever growing phenomenon as heralding a radical transition towards a society which is will accommodate the "other" sexual practices. The coming into open of gays and lesbians impacts on the current discourses on sexuality and gender relations. In fact it usher in a debate on whether we should accept them, since the age of "hide and seek' is now over (in Unguja, for instance, it is reported that gays have formed their own association- (Mtandao: Fourth Edition July, 2001). Monteiro( ? ) puts it more correctly when hypothesizing on the emergence of the "counter culture" in a Brazilian society. He maintains that it advances new ways of understanding gender relations, it challenges the traditional view which accords superiority to masculinity and heterosexuality. In his opinion, which I also subscribe, the appearance of gays and lesbians should be seen as dealing a,

Hard blow on the universality and legitimacy of traditional male identities...it is the transition from one mode of representation, where Man was universal, generic, the universal Subject (and where woman was all of the opposite), to another model, where masculinity and feminility are equivalent categories, inserted in a system of differences....How does this process happen? How do we shift from one model of representation to another? It is a historical process...the birth of new collective subjects that question the universality of masculinity as it was defined. Once these new subjects exist, once they have structured discourses and subject positions, the once universal model ceases to be so, ceases to be legitimate and in and of itself, as a matter of nature. These new discourses, which are clamoring for legitimacy, put the category "masculinity" into question as the basis of their own discourses, as the basis upon which they will build their identities. They organize their identity by questioning the traditional understanding of masculinity and heterosexuality. Thus, once masculinity becomes increasingly the object and not the sole subject of discourses, that is the moment that the linguistic shift happens. Gay and feminist movements bring the question of gender identities into the center of political concerns, and the question of masculinity is increasingly constructed as a problem that has to be dealt with. If earlier men were in control of institutions and of discourses, now other voices gain increasing authority and other identities and discourses come to play. As in the structuralist system, the shift caused by these changes alter all relationships in the system, because all elements only exist in relation to each other.

(b) Institutionalized Women Exhibitionism and Culture, Which Way?

Some of the so called foreign cultural practices, e.g. fashion shows and beauty modeling, that were banned in early seventies came back in full force after 1986 when the country officially adopted liberal economics policies. Within a span of six to seven years beauty contests have become national events with Tanzanians taking pride in fielding candidates in regional, continental and global beauty pageants and in exporting women as dress fashion modellers. And such events receive whole-hearted encouragement and coverage by both serious and entertainment media, and indeed by the majority members of the general public. In almost the same spirit the entertainment newspapers has taken an added element of strength publishing female beauty models on front pages and on some inside pages who have very little coverings on their bodies, with some women appearing as beauty models of the editions or glamour girls. Glomour girls are usually scantly dressed(See for instance in Ijumaa editions of, July 25, 2001, June 15-21, 2001, July 13-19, 2001). Risasi , Cheko(in Mambo ya majuu in which near naked women photographs are published) and several other newspapers usually publish photographs women musicians of who are usually scantly dressed. Little is understood that through such institutionalized practices, apart from objectifying the woman's body as a sexual and cultural artefact for public gazing and admiration, the media have been encouraging exhibitionist tendencies among women and, especially young girls, that are, later on are branded be the same media as violation of culture. Before I go further to explain the ambivalence displayed in allowing or disallowing female exhibitionism I will present an analysis by some feminist on how negative is such practice on women.

de Beauvoir (1949) says that "narcissism is the fundamental attitude of all women,", at least that is what the society believes and tends to encourage; she is supported by Una Stannard (1971) who sees "every woman in our society, like the few beautiful ones in the media, is a flesh peddler in the harem of this man's world." The tendencies by women to train much of their attention and concern on their bodies, appearance is a result of lifetime cultural conditioning as the patriarchy has attached so much value on the woman's looks more than her other attributes- intellectual or material. From childhood, a girl is praised by being beautiful which is holding promise for her for getting a rich husband, while a boy is praised for being agile, clever and manly. Both girls and boys are "punished" when they display tendencies that contradict their respective masculine or feminine temperaments as conditioned by culture. The society, defines the woman not in terms of what she can potentially achieve through superior intellect but through how she can peddle her body to hook eligible males who will provide her with all the necessities of life. The media, as effective sexist propaganda machines present to the society models whose tacit message to their colleagues is "their looks are a commodity to be battered in exchange for a man, not for food, clothing and shelter, but for love."(Stannard (1971) She further says that patriarchy has conditioned women to view themselves as nothing more than their sexy and appealing looks. However men deny responsibility when confronted with this fact, flatly arguing that women have turned narcissists on their own accord. And this is also the irony with the media campaign against women who display exhibitionist tendencies. As usual the defense for culture is used as the justification for discouraging women to wear mini-skirts, see-throughs or skin-tights that seem to breach the cultural dress code. While, on the other side, the same media are notorious for promoting institutionalized women exhibitionist culture- beauty pageants, fashion shows, "half-naked" stage showers 'wakifanya vitu vyao" (performing their stunts), and publications of models on front pages. Little do they recognize that such institutionalized culture provides models of conduct and dressing. Thus if institutionalized exhibitionism is culturally permissible, then the unsolicited flesh "peddler" should as well be mainstreamed. There is indeed a great sense of ambivalence towards the woman's body. While the newspapers use a sizeable amount of their space for publishing women who are sexy, near naked, or models, with zoomed in breasts, hips and thighs, fleshy cheeks and lips they, at the same time complain that wearing of min-dresses, and dress that cover the body scantly, is an abomination and an unwarranted display of women's sexuality.

On the other hand, however, I tend to view this subversive tendency in a more positive attitude. One can translate this as a form of silent resistance; as an attempt by the women's folk to try to come out of the gendered body, the body on which has been inscribed elements of temptation (to man), sexiness and the like. It is an attempt to demystify the body, especially those parts that the patriarchy defines as a sexual affront when exposed to members of the public. I regard this as a process of de-conditioning the men from the habit of always associating the woman's body, if not some of its limbs, with sex.

3.0 The Body, Woman and Culture

In view of the news articles and various columns in the newspapers I have studied the woman's body in its totality- limbs, cosmetics, clothes and ornamental accessories- have always been at the center of the debate on what is the best way to protect our culture and of enhancement of the society's morals on one side, and on the other side it operates as a trope that radiates varied sexual messages intended to hook the man, or which the society use to judge the woman social standing and personal character. In certain extreme instance the cultural conservatives invoke divine principles which regard the woman's as the most tempting challenge against which man has to fend himself with in his search for Gods kingdom. Since it is potentially sexy it should be covered, just as the scriptures have ordered: argues a letter in Michapo ya Leo (July, 11-17, 2001) that women have to "put on the veil (hijab) when they go out of their houses so as to cover their bodies, since it is written in the Qu'ran that, "the whole of the woman's body is nakedness except the palms and the face." ( Kujifunika shungi wanaotoka nje ya nyumba zao kuwasitiri miili yao kwani imeandikwa katika Qur'an kwamba "kiwiliwili chote cha mwanamke ni uchi isipokuwa uso na viganja vya mikono.) Moreover the woman's body has been the only purposes and indeed, a baseline on which the institutionalized exhibitionism has been organized; it is the object the patriarchy uses to attract customers and earn money. We shall discuss the three aspects at length.

(a) Woman's body: Object of Sexist gaze

Feminist media critics are particularly concerned with the way the woman's body is objectified on the pages of newspapers or on the television screen. They are argue that the media sole interest is to accentuate those sexy elements in the woman's body at the expense of the message women wish to put across. They are victims of the abhorrent vice, the gaze (Joan Macleod). She explains: "The gaze was the way almost all images of women had them appear like they were looking longingly at the camera, just waiting for a man to come along and make them whole. Advertisements turned women into objects by not portraying them as whole, just body parts, and using stick thing busty models that set unrealistic ideals..." This is very true also of the way women photographs, especially of fashions and beauty models, and drawn images of women are presented in the media. The photographs of women dancers, artistes, actresses, etc., are taken from an angle that draws the viewer's(reader's) attention to areas considered sexy. In these newspapers women photographs or drawings are published even in columns which they don't direct relationship with. The front page drawings of women in such entertainment periodicals like Sani, Bongo, Amba, and the like, usually portray women bodies in unnatural exaggerated appearances. The woman are always and unnaturally very beautiful, the skirts have exaggerated slits on both hips. Large teats and long sleepy eye-brows and eye-lashes. In short, as maintains Joana Macleod, they appear too feminine while the men carry the typical features of a masculine body.

In all the news columns which report interviews with women models the articles are unnecessary made to carry unwarranted digressions that objectify the women "sexy" appearances more than the message the woman may intend to put across during the interview. Michapo ya Leo (July 18-24, 2001) runs a story in which a model argues that the banning of underwear during beauty pageants was not proper. The reporter, without any explained motivation punctuates the girls message with passages that accentuate her beauty. The reporter unnecessarily refers to her "mrembo" (beauty), a word which he most probably would not use if the interviewee was a man. That is he would not interject the phrase -the handsome wrestler, etc. When the model makes a good point its is qualified by, "amesisitiza binti huyo mwenye macho yaliyojaa ushawishi mkubwa wa "kuyacheki" mboni ambazo zina kila sifa ya uzuri uwao wote duniani." (emphasized this girl with eyes full of temptation for one to want to go on looking at them, pupils which have all qualities of attractiveness available in the world). Or adds the irrelevant, "mrembo huyo mwenye sauti inayokita fahamu," (this beauty whose voice makes ones mind dull) when she explains something. Then the reporter employs descriptions that emphasize her sexy appearances before he quotes the point she said on a particular aspect: "Binti huyo mwenye midomo ya kunyonya, pua ya mwanzi, mashavu ya kumimina na kifua kilichotuliza matiti yenye chuchu zilizotulia kwa adabu kama embe sindano, amewataka warembo wa nchi hii wawe waadilifu.' (This girl who has lips for sucking, a long nose, well rounded cheeks and a chest which support breasts which have well set nipples like mangos, has asked beauty models of this country to display good conduct) Then the reporter would add: "waache kugombana, wawe marafiki; waelewane, washikamane na washirikiane kutafuta maendeleo ya wenyewe," amesisitiza kwa sauti yake inayopenya barabara masikioni; ile ambayo kuisikiliza na kumwangalia urembo wake wenyewe ni burudani inayoweza kumfanya mwanaume asahau shughuli zake zote kabisa na kubaki akimtumbulia yeye peke yake. "Toto" lenye kila hazina ya uzuri uwao wote duniani" (they (the models) should stop quarreling, they should remain friends and promote understanding and camaraderie and cooperate in seeking their own progress," emphasized in a her voice which effectively goes into ones ears; a beautiful voice listening to and gazing her beauty is an entertainment which makes a man forget all his other jobs and remain looking at her. "A baby" who has all treasures of beauty available in the world.) There is no denying that during this interview the reporter spent most of the time gazing at the woman body, and not concentrating on the serious message the girl was trying to put across, giving proof to Joana Macleod's hypothesis that: "...the media concentrates more on a woman's image than her message. The majority of the media is male owned, and would have reason to do this. Media is also run for profit, and to treat women as objects ensures profit."

(b) The Woman's body as a sex object

A feminist critic Jeffrey Jerome Cohen correctly maintains that, "the personal body is a text across which is written a cultural narrative." That is both the woman's and the man's body carry with them certain cultural codifications that define masculinity and femininity and which direct (or rather, guide) both men and women to carry their bodies in a culturally permissible manner. It is the gendered body that the society uses to locate ones social standing. However, realities on the ground indicate that the woman's body seems to have more cultural codifications, all referring to sex, inscribed on it. Maggie Humm (1991) is very correct on this when she argues that,

The history of the female body is a statute of limitations...women's bodies are shaped by the boundaries of male stereotypes and they are coded by the rules of fashion and by social expectations. Our bodies are frequently divided into erogenous zones.

The cultural codes put limits on the extent to which the woman can expose her body. The body is has social, temporal and spatial restrictions. It should not be seen, whole or parts thereof, by everybody in society; it may be permissible for woman to carry her body freely in certain of the days and in certain geographical areas the culture has permitted. Thus, the whole of the woman's body is seen as potentially sexy and it is because of this potentiality culture has prescribed certain codes of dressing, and of carrying the woman's body, that demand the woman to completely cover each and every inch of her body. Women putting on min-skirts, skin-tights and see-throughs are therefore accused of subverting these dress codes. Women, in the highly denounced Khanga party, for instance, who dressed "half-naked" were castigated because that type of dressing amounted to "self-abasement and contrary to Tanzanian ethical principles" (Kujidhalilisha na ni Kinyume na maadili ya Mtanzania: (Amani: Third Edition, June 2001). The said Tanzanian cultural values prohibit the woman to remain "nusu-uchi"(half-naked) in public although a similar restrictive code is not always demanded on the man as challenges a beauty model here;

Washiriki wa mashindano ya Kutunisha misuli huwa wanavaa vichupi wakatii wa mashindano, iweje sisi tupigwe "ribiti" au kwa sababu ni wanawake? (Kiu: June 22-28, 2001) (participants in body building contests appear in underwear during tournaments, why only us who are prohibited, is it because we are women?)

The thighs are the most detested parts of all the body organs of the woman; probably the patriarchy considers them the sexiest of all limbs. Organizers of the Khanga party are accused of running the event purposely so as to accord themselves an opportunity to gaze at women's thighs. Complains a reader in Wasaa (30th June- 7th July, 2001).

Wamedai kuwa mashindano hayo yamebuniwa kwa nia ya kuona mapaja ya wanawake wanaoshiriki...kwani badhi ya washiriki walikuwa wamevaa nguo fupi mno kuonyesha mapaja nje." (They claimed that the pageant was organized with the intention of gazing at the thighs of women's participants...the reason is some of the participants put on very short dresses to deliberately expose their thighs."

And such an exposure is regarded as a health risk, too: "Ukimwi hautakwisha, utakwisha wakati tunaendelea kubuni na kuhalalisha njia za kustawisha ngono?"(AIDS will never end, how will it end while we go on encouraging ways that promote promiscuity?) Thus the woman's body as defined above is sexually suspect; it is seductive; such conceptions of the woman's body, that is the constant reference to sex, does not have any scientific bases: is it true that women do not see the man's body as seductive? Hence the liberty to expose their bodies without concern for morals."

A similar high pitched concern for morals is not expressed over male participants in the party who equally exposed their thighs and other parts of the body, which are traditionally seen as sacred. Why should the society not show a similar concern over men appearing in public in indecent styles, are men's body not supposed to be sexy?

In the same vein certain of the woman's decorative props or underwear are not a public affair, nor are they legitimate sex fetishes to hook a man with; these are waist beads, underpants, night dresses, brassieres, knickers, etc. The woman should take utmost care in handling them, making sure that they are not seen by a man, even that man is one's husband or lover, as exposing them is equal to exposing ones sexual organs (Mtandao: June 4th, Edition June, 2001).

Fortunately the media have been kind enough to give space to women who find these restrictive codes as anti-women, and discriminatory. These women argue that the codes that want women to "protect" their "nakedness" are outmoded, explaining that that the patriarchal conception of the woman's body as all but sexy, does not augur well with the contemporary libertine view of the woman who is rendered free to dress as she wished: Argues one of the beauty model (Kiu, June 22-28, 2001). "Sheria haikatazi; ila jamii ndiyo inakataza." She further charges: "Hilo ni tatizo la wanaume wa Tanzania, mawazo yao ngono ngono tu, kwani hata mwanamke akivaa khanga si anajulikana ndani yukoje." (There is no law which prohibits; it the society which prohibit (model wearing underwear during beauty contents)....This is the problem of Tanzanian men, their ideas are always on sex, don't you know how a woman looks like inside even if she is decently dressed in Khanga)

The model is conscious of the undue restrictions culture and society impose on the woman. She maintains that culture is dynamic and in that dynamism picks up new elements, casting away those elements deigned outdated. Dressing codes have prescribed that certain garments are for men and others for women. It is wrong for either sex to cross-dress. Men appearing in feminine clothes are suspected of being gays (Risasi: First Edition, July, 2001). The coding has even a religious justification. It is seen as abomination for a man to dress "like a woman.'

Dressing styles and fashions are part of the mechanisms to reinforce the gendered definition of the bodies. At some stage, and hitherto in some communities, a woman putting on masculine clothes, like trousers or shorts, would be described as being "uchi" (naked). However, with the passage of time the Tanzanian society has now largely accepted women's wearing of men's dresses: shoes, trousers, hats, shirts, etc. May be, if we want to accept another hypothesis here, the patriarchal culture has been so lenient on this aspect because the male sex, is considered to be the default sex. It is masculinity that women are presumed to be desiring; But it is sexually subversive, a deviation to aspire femininity for men like those men who wore waist beads during the Khanga Party; masculinity is the universal sex, femininity no! See for instance this concern (Mtanzania: Monday, July 2, 2001)

Sasa kuwashirikisha wanaume katika mashidano ya kuvaa kanga kulikuwa na maantiki gani? Kanga ni vazi la mwanamke, sasa huyo anayetaka kuligeuza liwe la mwanaume pia ni nani...Wanaume wanashirikishwa kwa misingi ipi kuvaa kanga. (What logic was used in inviting men to participate in the Khanga Party? Khanga is a dress for women, now who is this person who wants to change into becoming a dress from men as well... On what basis are men involved in wearing Khanga)

A columnist in Maisha (No. 27, July, 2001) does as well condemns men for participating in a fashion competition designed only for women, even more dismaying was. "na hata midume mingine ilidiriki hata kuvaa chachandu."(even men dared to put on chachandu- waist beads, which women are usually encouraged to wear as an attraction for men). But there is no similar concern expressed when women, in beauty pageants, appear in "masculine dressing." It is seen as being more reserved and culturally appropriate for a woman to put on man's clothes, and not vice versa.

The much publicized institutionalized women exhibitionist culture has yet to be fully studied in order to find out its effect on women's self-identity and self-perception. Beauty modeling, fashion shows, advertisement that largely use women models (usually those who are supposed to be blemishless, have exotic hair style, etc); use of cinema actresses who are exceptionally beautiful (having over-emphasized feminine features and character as deferent from the more masculinized male characters), has a tremendous effect on the woman's definition of themselves and of their bodies. Gender analysts maintain that such media messages engender a cue that, " women are supposed to be bodies, not differentiated complex minds."(Stannard: 1971). Stannard further explains that the it is because of the constant presentation of beauty models, of presentation of women who are considered to be the models to be emulated by all women in the way they eat, they dress, walk, wear their hair, of the perfumes and other cosmetics they use that the woman's beauty has been "overvalued" thus making women always feel insecure about their own looks such that, "most women, given the choice between unusual intelligence and great beauty, would choose beauty."

Most of the women counseling columns in the newspapers (in Tamasha, Cheko, Mtandao), train their women readers to make their bodies become perfect sexual objects and attraction to the man (See for instance, Uwazi: July, 16-23, 2001 women with big bottoms are blamed for not using their bodies as sexual tools to hook their husbands with) One she enters in romantic or marriage relationship the woman's body is usually seen as the man's property. He is free to access it anytime he wants to(see in Amani: Fourth Edition July, 2001 a man complains that his wife puts on shorts when they go to bed and this irks the man so much since he misses the luxury of freely accessing her body during the night. In some articles women are asked to take the aphrodisiac, Kungu (a local fruit), which is said to enhance sexy look in their eyes and enhance their sexual stimulation in order to please their husbands (Tamasha No: 15, July, 2001); to ensure that they for ever remain young and appealing, putting on sexy dresses; to be submissive and always entice their spouses to sex intercourses even if only it means doing it to save ones marriage or love relationship; ensure that they satisfy their men and in that bid- "ni lazima kutumia ujuzi wako wote unaoufahamu"(it is necessary (for women) to use all the knowledge in your possession); the need to wear henna, lip-stick, and other cosmetics and adopt facial expressions which will enhance their attractiveness to men. Says Stannard again, that through the media the patriarchy has..

"... taught women to regard themselves exactly the way women do- as sex objects. A woman's body, accordingly, becomes her life long sex object, the physical object she cherishes most...they grow up in a world in which only the female body is glorified, and in which they are bombarded in all the media with millions of images of beautiful women described as love objects. Far from conditioning women to be heterosexual by holding up for their admiration images of handsome men, the culture keeps women looking constantly at other women.

Lets carry this discussion a little further by showing more examples of how the patriarchy tells the woman that her body and beauty do not exist in their own right as independent entities but in relation to men. The woman exists in order to please the man, a sexual pleasure machine. A columnist in Mtandao (First Edition, July 2001) insists that women apply cosmetics: "Yote hayo pamoja na mengine ni katika kumfanya mwanamke awe mrembo na bila shaka awe na mvuto kwa wanaume," (this and all other aspects has the aim of making the woman become beautifu and, of course, attractive to men); and during sexual intercourse, the woman has to make sure she puts her waist-beads on: "Kiuno cha mwanamke kinahitajika sana pambo hilo siyo tu kwa kumremba lakini pia kwa ajili ya kusaidia kumhamasisha bwana." (the woman's waist needs this decoration not only to make her beautiful but also to help in stimulating the man) Thus the body and its various ornamental accessories are the man's play things. And the columnist blames women thus:

Hata hivyo hivi sasa inashangaza kuona wapo baadhi ya wanawake wanashindwa kuelewa umuhimu wa shanga. Viuno vyao vyeupee, havina shanga hata moja. Kiuno cha mwanamke kinafanana na cha mwanaume! Hii ni kasoro kubwa sana kwa mwanamke..mwanamke shanga baba." (Even though it is surprising to find that there are a some women who fail to understand the importance of waist-beads. Their waists are just empty, without a single bead on. The woman's waist resembling that of a man! This is grave defect on the woman.. a woman is her beads)

As argue feminists there is an intertwining of time and the woman's body. That is the woman's most terrible enemy is the time: i.e. aging, that threatens her youthful looks. While men would boast old age as indicator of accumulated knowledge and wisdom, women would blame ageing for robbing them of that precious youthful beauty! Stannard (1971) quotes an Austrian beauty as complaining: "Nothing could be more terrible than to watch the skin wrinkling, to wake up and fear the morning light and know that one is no longer desirable. Life without beauty would be worthless to me." In the same vein a columnist (in Tamasha) observes.

Jambo la muhimu kuangalia unapoona mumeo ameanza kuchoka ni kujiuliza. Je wakati unakutana na mwanaume huyo ulikuwa vipi?..Wanawake wengi huwa wanapenda kujipendezesha na kujiremba wakiwa bado hawajaolewa na akishaolewa tu husahau mambo yote ya urembo na kujikuta wanapoteza nuru yao ya uzuri...Hivyo tabia ya kuacha kujiremba na kuwa msafi humfanya mwanaume akuache haraka." (The important thing is to do when you learn that your husband has developed fatigue on is asking yourself, how did you look when you first met this man? Most women would like to remain attractive and decorate themselves when they are still spinsters, once they are married they forget all aspects to do with beauty and find their beauty withering away... This habit of neglecting your beauty and remain clean makes the man call it quits with you)

When the woman is defined by the status of her body at the material time, the tendency entrenches the stereotypical views that tend to regard certain women as not meriting public attention. The woman who is married or has a baby - a wife, a mother, or those exceeding certain ages, are not eligible for participation in beauty contests. And all models who have babies get really wild and bad publicity. This, in turn create a stigma in girls who do not carry these qualifications. They are mothers and wives, thus they are old and ugly! In such idealized depiction of the woman's beauty it is an irony for the media to demand women to stop exhibiting their bodies. One cannot eat ones cake and have it! Most entertainment newspapers do glorify the woman's beauty in gross proportions; front cover photographs of models; over exposure of women's hips, thighs stomachs, 'sensuous lips"; photographs of women presented as glamour girls or models of the editions. Of late some of the newspapers dangle 150,000/- to a winner of beauty competition- asking women to send in their photographs for publications- yet another institutionalized exhibitionism.

4.0 Love, Marriage and Women

The newspapers' presentation women and men in heterosexual engagement is in fact a reflection, and reinforcement, of that unequal power relations between man and woman. The man, and the attendant masculinity ideology, is still fixed in that same category of a superior, more powerful being, while the woman retains the unchanged status of being an economically, emotionally and physically vulnerable being. The newspapers, furthermore, still cherish the traditional culture's definition of a woman, and her body, as a sex object; a passive, subordinate and subservient partner. This section explores a few aspects in the bid to reveal the potential sexist elements that subordinate the woman's image in our society.

(a) It should always be man

Usually culture demands that the woman should not initiate sex relationship. Girls who show proactive tendencies in this aspect are usually held suspect, men are advised to avoid them; they are deemed as sexual perverts and probably careers of venereal diseases, especially HIV; such is the precaution offered by a counselor (in Risasi: First Edition, July, 2001). A reader sought advise on how to handle a sexually pro-active girlfriend, with whom, he thought, they started on ordinary, non-romantic relationship. Dada Natasha, the counselor, suspects the girl of being promiscuous, asking the boy to avoid her as she may be a career of AIDS/HIV. The same negative image of the woman as the temptress is conveyed here. Traditional sexual norms require that the woman should not readily consent to man's sexual advances. She should employ some delaying tactics in order to hook the man and ensure whether he is really sincere (Maisha: July, 4-10, 2001). A woman who so readily accepts a man's proposal for starting a romantic affair is regarded as and easy going, a prostitute; women are, by culture, supposed to pretend that they are not ready at first, in a way asking the man to keep on pestering her until such a time when a man would be indirectly be told that the woman is not an easy going character. Usually girls asking the counselors to be given the skills to initiate romantic relations with the men they admire are "shouted down" (Amani, Third Edition, July, 2001) and no constructive advice is offered on how they initiate relationships when they become of age. That way women remains beings with desires that are not supposed to be express. They should wait to be desired by men.

(b) Engendering Subservience and Insecurity

Most counseling columns that offer advices women engaged in heterosexual relationship tend to instill in all women a sense of subservience, insecurity, and fear of men. Women in romantic/marriage affairs are to see their bodies as the only attractions that will keep their spouses hooked. Not their superior intellect or material accomplishments! All of the woman's organs have a sexual stimulation potential; the waist, buttocks, eyes, nails, the voice, thighs, legs need to be effectively used to put the man's passion aflame. Michapo ya Leo (July, 4-10, 2001) for instance views the woman's waist, during sexual intercourse as a very essential element to keep the man forever: "Ni kiuno mwanangu, kiuno wala hakuna "uchawi" mwingine unaozidi huo katika mapenzi. Endapo hujui kucheza au kama ni mvivu wa kumnengulia mwanaume unapokuwa naye kitandani; kamwe hutadumu na yeyote..." (It is your groin, my daughter, your groin and there is no other magic which surpasses that in love relationship. If you do not know how to wiggle (your groin) or are lazy in doing that when you are in bed with your man; be sure you will not last with him for long). And this waist needs to have the decorative props- the waist beads.

The French philosopher, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in his book Emile (1972) prescribed the woman's education thus: "A woman's education must therefore be planned in relation to man. To be pleasing in his sight, to win his respect and love, to train him in childhood, to tend him in manhood, to counsel and console, to make his life pleasant and happy, these are the duties of women for all time and this is what should be taught while she is young." He is echoed by a Brazilian dramatist Nelson Rodrigues (quoted by Monteiro) who maintains that, "the destiny of women, in accordance to her nature, is the most complete submission to man and her son." Another thinker of the nineteenth century, James Mcgrigor, also views the woman in the same light as he says; "to man belongs the kingdom of the head; to women the kingdom of the heart...in every pure and legitimate relation- as daughter, sister, wife, mother- woman is the direct assistant of individual man."

The newspapers reiterate and reinforce these same views. Michapo ya Leo( July,11-17, 2001), prescribes a ritual like formula for women to adopt if they want to keep their husbands and marriages. (i) on every single day the woman has to wake up earlier than her husband; prepare tea and water for the man to wash, (ii) then she wakes up her husband in "lugha halisi ya mapenzi mabichi." (in a genuine young romantic voice) In a low, lovely voice she speaks to her husband, "hallow, darling naomba uamke." (hallow darling, will you please wake up) .When the man is fully awake, 'mpokee kwa kumwamkia "shikamoo" huku ukitabasamu.'(welcome him with "shikamoo," while smiling) (iii) then wrap him up with your khanga and escort him to the bathroom; wash his body, "huku ukiendelea na tabasamu utadhani huna kwenu"; (while maintaining your smile as if you don't have your own home); when you are through with bathing the man dry him with a towel and wrap him up with the Khanga again asking him to go while you hastly wash your body and run out in time to help him choose his clothes of the day; dress him in the most splendid fashion, "kisha anza kumsifia alivyopendeza na hatimaye mwende kwenda kunywa chai sebuleni." (then tell him how attractive he appears and invite him to the living room for breakfast) See also in Tamasha 1st Edition, July 1, 2001). (iv) taste his tea making sure it has enough sugar, welcome him to take breakfast; when he finishes the meal wipe his lips clean, begging him to explain if he was happy with it, if he says he was, say "ahsante". (v) take him back to the bedroom for final check of his body and clothes before he goes out to work; as he goes away remain standing at the door waving him goodbye till he is out of view. This article concludes by saying;

Anachotaka mwanaume katika maisha ya ndoa ni kumbembeleza mara kwa mara, kumliwaza kwa huba na kuonyesha jinsi anavyopendwa na kuthaminiwa kwa hali ya juu kabisa na mkewe. (What a man wants in married life is being pampered all the time, enthuse him with love and romance showing him how much you love him in all your earnest)

Alexis de Tocquiville, as quoted by Jessie Bernard (1971) sees marriage as a loss of independence of the woman to "the bonds of matrimony". In her view a spinster has less socially constrained life while her married counterpart, "is subjected to stricter obligations." She argues, however, that women, in their obsessive wish to be married "attach a sort of pride to the voluntary surrender of their own will, and make it their boast to bend themselves to the yoke, not to shake it off."

De Beauvoir (1949) says most women's sole desire is to be identified as married and the society deigns that the true destiny of the young girl is matrimony. She says, "it is true that most women are married, or have been, or plan to be, or suffer from not being" married. This is also very evident in the most columns in Tanzania entertainment newspapers. Getting married is seen as the ultimate wish, it is "kupata bahati." ( see for instance, Tamasha: Fourth Edition, June 2001. Michapo ya leo(June 20-26, 2001) insists that women are in dire need of getting marriage which the deem more important that an paid job: "Nani asiyejua kuwa kuolewa siku hizi ni dili ya uhakika kuliko kuajiriwa kazi?" Kama huelewi basi tembelea mpaka maofisini ukaona wanawake wafanyakazi wanavyolilia kuolewa au nenda kachunguze wanavyofikia mpaka hatua ya kuchukiana kutokana tu na madai na tuhuma za wachache walioolewa kuwakejeli wasioolewa kuwa ni "manungayembe." (Who does not know that nowadays getting married is an important deal than getting an employed job! If you don't understand that visits all the offices to see by yourself how employed women cry for marriage, or see how they reach the extent of hating each other on allegations that those married women make fun of the single colleagues calling them "manungayembe"- rejects)

In similar lines Hamu, July 10- 16, 2001, reports that a beauty model says she is ready for any man who wants marry her: "Salma alisema yeye ana usongo mkali sana wa kuolewa na kwamba kuanzia sasa mwanaume yeyote ambaye atapenda kumuoa yupo radhi kabisa kufanya hivyo. Alisema anatafuta mchumba wa kumuoa kwa udi na uvumba... yeye ana nia hiyo kwa dhati kabisa na amechoka maisha ya kuishi peke yake." (Salma said she is in dire need for getting married, and that as from this moment she will accept any man who wants to marry her.. she is ready. She said she is looking for a fiancé to marry her by hooks and crooks...she is really serious about this thing and is tired of living as a spinster).

Media usually operate as propaganda facilities emphasizing the inevitability of the marriage destiny for the woman. They use celebrities: actresses, beauty and fashion models, women musicians who all coincidentally regard marriage and getting children as the ideal path (see for instance Tamasha: Second Edition, July 2001; Hamu: June 12-18, 2001) In all interview columns that involve women celebrities, the questions on whether they want to be marriage and get children are usually asked. Various women celebrities, for instance Halima Mchuka (the popular announcer with the Radio Tanzania Dar-es-Salaam), Hoyce Temu (the former national beauty champion), Yvone Cherry (Monalisa), Nora (the TV soap opera actress), among other, have been used to sanction the inevitability of the marriage destiny for a woman. In interview stories on women models there is attempt to ask them if their have any professional ambition other than remaining beauty models or becoming housewives. Even when the models hint of going for higher studies, that line is never further explored by the reporter. In very few instances are male celebrities asked that question. Finding a fiancé and finally getting married is fulfillment of a very important dream in a woman's life (Hamu, June 26- July 2, 2001); married women, according to Mtandao (4th Edition, June 2001), rid themselves of the stigma of being seen as "wahuni" -prostitutes. Being attached to a man is sort of socially redemptive to a woman, it affirms her status and her very being and existence; A column in Tamasha (4th Edition, June 2001) describes a woman as being very thankful for getting a man to marry her: "Hivyo nilivyoipata bahati hiyo ya kupata mume, nilijiona kama nimeachana na maisha ya shida...mwanamke mume bwana! (Thus when I got this luck of getting a husband, I felt like waving goodbye to destitution... a woman is getting a husband!) Since the man is supposedly an economic superior in the matrimonial project the married woman feels that all her troubles have been lifted off her shoulders. The quote above, apart from reinforcing dependency syndrome among women does also entrench the notion that the true woman's identity lies being attached to a man since- mwanamke mume bwana!" (a woman is getting a husband) Marriage according to the newspapers, assures the woman abundant supply of food and other social amenities, including a bed and a roof; it brings her the much desired respect and saves her from being jobless; and getting "legitimate" children in wedlock: Mwanamke bila kificho hupenda kuchagua mwanaume mwenye mbegu za kumzalisha mtoto.'(It is no secret a woman would like to choose a man who has seeds to give her a child) And to enhance chances of getting married or keeping their husbands and or lovers, women are advised to display less material ambitions (Ijumaa, June 22-28, 2001/Mtandao, 2nd Edition, July 2001). Moreover they are advised to always keep themselves clean and beautiful, and display humble attitudes before their husbands. If husbands or boyfriends become rebellious or pursue extra-marital affairs the blame is thrown on the woman's sexual incompetence: "Sasa wee unadhani naye atakaa na donge moyoni?.. Wapi? Atatoka nje kwenda kukidhi haya yake... wanaume bwana hawana uvumilivu nikwambie wewe mwanakwetu. Ukikosa kumtimizia nyumbani mwenzangu utamkuta kapakatwa na mzinga wa shangingi. Hilo ndilo tatizo kubwa sana la ndoa zetu, wanawake hawajui kulea wanaume zao."( And you expect him to pretend he is satisfied while he is not...No way! He will go out to seek some one to gratify him. If you fail to satisfy him at home, my friend, you will find your husband caressed by a prostitute. This is the problem with our marriages, wives do not know how to satisfy their husbands) See also in Uwazi (July 16-23, 2001) which blames women's sexual incompetence for man's extra-marrital affairs. Married women are complacent and rarely understand the proper use of their bodies as the only sexual weapon with which they will hook their husbands ( see also in Tamasha 1st Edition, July 1, 200- if a man keeps a mistress it is because the wife because "machezo yanapwaya "uwanjani" yaani kitandani." (the woman's is less skillful in the field, that is on bed). Although the woman is usually the most exploited and oppressed, the victim of the unequal economic and sexual structures in heterosexuality (Leghorn and Parker:1981), the blame for any failure of the relationship is heaped on her, "because they have raised men to behave that way." Thus, continue Leghorn and Parker, "blaming the victim obscures the true source of the problem... And it also absolves all those contributing to the problem from their responsibility in the matter... Finally, by diverting energy and attention away from the real issues, it heaps more work and responsibility on the victims, instead of offering concrete support and change in the social dynamics. Blaming the victim helps to ensure that the status quo will remain intact.

In the quest for total sexual submission it is the woman's duty to learn the appropriate sexual styles if she is to keep her marriage secure. She should avoid routine and oblige to sexual styles demanded by the man, but that inadequacy can be solved if the woman studies blue movies, sex counseling books and magazines, and learn from experienced colleagues); married women do not study and know the desires of their husbands and satisfy them accordingly; they do not present themselves and their houses very clean; lack skills in culinary art; they are possessive and spy on their husbands as advised in Risasi Third Edition: July 2001, that, "jizuie kutochunguza nyendo zake hata kama unafahamu kwamba ni "mwingi wa habari... kama unataka kuona jeuri yake basi mchunguze uzione hasira zake; (avoid spying on his movements even if you know that he promiscuous...if you want to see how angry he can be then try to spy on him) See also Mtandao: Third Edition, June, 2001 advises lovers to prevent themselves from inspecting their lovers bags, pockets, underwear, briefcases. But this vice is seen as more dangerous if displayed by a man since they risk being divorced. That the unequal power relations in marriage make women unable to punish their promiscuous husbands, "Hii ndiyo maana nasema mwanamke ukitaka kuachika: "we jifanye panya wa kumpekua pekua mumeo, utaona." (This is why I advice women that if you want to be divorced, start acting like a mouse and inspect your husband wares... you will learn it the hardway) ; wives should neither display anger nor criticize their husbands when the later go wrong, "badala yake hutaka ambembelezwe au kuwekwa kitako na kuelezwa madhara ya kosa lake." (instead he wants to be enthused and be politely told of the consequences of his actions) This should not be done through logical reasoning and free exchange between the couple, rather the woman should remain passive, submissive and through use of her sexual skills to calm the man down, and totally submit themselves to man's emotional and sexual desires till he gets his fill: "kama itatokea ukakutana na mwenye nguvu za kurudia mara nyingi wewe pia jitahidi kumkabili kwa mbinu zako zote ili mradi uhakikishe kuwa anaridhika nafsini na si kumkatisha kwa namna moja au nyingine. Kama utafanya uzembe au kutoa visingizio vya kila aina kama kuchoka elewa kabisa kwamba unaipoteza bahati yako."(If it happens that you meet with a man who has excessive sexual energy you should also let the tough get going provided you make sure that his self is gratified and do not do anything to displease him in one way or another. If you become lazy or start giving excuses of all sorts like being tired understand that you are wasting your chances )(Risasi: Third Edition, July 2001) The newspaper insists that the woman should not care whether her sexual desires are satisfied or not as "anachozingatia sana mwanaume katika mapenzi ni kuridhika kwa dhati kabisa, potelea mbali kama atashindwa kumfikisha mpenzi wake kileleni iwe kwa makusudi ama kwa kutokana na ujuzi haba, jambo ambalo wengi hawaelewi kama lina madhara." (What the man always cares for in love is getting full satisfaction, he does not care whether he fails to bring his partner to orgasm, be it deliberately or due to poor skills, a thing the majority men do not know that it affects the relationship). This view is in line with Leghorn and Parker(1981) argue on the aspect of unequal sexual relationship;

Women as a group are socialized to be supportive and sensitive to the needs of others; and partly as a result of this socialization, women give and look for in others a high standard of emotional giving and intensity. Men, to the contrary, learn not to verbalize or express their feelings, because they are afraid of being vulnerable. Since information gives power, they often keep personal information to themselves. This opposite emotional training means that when dealing with men, women as a group give constantly in situations with little hope of having their needs met. The fact that both men and women are aspiring to the social ideal mystifies the interactions. A woman who is not getting what she needs emotionally from a man or her family usually feels that she must be the problem, that she's not giving enough or making them feel secure and happy enough. It attempting to fulfill unrealizable ideals, women constantly give more and more of themselves, in the form of material, social, personal and emotional services.

On the issue of women misunderstandings between women men and women offer contradictory views. De Beauvoir for instance argues that women living under patriarchy are dispersed and will never ever form solidarity. Patriarchal ideology, she says, is divisive, and there by facilitates women domination. On the other side, the philosopher, A. Schopenhauer emphasizes argues that women are by nature jealousy of each other, a natural tendency, he says, which is not seen among men;

Between men there is by nature merely indifference, but between women there is enmity even by nature. It comes from the fact that the odium figulinum (fear of competition), which with men is limited to their particular guild, with women embraces the whole sex, since they have all only one trade. Even when they meet one another in the street, they look at each other like rivals."

It is this second erroneous notion that is carried through in the various newspaper articles discussing heterosexual relationship; that the worst rival of the woman bonded in patriarchy is another woman- bonded or spinster. Thus the woman's quest for "taming" the husband, or a lover, is really protecting him from the lusty, jealousy, and wily fellow women. For if there is any challenge a woman in a heterosexual relations has to surmount, it is the lusty eyes of other women on her man. Tamasha (in its column- Ala...Kumbe!) entrenches this view of women being their own betrayers and enemies: We usually have entries depicting young sisters admiring their elder sisters' husbands; house girls betraying trust and material support of their women employers and become second wives; friends throwing sexy looks at a friends husband or lover. The blame is always on women. Not men, who fail to control their sexual desires.

When a man adds a second wife, he adds a hand to the domestic work force (Tamasha: Second Edition, July, 2001). And women are mad to accept that reason. It is not considered that polygamy is means to subjecting women in uncalled for competition and rivalry over man's love. A woman opposes polygamy because the new entrant to the marriage encroaches on the luxuries and man's affection formally enjoyed by only one woman. Polygamy is not seen in the whole context of unequal gender relations that accords more power in men. It is this accumulated power that enable men to unilaterally overrule objections or propositions advanced by their wives; that polygamy is the evidence of how culture accords liberty to man to wield his sexual powers, unrestrained, to women of his choice. Women accept polygamy because they lack the material and social power to decide on their own sexuality. They are economically week: " Kwa nini nidai talaka nisikubali kushi na mke mwenzangu?" Lo! Bora niishi ukewenza kuliko kuishi bila mume, kwani kutokana na hali ngumu ya maisha siku hizi, wanaume wamekuwa "almasi" shoga, na wengi hawataki kuoa. Ukishaachika, kupata mume mwingine kazi!" (Why should I press for divorce and not accept living with my co-wife? Lo! It is better to live in polygamy rather than living without a husband; friend, since due to difficult life situation, men have become (as rare and precious like) "diamonds". And many of them do not like to marry. Once you are divorced it is very difficult to get a new one!) Woman's prostitution, again, is not condemned on grounds of unequal material and ideological relations among men and women. They are prostitutes because there are prone to that behaviour and may be they want to spread AIDS, as they are careers! (Mwananchi: July 22, 2001). The columnist, realizes however that, woman infidelity haunts her throughout her life time while the man who is promiscuous is accorded all the accolades by the culture.

5.0 Reinforcing Masculine-Feminine Dichotomy

A critical scan of the various passages in the news and features columns establishes that the newspapers tend to reinforce those same stereotypical cultural values that tend to differentiate women from men. Such differentiation is made to look absolute and at times with some pseudo-scientific or psychological backing. Through all the newspapers the man remains essentially the same in terms of his socio-economic status, behavior, and physical appearance. The woman is an ever-changing being. She changes, or becomes a new being whenever new dress fashions or cosmetics are introduced; the adopt new identities and redefine the meaning of their existence when men change their sexual tastes and cultural practices; women keep getting new names and identities by the day which while men retain their same rigid, unshaken, dominant masculine status and identity. In this section I shall make a brief presentation of feminine and masculine characteristics as propagating the newspapers.

Conclusion

As indicated in the introduction media do not create/invent this structures that prescribe gender relations which favor men in a society; media merely reflect, more precisely, they reinforce, the unequal gender structures obtained in the society. Out of this survey we may conclude that despite years of advocacy and campaigning for gender equality in Tanzania the mainstream society still thinks and operate in the same old ways, particularly in the way they define man and woman. What is reported in the media sends a message to the society that gender activism in the country still has a lot of ground to cover; that the activism has concentrated more on realms that have less impact on the general society; the drive has always been empowering women and effecting gender mainstreaming in national (macro) economic, political and social structures, while a similar drive is not equally pursued in those micro-structures, like family, love affairs, tribal initiation rites, etc, which create and preserve system of values, influence our self-identity and, which impact on all that we do. The mainstreaming project lacks a whole compassing approach that will enable reforms in all institutions that affect women identities and gender relations. In this case the failure of the media to reflect positive attitudes on, and promote progressive identities of, women implies that the drive for gender equality needs also look, more consistently, in such aspects as school system, textbooks contents, educational curricula, etc. One finds it futile pursuing gender equality in other aspects of life forgetting the young minds in school. It is not always productive trying to instill values of gender equality when the boys and girls are already grown ups, when their minds have already been molded into seeing the existing unequal power and gender relations as absolute. A study by Dorothy A. Mbilinyi (1996), for instance, established that school curricula and text books in Tanzania entrench the gender and sexual stereotypes that if we want to change the equation we need seek ways of influencing the curricula that "positive gender relations should be enhanced by presenting a positive image of women in textbooks and other media in which our youths use.'

If media are largely owned and run by men then what is reflected is the male's idealized view of the sexual and gender relations in the society. It partly also expresses a failure of the so much favored women empowerment approaches that sought to ideologically equip women more than devising means of also enlightening the man on the dangers of perpetuating women insubordination in society. But we need to carry out studies to try to establish whether empowering women journalists and making them positions of power will improve the situation.

Moreover what is reported in the media, does, in a way, tell us that it is important to start looking into this private and domestic domain that still subject the woman under the yoke of patriarchal order. An intellectual guess is that in Tanzania we still don't have well-coordinated and consistent efforts to engender sustained gender discourses at all levels of the society, and that gender activism and the pursuit for gender equality remain as isolated programmes despite proliferation of women movements and non-governmental organizations.. If media are not reflecting the new gender thinking then there is a failure in the whole gender equality project.

Looking from a more positive light the emergence of the newspapers has afforded the Tanzanian society a forum for openly discussing sex, a subject once considered taboo. For almost over a decade now both the government and the general society were discussing on the best ways to equip our youth with life skills through sex education. Religious groups and cultural conservatives saw introduction of sex education curriculum in schools is tantamount to allowing students to become promiscuous. The government still remains not very clear on this matter. The flourishing of the entertainment newspapers gives an alternative approach to doing the same. There is enough evidence that the newspaper run counseling columns advising youths on how better to cope with life and sex, gender relations, but much of the counseling offered is mediocre, sexist and not well informed on issues related to youth's life in general.

However, this study may not be able to provide conclusive views on the exact nature of gender representation in the media. In the last one decade or so the country has witnessed an unprecedented media boom. At the start most of the newspapers concentrated on serious news items, politics, economics, and social issues like health services, education and the like. Only a few pages, usually the last two, were dedicated to sports and entertainment. At the moment entertainment and sports reporting have branched out becoming serious and separate publishing business. But for both serious newspapers and the entertainment newspapers much research is needed as to be able to provide empirical evidence on gender images and representation they publish.

Thus the preceding discussion notwithstanding it is quite improper to maintain that this essay provides definitive answers and conclusions on the portrayal of gender in the Tanzanian newspapers in relation to what is happening in the real society. There are various reasons for this: One, this survey is not a product of carefully planned, systematic study of gender representation in the media. Its usefulness lies in the fact that it widens the playground for gender studies in Tanzania, by exposing the intellectual potentialities of an area hitherto treated with less importance. Two, if we choose to agree with the contention of Haralambos and Holborn (1991) that "many parts of the mass media are notoriously inaccurate," and that "journalists are biased, misinformed or just plain deceitful( Kidd et al:1998), then we find that there is a need to conduct further research in order to establish empirical evidences and consistency on how gender is represented in media in Tanzania. Haralambos and Holborn further argue that it is not necessary that what is reported in the media reflects the actual situation in the society but they can be useful if they are "used to analyse the ideologies of those who produce them." Thus it is important to embark onto another level, comparing what is reported in the media with the situation in the real society; this is a completely another research altogether: Three, though there have been several studies on gender representation in the media, such studies lacks coordination, systematization and are not sustained. Moreover, very few studies have investigated into the image of the woman in the newspapers. Thus if we need to get a more true face of gender images as represented in the media, we need to establish a sustainable project on this area. Indeed more interesting outcomes are promised! As says a feminist scholar Marj Kirby, that "the research on the portrayal of women in popular culture is far from complete. Many of the studies to date are content analyses showing that women are presented different from men, audience studies showing that women's tastes differ from men's, or analyses of 'women's fiction' in the literary criticism tradition...in order to understand the relationship between representation and sexuality we need to explore further the way meanings are circulated between medium, spectator and socio-economic context. In doing so it is imperative that we examine the meanings of the masculine as well as the construction of the feminine, in order to establish the ways in which "masculinity is an effect of culture a construction, a performance, a masquerade rather than a universal and unchanging essence." Four, this author has only done this study, as a pilot project, we need to a carry longer study and to involve other categories of newspapers and magazines so as to have a round picture of gender realities as presented in the media. Such prolonged study is also crucial since it will enrich the debate on various aspects of sexual and gender relationship in our society; it also to determine whether there are factors that will sustain the debate for long. Five, feminist and Marxist scholars blame the negative representation of the woman in the media on lack of access, by women, to the "material means of production," and lack of access to position of power and authority in the management media organization and news publishing (O'Donnell;1991). We need to carry a study on whether giving women access to power and control of publishing resources the representation of the image of women in society will improve. Six, we need to carry a research to establish the effect of the media on the Tanzanian social and cultural values. We need to see whether what is reported in the media is the true reflection of what happens in society. What, for instance, is the impact on youth or the whole society in general, of prolonged exposure to materials on sex, violence, foreign cultural values etc? Such and so many other questions beg answers from well researched activities. Such answers will give light on what measures to take in preserving the old, or in evolving new, national value system.

Newspapers Consulted for this Study

Amani: Second Edition, July, 2001

Amani: Third Edition: June, 2001

Amani: Third Edition, July, 2001

Amani: Fourth Edition: July, 2001

Championi: July 23- 24, 2001

Cheko: Second Edition: June, 2001

Hamu: July 10- 16, 2001;

Hamu: June 26- July 2, 2001

Hamu: No: 12, June, 2001

Hamu: June 12-18, 2001

Ijumaa: June 22-28, 2001

Ijumaa: June 15-21, 2001

Ijumaa: June 29th, 2001

Ijumaa: July, 13-19, 2001.

Kiu: June 22-28, 2001

Maisha: No. 27, July, 2001

Maisha: July, 18-24, 2001

Maisha: June 13-19, 2001

Michap ya Leo: June 4th, Edition, 2001.

Michapo ya Leo: July 18-24, 2001

Michapo ya Leo: July 4-10, 2001

Michapo ya leo: July 11-17, 2001

Michapo ya Leo: June 20- 26, 2001

Maisha: June 13-19, July 2001:

Mtandao: Fourth Edition: June, 2001

Mtandao: Second Edition: July 2001

Mtandao: Third Edition, July, 2001.

Mtandao: First Edition: June, 2001

Mtanzania: Monday, July 2, 2001

Mwananchi; July 22, 2001

Risasi: First edition: July 2001

Risasi: Second Edition, July, 2001

Risasi: Third Edition, July 2001

Tamasha: No. 15, July, 2001

Tamasha: First Edition, June, 2001,

Tamasha: Second Edition, July, 2001

Tamasha: Fourth Edition, July, 2001

Wasaa: 30th June- 9th July, 2001

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