WOMEN'S STATUS AND WAGE EMPLOYMENT IN KISUMU, KENYA

This research concerns the effect wage employment for women, with the accompanying potential for economic independence, has on women's status in the domestic domain. The data were collected during 10 months fieldwork in Kisumu, Kenya, during 1980. The primary methodology was participant observation supplemented with interviews with a 10 percent sample of the women in modern sector jobs. Kisumu offers an increasing number of jobs for women because it is a center of education and social services for the surrounding rural area. Most of the women are Luo, who comprise 85 percent of Kisumu's population. Other sources of data include divorce records, life histories, bank records, students' essays, and personnel records of large employers of women. Data were collected on migration, household composition, work history, and marital status. Luo men traditionally have power over their wives because they own the land on which women depend for survival. They also have custody of children by virtue of paying brideprice. Supernatural sanctions reinforce the cultural value of the passive, reproductive role for women. In Kisumu, even though women may have cash incomes, they remain dependent on their husbands for social status. There is no approved social niche for unmarried women. Husbands have rights to privacy and social interactions which women lack. These male privileges are part of a powerful set of symbols which, along with the right to beat one's wife, legitimize men's position as household heads with authority over their wives. Alternatives to marriage for women and few and not attractive. For women with little education, becoming a housegirl or a bargirl are the primary options. A few women take their grievances against their husbands to court and obtain divorces and custody of their children on grounds not allowed under customary law. It is concluded that while access to economic resources is a necessary first step in changing women's status, it is not enough. When women lack alternative mole models and when female submissivity is prized, then women are likely to share men's values concerning the subordination of women, and women's status in the domestic sphere remains low.