Culture and Gender in Kenya

The Conceptual Connection and the Agenda for Change

Abstract

Culture is one of the most complex and dynamic phenomena in human society and one that gives its members their identity but is also shaped by its male and female bearers as they adapt to a constantly changing environment. The concept of culture is so broad and all-encompassing that some variations do exist in its precise definition. There is now an evolving consensus that the definition of culture, as that of gender, has been systematically politicized by individuals and groups who represent diverse social and political ideologies and development paradigms. Despite the diversity in its definition, there are, however, several common threads that run through the various strands of culture and constitute its defining features. At a general level, culture may be defined as a set of learned beliefs, attitudes, values, norms, customs, behavior patterns, symbols, myths, language usages, principles, experiences, and skills that members of a society or community share as a framework for interpreting the social world, including patterns of gender roles and relationships (Robertson, 1981; Ember and Ember, 1990; Rosman and Rubel, 1992 ). Culture also consists of all the physical objects and shared products that women and men create, give meaning to, incorporate into their environments, and use in their everyday lives. In essence, therefore, culture is an entire and distinctive way of life that is learned, shared, and shaped by women and men and forms the basis for understanding the diversity in gender systems. These systems are constantly transformed and redefined to reflect new and emerging socio-economic and cultural situations. During the past three decades of active gender debate, there have been major shifts in conceptual language which have led to a growing practice of using the term gender as a substitution for the word woman. Gender does not refer to women or men as is usually misconceived. On the contrary, the concept of gender refers to the relationship between men and women, to how the roles of men and women are socially constructed, and to the cultural interpretations of the biological differences between men and women (Wood, 1999). Gender roles, relations, and identity are therefore socially constructed through the process of socialization. During the socialization process, society's ideas and ideals about what is considered appropriate gender roles and relations in a given cultural context are defined, demarcated, and transformed in different cultural situations. Thus, gender relations are power relations that are socially distinct and culturally defined but constantly adapting to changing circumstances.