“Why Should a Married Man Fetch Water?” Masculinities, Gender Relations, and the Embodied Political Ecology of Urban Water Insecurity in Malawi
Topics:
Keywords: Household water insecurity, gender and water, masculinities, embodied political ecology, Africa, urban water
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract
Authors:
Ellis A Adams, Keough School of Global Affairs, University of Notre Dame
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
Abstract
In sub-Saharan Africa, where water is collected primarily by women and girls, water insecurity is intertwined with gender and sociocultural norms. While extensive scholarship exists on gender-water relations in the region, it predominantly focuses on women’s roles and responsibilities, seldom considering the impact of household and community masculinities. This paper examines the synergies between masculinities, gender relations, and women’s embodied experiences of water insecurity. It situates women’s everyday embodied experiences of water insecurity within household and community masculinities. The study was conducted in Lilongwe, Malawi, and data were drawn from interviews, focus groups, observations, and household surveys. The findings advance the gender-water literature in at least three significant ways. First, they demonstrate how gendered labor underpins women’s embodied experiences of water insecurity. Second, they show that women’s decisions and strategies for coping with water insecurity are themselves an embodied consequence of water insecurity. Finally, they illuminate how men’s perceptions and constructions of masculinity and gendered power relations, expressed through marital expectations of femininity, shape women’s embodied experiences of water insecurity. Together, the findings reveal intricate intersections between masculinities, gender relations, and women’s everyday embodied experiences of water insecurity, validating the body as a significant site of geographic inquiry.
“Why Should a Married Man Fetch Water?” Masculinities, Gender Relations, and the Embodied Political Ecology of Urban Water Insecurity in Malawi
Category
Paper Abstract