Women and Men, Power and Powerlessness in Lesotho

Abstract

The problem this paper will address concerns the assumption made in recent literature on women that women's power and status are less than that of men in the same group, primarily as a result of less female participation in the public sphere.1 Furthermore, it is assumed that low female public participation stems from male domination of and female exclusion from this sphere. This view presumes that valued resources-whatever their nature-are more plentiful in public than in private life. The argument I wish to make here is that village public life is not always an avenue through which effective strategies can be carried out. Social change can entail a devaluation of local resources so that participation as a social adult does not necessarily reap desired rewards. The differing natures of public spheres must be taken into account before assumptions as to the benefits of participation are made. The thesis of this paper is that, while women in Lesotho, where my research was done, are fully integrated into the public life of the village, while their contributions to extradomestic relations are made explicit, while they are part of a strong female village network, they still perceive their role as wives to be far more important than their role as village members or Lesotho citizens. This perception stems from the realization that public participation offers few means by which a woman can change her life. Her husband's income is her primary vehicle for change. Her