Oxfam gender study final report_march 2020

Oxfam Gender Study, Final Report 05/04/2019 Delphi Research and Consulting, Mozambique
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05/04/2019
HOW SOCIAL NORMS
SHAPE GENDER
IDEOLOGIES AND
INEQUALITY IN
MAPUTO, SOFALA AND
NAMPULA
FINAL REPORT
Delphi Research and Consulting
Maputo, Mozambique
STUDY REPORT
Content:
Executive Summary
Introduction
Brief resume of
conceptual &
methodological
approach
Findings
Comparisons with
findings from other
studies
Conclusions
Recommendations
OXFAM
MOZAMBIQUE

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The Delphi Research and Consulting Research team
Team coordinator and overall responsible
Peter R. Beck
Field team Maputo:
Lino Macuaca and Rosalina Renalda
Field Team Beira and Sofala:
Carlos Bavo and Paulina Afonso
Field Team Nampula
Alair Ubisse and Angela Matsinhe
Data analysis and report writing
Peter R. Beck

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Table of Contents
Executive Resume p. 05
1. Introduction: The rationale and the objective of the gender Study p. 12
2. The theoretical and methodological approach: a short resume p. 13
2.1. A framework of sensitizing concepts p. 13
2.1.1. Tradition p. 14
2.1.2. Religion p. 15
2.1.3. Roles, attitudes and the “self” p. 17
2.1.4. Cognitive dissonance and attribution processes p. 20
2.2. A cognitive research approach based on face to face interactions p. 21
2.2.1. Interview techniques and instruments p. 21
2.2.2. Data analysis p. 22
3. Presentation of the Findings p. 23
3.1. Sample and sample distribution and composition p. 23
3.2. Discussion of Findings p. 25
3.2.1. Social norms and gender norms p. 28
3.2.1.1. Attitudes towards gender norms p. 28
3.2.1.2. Do people have a right to resist these norms p. 39
3.2.1.3. The law, religion and tradition, what counts more p. 42
3.2.1.4. Who is behind and defending traditional social norms p. 46
3.2.2. Gender norms and gender roles p. 51
3.2.2.1. Are there typical male - female areas of activity? p. 51

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3.2.2.2. The household division of labour p. 55
3.2.2.3. Gender role education: how do children learn it p. 61
3.2.2.4. Gender and male power: blame and punishment p. 65
3.2.3. The construction of Gender roles and of gendered ‘self’ p. 75
3.2.4. Two possible cases of cognitive dissonance p. 86
3.2.5. Findings from group discussion and from key
informant interviews p. 90
3.2.6. A preliminary analysis of our findings: what is standing out? p. 98
3.3. Comparisons with findings from other Studies p. 105
3.3.1. Signe Arnfred on initiation rites in Northern Mozambique p. 107
3.3.2. Elena Colonna’s case study: childhood in Mozambique p. 114
3.3.3.The ‘Muva’ and ‘Ligada’ studies on girls’ employment
social norms in Mozambique p. 120
4. Conclusions p. 123
5. Recommendations p. 127
6. Literature Used p. 137
Appendixes:
Appendix 1: The overall timetable of the assignment p. 142
Appendix 2: The unfolding of the research process p. 143
Appendix 3: List of key informants reached out to p. 144
Appendix 4: Inception Report (in a separate Document)

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Concepts without perception are empty,
perception without concepts are blind.
Immanuel Kant
Executive Summary
Introduction
Study took place in Nampula, Maputo and Sofala provinces including the three major cities
conducting 266 individual interviews (98.5% of planned sample size), equally divided for each
location, and 11 gender mixt group discussion with an average of 12 participants each. Field
teams also documented 8 Life stories that fed into the report. To round up the process we also
conducted 11 interviews with key informants from Maputo, Beira and Nampula. The
methodological approach use was already described in detail in inception report to this study.
Data gathering process started in mid-January and reached well into March. Individual target
person interviews done by three field teams each composed by two experienced researchers
went from 13th
to 30th
of January. Data cleansing and transfer process from the questionnaires
and the gender differential stretched over almost four weeks. Data analysis process and the
subsequent writing of the draft report took another four weeks, all because of the large amount
of data assembled.
The following data analysis and data interpretation is triangulating the information from all these
different sources including theoretical sources that we found necessary to add and include,
including of course findings and discussions presented in the Inception Report1
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Findings:
1. Social norms and cultural traditions and the role of religion: based on our sample
analysis, almost 68% of all respondents did judge tradition, and the values and norms it entails,
as ‘of importance to me”. Besides that a majority thinks traditional values are important and
should continue regulating the relationship between the sexes, this does not include that they
agree with all the rituals and practices in entails. While 39% mostly urban dwellers already focus
more on obstacles due to gender role concepts than on traditional practices, almost 40% believe
that girls’ initiation rites that are still more common in Northern Mozambique are outdated, and
almost 29% think the same of the widow cleansing, more common in Central and Southern
Mozambique. According to our sample and with regard to the question of changing traditional
social norms and who could change this, 87% point at the government as the guardian of the
Law, 47% at Civil society, while 39 point at community and religious leaders, stipulating that
1 Oxfam (2019) How social norms shape gender attitudes and inequality in Mozambique: Inception Report,
Delphi Research and Consulting, Maputo, 03/01/2019

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when those change the communities and families might follow. On the issue of the relationship
between legal, traditional and religious norms, our sample analysis has found that almost 80%
of all respondents claim the Law “is important to me”, while, at the same time, only around 33%
do admit that they have knowledge of the law and of the rights it gives to women. On the other
hand only less than half of the over 84% who claimed that they do “value the law over tradition”,
believe the same when they have to choose between the Law and religion. Only 35% think the
law is more important than religion. Around 90% of those who believe in religion, among which
70% strong believers claim that ‘my religion stipulates’ something like “a man is naturally
superior to a women”, an idea to which 70% agree.
It shows that social norms are no longer only rooted in traditional cultural values, but have
already these traditional with faith religious beliefs, both built around the same idea that women
should consider themselves as inferior to men and both sexes should be educated along this
belief. This type of syncretism between tradition and religion is happening less on the level of
religion themselves than on the level of the individual believer who, very often, have one foot in
both camps. Actually we found a good example of how this syncretism at action level described
by Honwana cited below plays its role in defending existing gender beliefs and attitudes: while
the growing resistance against tradition is centered on traditional practices and rites like
Initiation rites or that of widow cleansing, it is at least to a great part motivated by religious beliefs
accusing these rites of stimulating women’s sexual side and promoting promiscuous behaviors,
which is seen, when happening outside the borders of community surveillance, as a potential
threat to man’s superiority, while when confronted with cases where men are involved in
traditional female tasks, like taking care of household or letting women in command, they refer
to customary explanations rooted in traditional thought, which explain cases like this as cases
of women referring to witchcraft and using it as a means for putting her husband into a bottle”.
Because otherwise, she, in all her natural inferiority, would not be capable to so. In both cases
people jump from religious to traditional explanations in order to defend existing beliefs and
attitudes of women’s inferiority and explain away cases that might question this belief. Action
level syncretism actually plays out just as attribution theory had described the use of
rationalization for the defense of existing attitude patterns.
It underlines to what extent the presence and influence of faith based religions and their
puritan moral code has changed the nature and the practice of social norms, as much as has
urbanization in a sense that they join in the condemnation of traditional ceremonies, rituals and
practices because it would help stimulation sexually promiscuous behaviour. This combination
between traditional beliefs and criticism of traditional practices for religious, and also in some
cases for secular reasons is more frequent in urban than in rural settings. We found that in urban
settings even when these rituals are still obeyed, families already started changing the ways
how the rituals unfold, for example reducing the time during which boys and girls are in the hand

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of the perpetrator and guardians of these traditions. These changes are sometimes driven by
economic (costs) or practical reasons (avoidance of school absenteeism) or by both at the same
time. Or, as we have found, by religious reasons. Social norms and practices are hence
strongest in remote rural regions, where the law and law enforcement is weak, labour markets
are distant, and the presence of faith religions is not yet felt as strongly as in urban
agglomerations.
2. Gender role definitions and social norms: While traditional practices and rituals are already
more under threat, suffering the influences of faith religion, secular groups and by the structural
social change, our sample analysis has shown that the impact of traditional beliefs on how
gender roles and positions are defined has been strengthened by the growing influence of faith
religion, resulting in a sort of unholy alliance between traditional and religious beliefs. An alliance
built on almost identical ideas about gender roles in general and women’s role in particular. This
idea, as our data confirms, is not only shared by a large proportion of men and women, in urban
and rural settings alike, but respondents’ reactions show that they have ‘made it their own’, and
have made it part of their gendered selves. The internalization of gender role concepts also
means that they no longer depend unilaterally on the constraining power of social norms, but
they are already defended from within, by both, men and women. Traditional gender role
definitions are hence much more encrusted in personality and therefore much more resistant to
change, than the ritual practices different cultures use to educate new community members and
organize their passage from one status and life stage to the next. Our findings have also
produced evidence that gender role definitions are also shaped by professional roles and vice
versa, and not merely by the household division of labour, with women assuming the role of the
housewife and men that of the “decider”.
It suggests that gender role definitions in Mozambique are not a mere product of traditional
cultural beliefs that use ritual practices to impose its power, but also by religious beliefs
illustrating the grown influence of “faith religions” in Mozambique; and, in particular in urban
agglomerations by the ‘secular’ division of labour and by their labour market position. While
criticism against traditional practices is largely driven by religious arguments, labeling it as
something immoral, criticism against professional role division is probably already more
motivated by secular beliefs and interests. 76% of sample women from Maputo point at norm
sets regulating gender role divisions as the most inconvenient social norms, compared to only
13% in Nampula, who are strongest in questioning the moral legitimacy of initiation rites.
However, women’s criticism of gender role concepts, expressed in particular by urban and more
urbanized women, does not yet include questioning the general idea of ‘men’s superiority over
women’. It’s a criticism not primarily directed against male – female relationships built around
the idea of man’s superiority, but a criticism consisting in claiming better and more equal access

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to and treatment in education, all public services and employment. Our sample analysis found
that a large majority of women (96%) and this percentage includes professional career women,
still see their principal vocation in being a caring housewife, while they see a man’s role as that
of a decider, of a protector of the family, and of family head, and, to a much lesser extent, as a
provider. This is interesting insofar because it shows that where women managed to become
part of the labour market and got a formal job, the idea that the man must be the principal
provider begins to change. However, when we used our gender differential tool for measuring
popular stereotypes 90% of men and 84% of women thought that being labelled a bad provider
would severely harm a man’s reputation, compared to only around 8% (men) and around 16%
(women) who said the same about women. Hence being a family provider is clearly still part of
the male role portfolio.
Also, the increase d inclusion of urban women into labour markets and the idea that women
can have a professional career has not yet influenced the ideas about the role division in
household, despite that 31% of sample women declared that they are ‘not happy’ with it.
However, this ‘unhappiness’ is only caused by the idea that ‘men should do more’, - an idea
shared by 43% of sample women, and even 21% of sample men - but it doesn’t relate to the,
just described, general gender role division and the hierarchical structure of gender relationships
it entails, which remains untouched and unaffected by these feelings. All this points towards a
certain disconnect between the progress achieved on the issue of women’s professional
emancipation, and her ongoing ‘disemancipation’ in household and towards her husband. It
confirms observations made in other studies2
that even career women, the moment the open
their front doors rather willingly accept her retransformation into a (more or less) caring
housewife, depending on her character.
On the other hand we found further evidence for the thesis that the moral and social
boundaries of the communities are already eroding: all men and women sampled and without
any exception emphasized that school education is important for both, boys and girls and that
they would not want to take anyone out of school, which by the way was also one argument
against initiation rites accused of leading to girls dropping out of school. And when economic
constraints would impose to make a choice of who to take out of school first, choices were rather
equally distributed.
What is interesting are the explanations: those who would for a boy to be the first to be
forced to dropout, presented two arguments: either that boys would find it easier to get along
even with no higher grades than girls; or that keeping girls enrolled would protect them against
early pregnancy a risk to which they would be more exposed to as school dropouts. In the
inverse case where they would choose girls, the main argument was that of the traditional role
2 For exemple: Alberto Cumbi (2009) Mulheres com formação superior e emprego remunerado: mulheres
emancipadas? Outras Vozes nº 27, de Junho de 2009, cited in Inception report

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division: a boy needs grades more to prepare him for his role of a provider, while a girl would
need it less for her future role as a housewife. The last argument in particular confirms our
principal finding that social norms and gender role concepts are mutually reinforcing, and
religious beliefs and political inaction, like failing to promote and enforce existing laws are
helping keeping this cycle alive.
Our findings reveal that traditional gender role concepts and what they entail in terms of
women’s right, status and her relationship and interaction with her husband or male companion
are deeply encrusted in men and women’s selves. Hence, 96% of women believe that their
natural place is in the household and taking care of family, while 92% of men and women alike
believe that a man’s primary role is household is that of a ‘chef’. Another evidence of the strong
hierarchical character of this tradition role concepts is the fact that 43% of men and around 45%
of women believe that it is normal for a women to be reprimanded by her husband, including
punishments, “when she has done something wrong”, meaning when she has failed to live up
to the expectations entailed in her gender role. We also found evidence that this type of domestic
violence is a widespread phenomenon, with 82% of sample women declaring that they have
either already witnessed or experienced these type of cases and acts involving punishments,
creating an uncomfortable mixture of feelings of fear, shock, anger and shame. On the other
hand, girls are still much more involved than boys in household tasks with the notable exception
of taking care of younger siblings. Hence they represent more than simple normative
prescriptions, they are already imposing their presence from within influencing the horizon of
their ideas and of their actions.
3. External and internal factors and forces of social change:
Among the factors that could bring change, a majority of respondents (80%) point toward
external forces, like the Law claiming that it is insufficiently disseminated and implemented. Our
sample analysis found evidence for this belief of.an, at least geographically unbalanced
distribution of the law; it’s presence is felt strongest in urban metropolitan areas with more
developed labour markets like Maputo, with 76% of women reported that the Law had a positive
impact on their ability to achieve their educational and professional goals, compared to 59% in
Nampula. However. In general terms, the knowledge and trust in the law as a powerful tool for
defending women and children’s rights fades the more remote a location and farer away people
are living from the city.
But we also found some evidence that men and women gain and already gained
consciousness of these ideological constructs and that they are not build for eternity In other
words, we already saw signs of the ”I” standing up against the social “me”, even provoking cases

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of ‘cognitive dissonances’, felt by 36% of women and 43% of men, suggesting that change is
also possible from within.
One case of cognitive dissonance regarding the belief in man’s superiority: 37.6% of
women’s and 40.4% of men’s sample gave opposing yes – no answers, depending on the
context surrounding the question. These are the cases were the same people did answer the
same question with ‘yes’, when a religious reference was made, and with ‘no’ when the question
made no reference to religious beliefs; characterizing the reactions of 59 women and 44 men,
who were well aware of the issue and what it meant. It shows that the opinions are driven by a
motif of conformity than by an inner conviction. Once the religious normative coves disappears
people, on their own, do no longer feel like it. However, these phenomena seem to be more
common in urban areas, where gender role definitions, at least in the professional realm, are
already shifting and pushing women for more equal opportunity, whereas in rural areas the
question of traditional rituals and practices and how to deal with them are still the more
prominent questions.
And another case describing a dissonant relationship between a positive belief and a
negative feeling associated with it, again around the idea of man’s superiority. Here, our data
revealed that 38.3% of female respondents and 34.5% of men respondents, who all defended
the idea of male superiority issued that this idea, while they believed it, would make them feel
‘uncomfortable’. And proportionally more respondents from Nampula and Sofala expressed this
kind of dissonances than from Maputo, quite to the contrary to the first described case:
Recommendations:
Findings confirm that Oxfam’s activity plan is already on track. However our findings might
help to make some readjustments in program planning and implementation and in knowledge
production. And most of all, program planning and activities targeting social norms and
traditional practices should be aware of the different roles religious beliefs and moral codes are
playing vis-à-vis these traditional ritual practices, and vis-à-vis general gender role concepts.
With regard to the relationship between CSO and religious organization:
 The general understanding that targeting traditional norms and gender role definitions constitute
two different target groups and two different kind of approaches: traditional practices are based
in cultural traditions using customary practices to maintain their identity which is already under
threat from faith religions, and from secular forces, like economic and political development and
its capitalistic and legal norms and like human rights groups. Gender role concepts are not only
rooted in these cultural but also in religious traditions and are part of modern socioeconomic
conditions separating between labour market dominated professional role sets and the
‘traditional’ role divisions in the family. Both role and norms sets are co-existing and women,
have to cope with them.

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 Organize and secular dialogue in form of a series of regional conferences on gender and gender
related issues. The first recommendation is about the necessity to clearly distinguish between
dialogue and education and advocacy oriented activities. It would consist in engaging in a
secular dialogue with all relevant stakeholders, Government, political parties, traditional and
religious leaders, CSO, researchers and academics, in of regional conferences on gender and
gender related issues. It would become the framework for more socially intrusive program types
like educational projects. With regard to targeting and programing:
 Program and activity planning: Our findings have revealed that traditional social norms and the
practices it entails and already attracting some criticisms from parts of population, and the
construction and the defence of gender role concepts and self-concepts should be dealt with as
two different areas, although they are mutually reinforcing. Programs and activities aiming at
traditional practices and rites should include a wide range of educational and community
development oriented measures that should be implemented by a wide coalition of
organizations, ranging from State, via CSO to religious authorities, congregations and its
leaders. Here the main objective is that of child and human rights protections
The core objective of program aiming changing existing gender roles and of gendered self-
concepts would be to increase women’s choices and at equal levels to men. Here activities
would consist in review education process in schools, implementing civic education modules for
all school grades, extending to school board members and, through this, to families,
neighborhoods and communities level, and would have to tackle the rather ‘unholy’ alliance
between traditional (customary) and religious (faith based) gender role concepts that both claim
men’s superiority, defended by both traditional and religious authorities and leaders. The
coalition of agencies would range from Government agencies spreading and implementing the
Law at all levels; to CSO by investing in community development and secular and civic
education, working with religious and traditional leaders both guardians of these role concepts.
And with regard to knowledge production and to the necessity of regular updates:
 Regular and cyclic Knowledge production: In the light of our findings, and as means to further
enhance our knowledge on the issue of gender concepts and how they evolve over time, why
and where, we recommend lobbying conducting or participating in three types of studies:
1st
focusing on the impact of labour markets on gender role concepts and its evolution.
2nd
on the impact of faith religious beliefs on attitudes towards traditional practices, and
towards gender norms and gender role concepts and its evolution; and
3rd
on childhood socialization processes, focusing on what gender role concepts are
driving childhood education in families, in school and the social environment taking into
account variables like cultural traditions and social milieu, and, on the matter of initiation
rites including a child psychological perspective .

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1. Introduction: The objective of the gender Study
The rationale of the study was to produce information on gender norms and gender role
construction that may be one factor behind the gender imbalances in key areas like social
power, schooling, labour markets, and access to opportunities. According to the ToR, the
study’s purpose is to provide Oxfam with empiric information regarding the extent to which
Social Norms influence gender interactions and produce situation where men’s interests, rights,
perspectives and aspirations are normally ascribed more value than women’s. The enterprise
is part of Oxfam’s country strategy for Mozambique and in particular of impact goal two, aiming
at the promotion of gender justice, of which the transformation of “social norms so young women
can flourish” constitutes an essential component. Oxfam’s effectiveness to act as a change
agent and its progress will be measured through three strategic outcomes: Outcome 1: a greater
number of parents and guardians are actively supportive to girls and young women’s education;
Outcome 2: Young people, boys and girls alike are more aware of women’s rights and use this
knowledge to influence decision making in households, schools and communities that affects
their lives; and Outcome 3: Knowledge of existing legal norms and laws on gender equality is
increased and utilized by law enforcement institutions and officials.3
The study is expected to take a look at Social Norms and how they relate to unequal gender
relations and to the shaping of gender roles expressing the differences in normative
expectations towards women and men, girls and boys. The observation that school education
has been characterized by its tendency of reinforcing existing gender norms and roles can be
read as an illustration of this fact. Gender norms can hence have a disenfranchising effect on
women including that of early marriage with Mozambique accusing the 10th
highest level of early
marriage in the world. It will also give an update of current gender attitude patterns and
stereotypes. Not all stereotypes are gender related. Negative stereotypes against people
suffering from albinism is affecting both, girls and boys.4
Knowledge on how social norms shape agency, and notably women’s agency is essential for
strengthening the implementation of policy measures bringing about change and broader
gender justice. Oxfam recognizes that changing existing and disenfranchising gender norms,
ideologies, role prescriptions and stereotypes requires coordinated action aiming the household,
community national level, but also at the individual level. All these aspects will be discussed in
3 Oxfam Country Strategy Mozambique 2018 – 2023, p. 19. The following data and information cited in this
section and marked in italics are all taken from Oxfam country strategy document.
4 For example: Atineja Cândida Jorge Gune (2017) ‘Já me chamaram de fantasma’: Um estudo sobre a
construção do indivíduo a partir das pessoas com albinismo na cidade de Maputo 2016. Monografia
apresentada em cumprimento parcial dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de licenciatura em Sociologia na
Universidade Eduardo Mondlane.

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greater detail in the chapter presenting the study approach and are part of the conceptualization
process orienting the data collection strategy and instrument design.
As we have stated in the inception report gender gaps characterize almost all indicators used
in different surveys and studies, ranging from health issues and access to basic services to
education and employment, from family life and the division of household task to public life.
Progress has mostly be made in areas benefitting economically well-off women and children
and girls from well-off families. The struggle for gender equality is further hampered by the
country’s overall socioeconomic and socio-political situation, described a bundle of organization
including Oxfam Mozambique and the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP) among others, also
already mentioned in the inception report. It also contains information of legal and political
actions that have already be undertaken for the sake of gender equality, and of agencies
involved in these efforts. The following resume on concepts and methods constitutes and
somewhat actualized resume of what has already be presented and in some length in Inception
report
2. Resume of the theoretical and methodological approach
As we have already offered a detailed description of our methodological approach in the
inception report we shall just to provide a short resume of some key aspects that are vital for
understanding how and why we did the things the way we did. In the inception report we have,
offered a review of theories about social norms and the emergence of gender norm and role
concepts and gender related theories that can be summed up like the following: social norms
are located between legitimizing cultural value ideas and between gender role definitions they
entail, and the behavioural norms associated with it. The strength of these gender norms stems
from the fact that they are rooted in sexual division of labour, which goes far back the history of
humanity and that, over time has triggered the emergence of distinct gender norms further
normalizing gender role distinctions. These already normalized gender divisions have been
transformed in explanative religious myths, and given birth to gender related value ideas
providing a cultural cover and legitimation for the division of labour and the emerging gender
role concepts.
2.1. A framework of sensitizing concepts.
The following paragraphs provide a brief resume of what has already be presented in inception
report. It is of utmost importance to underline that the conceptual framework and its theories
and explanative models behind are use in a sense of what Herbert Blumer described as
‘sensitizing concepts’, heuristic tools that help us finding our way through the maze of concepts

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and theories. They do not constitute a coherent framework putting the empiric research process
in a deductive logic having for purpose to confirm or falsify elements of framework. “Whereas
definitive concepts provide prescriptions of what to see, sensitizing concepts merely suggest
directions along which too look”.5
Our study directions had been defined in the ToR, whereas
we were called upon to propose how to look at the things we were expected to look at, and what
are the dimension our research should embrace in order to take a good look into the issues of
social norms and gender. This is how the concepts and the theoretical reasoning behind them
have been chosen and selected. While the concept of social norms already has a long history
on sociological theory and research, we have opted in favour of a combination of sociological
and social psychological conceptual frameworks.
2.1.1. Tradition
Our study touches what is labelled traditional value ideas and norms. There are many
characterizations of the significance of the concept of tradition, and what it distinguishes from
other forms of value based norms, like custom, convention or legal norms; (for example Max
Weber in Economy and Society). Giddens has defined tradition “in the following way. Tradition,
I shall say, is bound up with memory, specially what Maurice Halbwachs terms ‘collective
memory”: involves ritual; is connected with what I shall call a formulaic notion of truth; has
‘guardians’; and, unlike custom, has binding force which has a combined moral and emotional
content. Memory, like tradition- in some sense or another is about organizing the past in relation
to the present.”6
also proposes with reference to Gluckman to make a distinction between
ritualism linked with tradition and its notion formulaic truth, and the ritualization of social
relations, referring to the distribution of roles people occupy in ceremonial occasions.“7
The
advantage Giddens’ ‘definition’ is offering is that it already proposes a list of what are the
characteristic ingredients of a tradition, allowing turning the attention back from processes to
actors and agents and to their different forms of involvement in perpetuating traditional beliefs
5 Herbert Blumer: What is wrong with social theory, in Blumer (1969) Symbolic Interactionism: perspectives
and methods, University of California Press, Berkeley, p. 148 Bowen has added that the heuristic function of
sensitizing concepts stretches also to theorizing “Sensitizing concepts give the researcher a sense of how observed instances
of a phenomenon might fit within conceptual categories.” Glenn Bowen (2006) Grounded Theory and Sensitizing
Concepts, International Journal of Qualitative Methods no. 5 September 2006
6 Anthony Giddens: Living in a post traditional society, in Giddens (1996) In defence of sociology, Polity
Press, Cambridge, UK, p. 15. Giddens defines formulaic truth as a logical operation consisting in “attributing a
causal efficacy to ritual; truth criteria are applied to events caused, not to propositional content of statement”. Giddens also
relies on Durkheim’s association between traditions and the sacred when underlining that “Ritual speech is
speech that makes no sense to disagree with or contradict – and hence contains a powerful means of reducing the possibility of
dissent. This is surely central to its compelling quality”. Ibid., p. 17. This clarification is important as it implies
something Giddens further develops at a later point, that traditions are no discursive systems and are designed
to protect themselves from questioning and reasoned argumentation. We shall have to return to these issues
in the closing sections of this report
7 Giddens (1996) ibid., p. 59

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and practices; something which is even more important for the purpose of formulating an action
program aiming at these beliefs and practices. The reference to memory also provides a bridge
to the role and attitude concepts, as both are serving as interlocks between bridging the realm
of the collective and the individual.
2.1.2. Religion
The concept of religion and sociological theories of religion hadn’t been part of the original
conceptual framework, although our research approach included question on religion and
religious beliefs. Quite rightly so, because as we found out when analyzing the data, we found
religion represented some kind of a ‘latent’ or ‘hidden’ variable; that religious beliefs play a very
big part in social and gender norms, in gender role concepts and in attitudes associated with it.
This is what led us to the decision, as an ex-post measure to include ‘religion’ into our
framework. But this fact is important on another level still: it shows the explorative character of
our research design, and the value of an approach using concepts as sensitizing concepts
helping orienting research process instead of preceding it with already ready-made explanations
and theoretical constructs.
Now, given the vastness and complexity of what has been called the ‘sociology of religion’ we
shall restrain ourselves to some short remarks. In sociological terms, religion can be described
as “a social arrangement designed to provide a shared, collective way of dealing with the
unknown and the un-knowable aspects of human life, with the mysteries of life, death, and the
difficult dilemma that arise in the process of making moral decisions.”8
This definition already
underlines that from a functional perspective religion and tradition are very much the same. Both
are considered as vital for creating the sense of community, of social cohesion and solidarity
distinct, in the case of religion, from the world of non-believers, or, in the case of tradition to
someone that lives outside realm of cosmological beliefs and the customary practices it entails
and that a drawn along the criteria of cultural identity, lineage or kinship.9
And both are built
upon the crucial distinction between the sacred and the profane10
, producing, together with the
sexual division of labor a social division of powers and laid the foundations for social stratification
and political power. 11
Religion, like tradition through its chosen and operators who have
successfully run through the different initiation rituals, are the only institutions legitimized to
bridge the gap between both worlds in ceremonial and ritual actions. Now, Weber as reminded
us that faith religion and tradition find themselves in a concurrence situation and see themselves
as enemies. Important here is that ‘faith religion’ – all world religion are faith and no longer
8 Alan C. Johnson (2000) The Blackwell Dictionary of Sociology, Blackwell, Malden
9 Claude Levi Strauss (2001) Myth and meaning, Routledge, London.
10 Emile Durkheim (1995) The elementary forms of religious Life, The Free Press, New York
11 Georges Balandier (1991) Anthropologie Politique, PUF, Paris,

16
custom oriented – have transformed at a very early stage into hierarchically structured
bureaucratic organizations12
whose vocation is not only to manage the matters of faith, but also
more profane matters, like administrative tasks, or business matters like banking and finances,
real estate, and politics. Some even running whole States, like in Iran or in the Golf States. And
it this bureaucratically organized structure and the symbolic and material power behind that
gave and gives religion the edge of tradition. The hypertrophic growth of religious congregations
in Mozambique is also a sign that matters of faith, are quite a lucrative market.
2.1.3. On social norms, roles, attitudes and the ‘self”.
Social Norms: The various definitions discussed in the inception report agree on the fact that a
norm refers to a shared expectation of behaviour that connotes what is considered culturally
desirable and appropriate. Although norms are similar to rules and regulations in being
prescriptive and in their regulating, controlling and sanctioning, they lack the formal status of
rules, and, different to the latter are not “constituted” in an act of will by a given authority, as in
the case of legal norms and laws, but gain their authority and legitimacy through the fact that
they are part of what is recognized as the tradition and the way of how the ‘legitimate’ guardians
of the tradition define what represents a ‘tradition. Social norms need to be recognized as such,
and ideally result in individual attitude patterns that can be studied. Hence the sociological
concept of social norm is closely linked to the concept of attitude and of social role, where the
latter is commonly associated with routine behavioral and attitude patterns attached with a social
position or status and the ‘legitimate’ collective expectations it entails. Structural theories,
following a Durkheim-like path of thinking have employed the role concept as a bridging concept
between the social and the individual explaining why social life is organized and not anarchic;
while social norms enmeshed in social institutions and the expectations and it entails are having
for purpose to shaping individual behaviours and to making it predictable, individual become
acquainted with these normative expectation and the role prescription. Every new member runs
through a socialisation process organized in different phases each phase connected through
rites of passage where individuals learn these norms, learn how to deal with it, and own it
through the process of internalisation shaping individual selves and identities. The increasing
social differentiation of society would lead to increasing fragmentation of formerly binding social
norms and to their transformation into distinct and social milieu bound social norms and gender
norms. (Durkheim). Instead of having to face one single and coherent set of rule like in traditional
societies, individuals in modern societies are surrounded by competing norm sets, expressing
the extent to which society is disaggregated in different and competing value spheres (Weber),
as well as in competing social milieus, the most obvious of which is the distinction – and
12 Max Weber (1988) Religionssoziologie (in German: sociology of religions), JCB Mohr, Tübingen

17
articulation - between rural and urban life styles and the social and cultural characteristic each
of which entails notably what concerns the power and the validly and the interpretation of
tradition and traditional secular or religious norms. The fact of competing norm sets is echoed
by set of competing role sets, a process Simmel had described as the “crossing of social
circles”13
. This is reflected in socialisation process turning twofold: on the one hand social, its
goal is to prepare each individual to competently managing these competing norm and role
expectations and prescriptions; on the other hand it needs to provide them with the academic
and moral competencies matching with the professional role requirements linked to a social or
organizational position.
Roles: While structural functional role theory is defining a role as a specific enactment
prescription linked to a specific social position or status attributing a ritualized significance to it,
interactionist role concepts are much less interested in these institutional aspects and much
more interested of what actors do with roles, balancing institutional, situational, and personal
role aspects; that is: with how actors are do interpret, define and redefine situations and the
‘role’ the believe they could or should occupy as well as how they want to play it. Institutional
aspects interfere as a general framework, and “action frame” as Goffman had called it, providing
a common ‘frame of reference’ to which all actors involved in an interaction sequence can refer
to, like actors who follow their different individual role scripts but are part of the same the same
play14
. We use this approach in the design of the interview guide with the hope that it might give
us some ideas of how men and women interpret their social gender roles, whether and to what
extent they identify or distance themselves with the given role script, and which are these areas
and parts of the role script they want to distance themselves from and why. We do so by asking
questions about how they see and feel about the roles that are assigned to them and to those
assigned to the opposite sex, by looking into how these constructions play into their social and
moral judgments about things, and into their behavioural choices. We believe that it gives us an
insight into general and regular attitudes and attitude patterns towards gender roles and gender
role division and the behavioural expectations they entail, like in the family, in social and intimate
relationships and in public and professional life, as well as towards the social norms that are
13 Georg Simmel: Die Kreuzung sozialer Kreise, in Simmel (1992) Sociology: investigations into the social
forms of sociability (in German), Suhrkamp, Frankfurt/Main, While in the structure of traditional society
held together by the idea of kinship, would look like a set of concentric social circles, where each circle is
related to a stage in human life cycle, and where the individual’s passage from one life stage to the next is
organized as a passage from one circle to the next. This passage takes the form of a ceremonial act involving
submitting each individual to transition rites (Van Gennep), preparing him or her to the new kinship status,
and the rights and responsibilities associated with it.
14 Gouldner who has formulated as scathing attack against Goffman’s dramaturgic action approach has
criticised that Goffman’s characterization of the ‘action frame of reference’ has neglected that it also entails
power and status differences. “In Goffman’s theory the conventional hierarchisations are shattered. (…) Here there is no
higher or lower”. Alvin Gouldner (1970) The coming crisis of Western Sociology, Basic Books, New York, p.
379.

18
scripting these roles and role divisions, and they are valued compared to other forms of social
norms, like those rooted in religious beliefs or expressed in binding legal codes.
Attitudes and Mead’s concept of the ‘self’. Again, as both concepts and approaches have
been discussed in some detail in the Inception report, we restrict ourselves with a short overview
of what has been said there. Attitude for us, represents an internal representation were
cognitive, affective and behavioural aspects are put in a relatively coherent and logically
consistent form, that not only serves to orient the way how we relate to the world, but also to
absorb, interpret and make sense of the events and encounters we have gone through. It is
obvious that in this sense attitudes are intimately linked to social expectations either in form of
social norms or roles, representing, in some sort their internal counterparts. It was expect to
help why different actors facing situations where they are forced to choose are choosing
differently, be in situations where the choices are described as between exit, voice or loyalty15
(Hirschman) or between conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism or rebellion.16
Since the
times where sociologists still read social psychologist like Fritz Heider, and made use of the
attitude concept as means to identify “belief-value patterns”17
, like it was done in the studies of
the ‘Authoritarian character’ conducted by Adorno and others, the concept has since lost its
popularity, and sociologist used other concepts like habitus for describing phenomena like
‘belief-value patterns. This is not the place to even try to resume these discussion. What is of
importance is, again, that we use attitude as a sensitizing concept, offering two advantages: a
theoretical advantage as it allows 1st
reconnecting social psychological attitude concept with
Mead’s construction of the “self”, allowing drawing a distinction between deeper lying
convictions and beliefs stocked in what Mead has called the social “me” 18
, and between
intellectual expressions like opinions put forward of the intellectual ‘I”; parts; or in other words
between value laden convictions and interest driven opinions. 2nd
it provides criteria for looking
into the logical consistency of opinions, which may be an indicator to what extent they are made
to hide, or to voice these value laden convictions positive or stereotyped attitudes do entail.
They may also already point towards the existence of a ‘dissonant’ relationship between
15 Albert Hirschman (1980) Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Further Reflections and a Survey of Recent
Contributions, The Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly. Health and Society, Vol. 58, No. 3
16 Robert K. Merton (1938) Social structure and anomie, American Sociological Review, Vol. 3, No. 5, (Oct.,
1938), p. 676
17 Edward Tolman: A psychological mode, in Talcott Parsons & Edward Shils (ed.1961) Toward a general
theory of action, Harper Torchbooks, New York, p. 358
18 Mead’s social “me” is the fruit of the socialisation process through which an individual becomes
accustomed with the value ideas, norms and role concepts of its sociocultural environment that have, at least
in part become internalized and therefore are now part of the individual personality forging his or her attitudes
towards things. The “I” represent the other component of the individual self, which is not shaped by those
social forces, and which describes a person’s capacity to become an actor of its own right, and capable of the
things described by Goffman and his role play theory.

19
opinions and ideas, feelings and behavioural dispositions, described by cognitive dissonance
and attribution theories. For example, a male respondent may defend that a woman should have
equal rights, or never be punished, - an opinion that may be driven by the “interest” of making
a “good impression”19
, while ‘feeling comfortable with the idea that man should be in command
over women, or when restricting gender equality only to those areas that do not contradict their
biological ‘programming’ that would predestine women to the caring ‘spouses’ and housewives
role, while men battle it out in the outside world. Of course, within the limited space and
framework of this study, we can only give some hints and leave it to future studies to look into
these aspects of cognitive dissonances and how they can feed into action programs aiming to
bring change to these norms and the (sexist) value ideas behind it.
Mead’s theory of the self, composed, as has been stressed further up of an ‘intellectual “I” and
a social “me”. The social ‘me’ now is understood as the instance where the experiences and
lessons acquired during socialization process are memorized and stocked, creating in each
individual an individualized representation of his social environment, and its institutionalized
expectations , expressed in social norms and social role profiles. Parts of these ‘memories have
become ‘internalized’, that is been transported from the social into the personal psychic world
of the individual having for effect that the “I” has no control over them. The idea of the existence
of deep lying memory residues, like traumata that have been pressed back into the realm of the
unconsciousness20
, is central for the therapeutically oriented approach of psycho-analysis
where the therapy serves as a tool for aiming bringing these hidden parts back to consciousness
and back under the control of the conscious “I”.
The choice to use Mead’s theory of the ‘self’ as a sensitizing framework concept for attitudes
also offers an methodological advantage playing or when it came to the design of the semi-
structured interview technique aimed at facilitating the field researchers’ understanding and
handling of the interview situation and of the ‘control’ questions included in the interview guide.
It was driven by a clear understanding that interviewer is entering in a dialogue with respondent’s
intellectual “I” asking questions aiming extracting information over his or her’s ‘social “me”,
comparing areas of logical consistency with areas of logical inconsistences which might indicate
that people are attempting to hide their real ‘opinion’ about things. It allows analysis to identify
19 Also called interviewer’ bias caused by the artificial character of the interview situation.
20 The idea that individual manage their traumatic experiences by displacing them into the realm of the
unconsciousness has been described as a natural defence mechanism used by the “I” to defend the integrity
of the personality. However, the traumatic elements didn’t disappear and continue developing their negative
repressed energy, and represent, according to psycho analytic theory, the causes of personnel disturbances
and psychopathological symptoms like the widely discussed hysteria. In attitude theoretical terms they
represent the troublesome underground of attitude patterns. Psychoanalysis’ therapeutical goal is to assisting
the person to regain consciousness over these traumatic events, put it in context, reflect on bring healing by
eliminating these negative subconscious energies.

20
eventual patterns through the means of quantitative data aggregation and comparison, using
theoretical models for coming up with reasonable explanation of the reasons and motives. Not
all may be explained by simply pointing towards ‘interviewer bias’, but reveal the existence of
underlying, and value laden, attitude patterns, which some respondents might just try to conceal
by issuing their opinions. These acts of concealment can be interpreted as attempts to protect
the attitude patterns from being exposed and eventually criticized, and would fall under what
attribution theory has described as a cognitive defence mechanism consisting in managing
inconsistences, and protecting convictions they feel have already come under threat. It can be
hint towards a weakening, not yet of the value ideas it selves feeding into attitude patterns and
the construction of the social “me”, but of the justifications its offering, shattering the belief in the
legitimacy of these convictions and ideas. Hopefully it would open a new angle for the
development of ‘educational’ programs among deconstructing gender existing stereotypes.
2.1.4. Cases of cognitive dissonance and attribution processes:
While cognitive dissonance theories that, like neighbouring psychological balance theories, are
attempting to provide answers to why and to how people, through which cognitive mechanisms
attempt to defend and protect existing attitudes against contradicting experiences or
information’s, for keeping existing attitude patters, and its underlying convictions, feelings and
behavioural dispositions balanced and “consonant’, attribution theory offers an insight and a
description of these mechanisms, like the ones just described, employed for the purpose of
protecting existing attitude patterns. Attribution theory focusses on the cognitive aspects of
attitudes and describes how people rationalize and are making sense of events and their
environment, sense that fits with pre-existing stereotypes and its underlying attitude patterns,
and sense meant to reduce occurring dissonances by reinterpreting the significance of
information, feelings or behaviours. In other words, attribution theory entails a description of how
actors manipulate their cognitions in order to defend existing attitudes and increase consonance
between its different parts. But attribution processes also apply to things and the way we make
sense of it. The best way to trigger attitude change, according to Heider, is through behavioural
change. Cognitions would then follow sooner or later in order to adjust ideas and feelings to this
new behavioural pattern.21
Attitude change through behavioural change has been widely used
in structural theories pointing toward factors like urbanization and the way it defines and imposes
new behavioural norms on how to behave in social and professional life, less so in the more
shielded private life. This process is already happening given Mozambique’s high urbanization
21 “Conventional wisdom suggests that behavior follows attitude: “I play tennis because I like it.” Bern’s radical behaviorism
says it works the other way around: “I like tennis because I play it. (.,.)Some cynic has suggested that love is a feeling you feel
you’re feeling when you feel you’re feeling a feeling.” Fritz Heider: Attribution theory, in Griffin (ed. 2012 ) A first
Look at Communication theory, McGraw Hill, New York, p. 143

21
rates mostly caused by rural – urban migrations. It has been identified as a major factor of
cultural change. But here again, “knowledgeable actors are capable of creating forms of
preserving their traditional life styles reinventing their traditions in urban context by creating
‘cultural enclaves’ so vigorously described by early Chicago School researchers, that has
gained new interests through the emergence of fundamentalist movements and its attraction to
young educated, urban dwellers. The other way, as we believe is through provoking change in
existing attribution patterns, to the ways how people rationalize about the world and themselves
and try to avoid cognitive dissonances threatening under-lying convictions and attitudes.
2.2. A methodology for a cognitive oriented research approach:
Following the indications in the ToR that were aiming a baseline study of social norms, we have
of course opted for the other alternative for the study of social norms and how they impact on
attitudes, i.e., for the cognitive approach. And here is where Mead’s conceptual framework can
show its value: as we cannot study social through the lens of participant observation producing
information on routine and regular social practices, on reactions to deviant behaviours which
are then, in open interview sessions explained giving access to what are the underlying attitude
patterns and where do they come from which allows linking attitudes to cultural or social value
ideas and norms; the only way we can approach attitude patterns, how they shape peoples
understanding of their social roles, and from there to get an idea of the underlying value ideas
and norm description, is by talking to people about their opinions on issues related to how they
see themselves and what is around them, how the evaluate and judge behaviours, and how
they manage the balance between what is asked of them, how they feel about it, and what are
their ideas about it? In other words and to make it simple: we designed an interview guide that
allows us to talk to each ‘I’ about his or her opinions which opens up a window into his or her
respective “me”, and through that to their respective attitudes that as we have stressed are built
around biographical experiences and the feelings associated with it, as well as around the social
norms and role scripts surrounding them. The combination between biographical experiences
and sociocultural milieus and their value, norm and role sets is a dynamic one: for one people
can go from one social milieu to another; and secondly, can acquire new information and
experiences, can learn new things that can make them change their ideas and their attitudes.
As has been said, for a more detailed presentation of the research approach and methodology,
including a discussion of concepts and its operationalization, we refer to the inception report.
2.2.1. Target group Interview guide and other instruments used.
In all our conversations with target group representatives we used an interview guide which was
designed to include, as far as possible, these just described theoretical aspects. In order to
match the requirement stated in the ToR asking for a baseline we opted for a semi structured

22
form, allowing conducting quantitative and comparative statistical analysis for the search for
types and typologies.22
These comparative advantages have, of course, created ‘costs’ in terms
of in depth analysis requiring the use of open interview techniques. In order to compensate we
have added to our approach two additional methods: open biographic interviews with selected
female interviewees that have something to share and were willing to so, and multiple and mixt
gender group discussions exchanging their views, opinions, and feelings towards social norms,
practices, and ‘rituals’ in their respective surroundings. The expectation was that it might help
drawing a sort of map of social norms and practices, also helping to get a better idea of what
social norms are common to all, compared to those whose presence is restricted to a distinct
geographical area, or even to a specific sociocultural milieu, notably in terms of urban-rural
comparisons, based on the hypothesis that urbanisation and the emergence of urban lifestyles
is a potential source for social and cultural, but also or attitude change. In order to helping
making sense of it and to get additional background information we also conducted open but
topic based interviews with key informants from all regions focusing on issues and aspects
related with social norms and gender norms and roles.23
The interview guide was designed to
combine “is” and “ought” question, that is: questions that inquire about how are things in real
life, and how people think and feel about, and questions where we wanted to know how they
believe and wished how things like norms, rights and relationships ought to be or should be.
Quite unsurprisingly respondents sometimes struggled to keep the difference between both.
Why did we do it? Because we wanted to know whether, and so, in what areas respondents
wish for change, and based on this, get an idea of how widespread, strong and gender-specific
these wishes for change are. As in all our data, the real significance of findings does only reveal
itself through multiple comparisons. It also helps to identify obvious cases of inconsistences,
indicating a certain of truthfulness in some responses and regarding some issues. All these
aspects are more or less dealt with during data analysis, an analysis, of course, whose
comprehensiveness is direct proportional to the available time.
2.2.2. Data analysis
Data analysis included a rather lengthy process of data revision and transfer from each
questionnaire into a contingency table turning the findings into data and open for descriptive
22 As we have stressed in the Inception report, “Typologies are ways of grouping observable phenomena into categories in
order to identify regularities in what may seem to be a great variety of observations “. William Kornblum (2000) Sociology
in a changing world, Harcourt College Publishers, Fort Worth, p. 67
23 “The major advantage of the interview technique” lies in the scope and freedom of expression it offers to the person being
studied. Thus we may learnwhat he thinks about himself, about his hopes, fears and goals, about his childhood and his parents,
about members of the other sex, and about people in general. It is through careful and critical evaluation of sources of this kind
that an adequate view of the total personality can perhaps best be approximated.” Else Frenkel-Brunswik: The interview
as an approach to the prejudiced personality, in: Theodor Adorno, Else Frenkel Brunswik, Daniel Levinson
& Robert Nevitt Sanford (1964) The Authoritarian Personality, John Wiley & Sons: New York, p. 291

23
and comparative analysis. The process was lengthy given the large amount of data assembled
that, for the qualitative interview guide part alone filled well over 16.000 data cells. Data analysis
was done with Excel and so was the graphic representation of the findings.
3. Presentation of the Findings
The chapter is divided in five sections: presentation of the sample distribution and composition;
the discussion of social norms and how they shape gender norms. A section comparing and
discussing gender role concepts, followed by another section on the construction of gendered
selves. The findings chapter end with a discussion of two possible cases of cognitive dissonance
and ends, followed by a resumed presentation of the outcomes of group discussions and key
informant interviews, and ends with a short section providing a preliminary review of the findings
and of what is standing out.
3.1. The sample characteristics
A total of 268 individual face-to-face interviews were conducted with 157 adult women and 109
almost equally representing the city and the province of Maputo in the South and the district of
Boane; the city and province of Nampula in the North and the districts of Malema and Murrupula;
and last but not least the City of Beira and the province of Sofala through the districts of Caia
and Dondo. The sample is composed of adult men with an average age of 27 years, ranging
from 18 to 48 years for women, and from 18 to 44 years for men. The effective sample amounts
to over 98.5% of the targeted ‘theoretical’ sample. The following three graphs resume the gender
and geographical characteristics of the sample, starting with its gender distribution
Graph 1 Sample distribution by gender in plain numbers
157
109
Sample distribution by gender: n = 266
Women
men

24
Women make up around 59.0% of total sample, and men 41%. 60.5% of sampled persons are
between 18 and 27 years of age.
Next we show how sample distributed over each research location
Graph 2 Sample distribution by research location in plain numbers
The graph above shows the sample distribution by research locations: a total of 89 interviews
were conducted in Maputo and Boane, as well as in Nampula, Malema and Murrupula, and
another 88 in Beira, Dondo and Caia, and that the sample target of 270 was almost matched
Cultural and socio-economic sample characteristics: It is important to know more about the
participants who volunteered participating in the target groups interviews. We start with sample
distribution by living space and its social cultural and economic characteristics it entails.
Graph 3 an aggregated view of sample distribution by living space in plain members
Respondents with urban and suburban backgrounds are in majority. This fact need to be taken
into account when assessing the findings on beliefs and attitude patterns toward gender.
20 19
14
24
17
10
8
16
14
8 7
10 11
15
7
11
5 6
15 14
8 7
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Sample distribution by gender and living space
Women Men
60
50
47
32
36
41
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Urban dwellers Suburburban dwellers Rural dwellers
Sample distribution by urban, suburban and rural living space
Women Men

25
Next we also look into the sample distribution by religious affiliation. It is based on the
widespread hypothesis that religious beliefs play a big part in moral judgments of all sort,
including gender. As we can see, the overwhelming majority characterize themselves as
Christians, a category that includes Catholics, Protestants who, to a large extent belong to
various evangelical sects. The graph below resumes the religious affiliations
Graph 4 sample groups’ religious affiliations
97% of interviewed target persons are affiliated to a religious belief, with Christian beliefs largely
dominating. Next we need to look into how strong these religious beliefs are; an information the
next following graph is producing
Graph 5 strength of religious beliefs
Over two thirds of respondents claim a strong commitment to their respective religious belief
system. Further down, we shall also take a look to what extent this religious affiliation and the
gender ideology it incorporates impacts on their relationship with the law and the different
gender ideology it incorporates.
24.1%
81.2%
3% 0.7% Sample distribution be religious affiliations
Muslim
Christian
Agnostic
Other
70.5%
28.7%
Respondents' strength in religious beliefs: n = 258
Strong
religious
believer
Not very
religious

26
While religious beliefs may have a prominent role in understanding moral choices and
judgements, we need also to take account of other variables related to some characteristics
related to material living conditions and its possible impact on moral judgments that complete
the geographical sample distinctions.
Graph 6 sampled persons’ employment situation (n=266)
The two tables below provides additional information over the sample composition and its
characteristics in terms of age group distribution (below or above 28 years); education levels
(below or above secondary school grades – 12th grade); occupations (wage labour, other forms
of income, or unemployed); marital status; household head; children in the household; and
general life happiness, disaggregated by gender.
Table 1: Sample: social characteristics by frequencies and percentages
Variable
Gender
Age group? Education levels? Household with double
income?
≤ 28 y ≥ 29 y ≤ 11th
grade ≥ 12th
grade yes No
women 60.1% 39.5% 38.8% 61.2% 45.1% 54.8%
men 61.5% 38.5% 39.5% 60.5% 34.8% 65.1%
* Including students
Table 2: Sample social characteristics by frequencies and percentages: continued
Variable
Gender
Main provider? Marital Status? Children to take care of ?
Her - or
himself
both Other
provider
married Single* Yes No
women 20.1% 14.2% 66.0% 44.1% 55.8% 88.2% 19.1%
men 45.9% 15.6% 38.5% 45.9% 54.1% 70.6% 29.4%
* also including ‘other’ single persons like widows, widowers, separated and divorced persons
When we compare these characteristics both, male and females samples show rather similar
characteristics in terms of age distribution, education levels, marital status and wage work.
Differences seem when it comes to informal employment including subsistence farming and
unemployment. Sample women’s unemployment rates are 13 percentage point higher
.9.8%
35.0%
35.7%
19.5%
Employment situation
Small holder
subsistence farmer
Unemployed/inform
al employment
wage employment
Student

27
compared to their male counterparts who, on the other hand, are more involved in informal
economic activities.24
However, in general terms, there are no significantly differences in basic
living conditions, which makes it even more interesting to see whether these socio-economic
similarities are reflected in how both, men and women, are perceiving and relating to social
norms and social role definitions and how this reflects on male and female gendered self-
concepts. The findings on these issues will be presented in the following chapter on “Findings”.
3.2. Presentation and Discussion of the Findings
As has been said the methodology used was employing semi-structured face-to-face interviews
designed capture gendered attitudes and patterns of attitudes towards social norms and roles
that transpire through responds answers and opinions expressing and reflecting on their
observations, life experiences, feelings and rationalisations on issues related to the purpose of
the study. The information captured was then completed with what came out of group
discussions and key informant interviews
3.2.1. Social and gender norms as social facts
Attitudes to social norms and gender role definitions cannot really be separated given the former
serve as justification for the latter, and the latter representing the social form, one of the social
forms, of how social norms are enacted and played out by men and women and how the
translate into, largely unconscious and gendered self-concepts and its related patterns of
attitudes and conduct, into socialized ways of thinking and acting, In this section we discuss
what we can define as attitudes towards traditional social norms that shine through respondents’
evaluative opinions and experiences.
In order to deepen our understanding we will look at these opinions and experiences from
different angles, like geographic location, which may indicate the existence of underlying cultural
and sociocultural influences; and including other independent variables like religious beliefs or
knowledge and perception of the law.
But first we take a look into some typical genders stereotypes that we could identify when
analysing data from the gender differential allowing to look into how men and women see
themselves and the opposite sex. We start, first, by presenting women’s choices and judgments
on a list behaviours presented to them asking them to choose whose image or reputation, that
of a man or that of woman, would be end up more compromised when he or she would be
exposing such a behaviour or trait,
24 According to World Bank, female unemployment rate in September 2018 was at 26.72%, which is slightly
higher than the overall unemployment rate of 24.91%, and almost 4% higher than male unemployment rate
amounting to 22.74%. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.UEM.TOTL.FE.ZS.

28
Graph 7 Women’s’ assessments of whether a man’s or a woman’s reputation is more in jeopardy
when doing the things in the list
In order to get a clearer picture of the gender imagery shaping women’s and men’s gender
related judgments, which are more than just stereotypes, we the “bad for both” answers, that
regularly scored far below compared to the ‘bad for women, or bad for men’ scores. The graph
above, as well as that below provide therefore a rather robust representation of what men and
women expect from themselves and from others and what are the behaviours where the blame
and the shame will fall more on women or on men. We can see that women have a rather clear
cut idea of what these areas and behaviours are and on who would fall the blame when men or
women fail to live up to expectations and do not act ‘norm conform’.
Graph 8 Men’s’ assessments of whether a man’s or a woman’s reputation is more in jeopardy
when doing this
When we compare both graphs, it underlines that men and women resort to the same
judgments. It further illustrates the deep lying nature of gender role concepts and gendered self-
84.2%
15.8
91.3%
8.7%
92%
8%
3.4%
96.7%
2.6%
98.4%
93.1%
6.9%
0%
100%
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Bad for a
man's
reputation
Bad for a
woman's
reputation
Bad for a
man's
reputation
Bad for a
woman's
reputation
Bad for a
man's
reputation
Bad for a
woman's
reputation
Bad for a
man's
reputation
Bad for a
woman's
reputation
Bad for a
man's
reputation
Bad for a
woman's
reputation
Bad for a
man's
reputation
Bad for a
woman's
reputation
Bad for a
man's
reputation
Bad for a
woman's
reputation
Being a bad provider Being unemployed No money Indecent presentation Single with kids Sleeping around Fails to contracept
Women's judgments of what would reflect more badly on whom first
90.5%
9.5%
92.9%
7.1%
94.3%
5.7% 5.1%
94.9%
10.5%
89.5%
16%
84%
6.1%
93.9%
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Bad for a
man's
reputation
Bad for a
woman's
reputation
Bad for a
man's
reputation
Bad for a
woman's
reputation
Bad for a
man's
reputation
Bad for a
woman's
reputation
Bad for a
man's
reputation
Bad for a
woman's
reputation
Bad for a
man's
reputation
Bad for a
woman's
reputation
Bad for a
man's
reputation
Bad for a
woman's
reputation
Bad for a
man's
reputation
Bad for a
woman's
reputation
Being a bad provider Being unemployed No money Indecent presentation Single with kids Sleeping around Fails to contracept
Men's judgment of what may reflect more badly on whom first

29
concepts and how rather unaffected these judgments are by factors like education, professional
status or urban-rural location. It provides a picture of social harmony, of a social order where
men and women know their place and the place of the other. With the exception of men’s and
women’s judgments of sexual behaviour. It reveals the power of general social norms over
people’s minds, and of the power of the value ideas behind it. How can we justify this
conclusion? Because the gender differential and the choices respondents made where given
rather spontaneously, which means that different to the interview situation, where the individual
can reflect and has a tendency of given rather pondered responses, the reflective impact of the
“I” is reduced here, allowing the deeper rooted convictions stored in the social “me” to come
forward and express themselves. Would we expect, that a similar exercise realized elsewhere,
let’s say in more urbanized country, and would produce significantly different results? Probably
not, but we would expect that the ‘bad for both’ alternative would score significantly higher. But
this question can only be answered through cross country studies on gender images and
attitudes.
Now we turn our attention towards social norms that may hide behind these stereotypes and
look is we can identify typical attitude patterns towards them
3.2.1.1. Gendered attitudes towards social norms and influencing factors
We start this section by presenting the findings on what interviewees think about tradition and
tradition norms. The following graph presents interviewees’ responses to the question: “are
tradition and traditional values and norms important to you?” Of the 67.7% of all interviews who
approved of this opinion, that is: 65.1% of women and 70.6% of men approve of this opinion.
The graph 9 below further desegregates these numbers by the three geographic locations
showing the existence of quite significant regional imbalances.
Graph 9 Are tradition and the values and norms it entails important to you?
54.9%
45.1%
59.3%
40.7%
80%
20%
62.5%
37.5%
62.1%
37.9%
79.1%
20.9%
0
20
40
60
80
100
yes no yes no yes no
Maputo Sofala Nampula
Are tradition and traditional values and norms important to you?
women men

30
Male and female respondents from all three regions, although in varying degrees of importance
measured in terms of scores, agreed that keeping tradition and the values and norms it entails
are important. While sample residents from Maputo and Sofala shows rather similar scores for
both men and women, tradition and traditional norms are important for 80% of male and female
Nampula province residents, outscoring the already high scores registered from residents from
the other two provinces. Does this mean that this defence of the importance of tradition and
traditional social values stretches to all traditional norms and practices, or are there some among
these norms they no longer as valid and viable, and that should therefore no longer continue?
Graph 10 Are there social norms that should no longer continue to exist
We first looked into gender comparison, which reveals the absence of a significant gender gap,
even lesser than when we compare with the gender comparison further up on the issue of ‘is
tradition important to you? Now, over three quarters of all men and women respondents, (78.0%)
expressed their discontent with existing social norms and practices, compared to merely 9.0%,
who defended that these norms are vital for maintain social order and should therefore be
preserved and respected. Around 13% chose not to pronounce themselves.
The comparison of gendered attitudes towards traditional social norms somewhat reproduces
the general distributions. Sample data suggest that there is no gender gap regarding women’s
and men’s perceptions on the existence of traditional social norms considered as harmful. More
than three out of four women and men express their opposition against some of the traditional
social norms in their neighbourhoods. Only a small minority of around 8% of women and 10%
of men are expressing their support to all traditional social norms and want them preserved and
maintained. The non-respondent category is equally rather gender balanced with almost 14%
of women and 13% of men.
79.0%
8.3%
14.0%
77.1%
10.1% 12.8%
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
Believes that there are social norms
that should no longer exist
Believes that there are social norms
are vital for maintaing order
No response
Respondent's attitudes toward social norms
Women Men

31
This result might seem rather astonishing when compared with the result further up showing
that a majority of sample persons having a positive attitude to tradition and traditional norms;
but nonetheless keep a critical eye on some of the traditional values, norms and practices
involved that they believe are outdated and ‘should no longer exist and continue.
In order to further develop our understanding of this issue and of how it is perceived by our
sample, we now take a look into the list of social norms and practices women and men esteem
destined to disappear. It will show us which among the social norms scored highest that are no
longer regarded as viable; and it shows whether, and to what extent male and female
respondents have a shared view on these issues, or not. We will further push forward in our
analysis and look into whether and to what extent judgments are influenced by location and
education levels. We start the analysis with presenting women’s points of views toward social
norms they believe are no longer viable and should change or even ‘disappear’’.
Graph 11 social norms women are most opposed to
Initiation rites, traditional norms regulating gender roles and the practice of widow cleansing
came out on top and in this order. Given the fact, sustained by anthropological research (for
example Arnfred) that Mozambican cultural situation is characterized by the co-existence of
different cultural traditions, for example the existence of matri- and patrilineal organized
communities, we decided to take a look into whether there is a geographic correspondence
showing whether, and if so, where each of these views are mostly shared and where not.
The graph below illustrates this geographical distribution of women respondent’s perception
regarding their views on what are the most harmful among the traditional norms and practices
criticised.
1.3%
25.8%
1.9%
1.3%
39.6%
1.3%
1.9%
1.9%
1.3%
30.2%
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Kulaia
Kutjinga and Kupita Kufa
Norms regulating widowhood including Inheritance…
Kuchalika
Initiation rites for girls including the practice of…
Lobolo
Kupathxa ritual
Kupita Mabjade
Kupita Banje
General gender roles reproducing gender inequality
Social norms and practices that should be abandonned

32
Graph 12 harmful social norms that should no longer continue existing by women’s geographic
location
Girl’s Initiation rites figure as a top priority for Nampula respondents, where the percentage of
those denouncing these practices amounts to 55.5%. Social norms defending the practice of
Girls’ initiation rites are also seen as a problem in Central Sofala province, including urban and
suburban Beira, where 42.6% of respondents issued their opposition to this practice. It is striking
that respondents specifically call out girls’ initiation rites while those directed at boys seem to
seen much less problematic and seems to agree with a similar assessment made in the 2014
UNICEF Mozambique child situation report.25
On the other hand, female respondents from Southern region, and in particular from Maputo
city and from Maputo suburbs are much more focused on denouncing the negative impact of
traditional beliefs on gender equality resulting in justifying restrictions on women in family, public
and professional life, cementing existing patriarchal structures born out of the ‘traditional’
division of household roles.. As result 71.8% of women respondents from Maputo city and
suburbs focused on denouncing the harmful impact of traditional belief systems and norms on
gender role definitions limiting women’s access to public and professional lives and life
opportunities, as well as contributing cementing male domination in family life.
While female respondents from Southern regions also denounced the traditional norm requiring
widows to submit the practice of widow cleansing, a practice known as Kutjinga, data suggest
that is an even bigger problem for women in Beira and in Central Sofala province, where, among
the Sena people it is known as Kupita-Kufa. While 18.9% of respondents from Maputo city and
25 UNICEF (2014) Situation Analysis of Children in Mozambique 2014: Executive Summary, Maputo,
Mozambique. Report quotes that ‘initiation rites’ for boys “are less widely held than for girls.” Ibid., p. 56
55.5%
0.0%
13.3%
42.6%
59.0%
42.6%
15.1%
18.9%
73.6%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
initiation rites
widow cleansing
gender role distinction
initiation rites
widow cleansing
initiation rites
widow cleansing
NampulaSofalaMaputo
Numbers in Percentages
Women's list of 'harmful' social norms and practices by geographic location

33
province expressed their objection to the practice of Kujinga, 59.0% of respondents from Beira
and Sofala province interviewed considered the Kupita-Kufa ritual as a harmful practice that
should be abolished, which is quite above the average value of 25.7% documented in the table
above. The reason given are: it is degrading for a woman to have to sleep with someone and it
represents a health risk, as illustrates the following Life story of a 43 year old woman from Caia
who we could Maria (all names were altered)
And we add another witness, this time a community leader from Caia whose statement
underlines how the widow cleansing ritualise meshed in an inflated idea of masculinity
Still within the context of geographical distinctions and its underlying cultural and sociocultural
patterns it is worthwhile noting that the practice of widow cleansing didn’t get any mention from
respondents from Nampula city and province.
Julio, Community leader from Caia on Kupita Kufa and masculinity
É verdade que a mulheres são mas mais prejudicadas. Mas também há muitos
homens que so sentem homens quando praticam essas normas. Eu cresci num
tempo, por exemplo, em que era muito importante, pelo menos uma vez, um homem
fazer o kupita kufa. Isso fazia de nos mais homens. Hoje esse já não é o sonho dos
jovens. E ainda bem.
Maria, 43 years of age, from Caia in Sofala about the Kupita Kufa ritual
Nasci e cresci aqui em Caia. A minha infância foi no tempo da guerra, vivíamos
numa localidade, longe da vila. Tivemos que nos deslocar para a vila, por causa da
insegurança. A rotina na infância era ir a machamba, trabalhar, estudar e
brincar. Estudei a 3ª classe. Quando viemos viver aqui à vila parei de estudar. Ia
a machamba. Eu não tenho quase nada a dizer sobre a escola (risos) porque só
andei la 3 anos. Viemos ficar na vila de Caia e passei a dedicar-me a machamba.
Foi nesse contexto que acabei conhecendo o meu marido e casei-me, muito cedo.
Tive o primeiro marido, que era um homem bom e com respeito. Tivemos filhos.
Mas ele ficou doente numa altura em que eu tinha viajado, informaram-me e voltei,
mas dois dias depois ele faleceu. Foi difícil. Depois, fizemos as cerimonias fúnebres
e mais tarde o kupita kufa. O homen que fez o que kupita kufa ficou meu marido
ate hoje. Mas passados alguns anos tanto ele, como eu ficamos doentes. Quando
fomos ao hospital e fizemos os exames descobriram que temos HIV. tenho uma
pergunta na minha cabeça: quando o meu marido morreu eu não estava doente mas
fiquei doente depois de juntar com o meu actual marido: será que foi ele que veio
com a doença ou fui eu que o transmiti? É uma coisa que incomoda muito, todos os
dias penso nisso.

34
Graph 13 Men’s assessments of social norms that should no longer continue
Women’s and men’s listing of what they consider the most harmful social norms and practices
indicate the same three primary targets of initiation rites, widow cleansing and gender role
inequalities. Obviously women are more critical on the gender role inequality with 30%
contesting the role of traditional gender norms, compared to 21% of men. While 40% of women
expressed their objection against initiation rites and related practices and more than 25% their
objection against the norm of widow cleansing, men’s rejection of initiation rites is slightly higher
even at 42.2%. When it comes to the widow cleansing rejection rate went down to 16.5%, a
value that is around 10 Percentage points lower than that of women. Again men’s answers show
a similar geographical pattern that transpired in women’s answers. A fact that cannot be
surprising given the cultural differences mentioned in the Desk review part of inception report,
between Northern and Southern Mozambique, between matrilineal and patrilineal societies, and
how it affects women's social standing.
While the Lobolo practice, the requirement of ‘paying’ the bride price, doesn’t seem to bother
woman very much – only one woman listed it as a harmful practice, compared to men. But here
again the number of male critiques of this practice, and by the way all from the south, who are
mostly unhappy with the shouldering the financial burden it requires, remains very low. That
criticism comes foremost from residents from the South is not really a surprise, considering that,
as Arnfred and other had noticed, the lobolo practice is more common for the overwhelmingly
patrilineal communities more concentrated in the Southern part of the country.26
26 Signe Arnfred (2015) Notas sobre gênero e modernização em Moçambique, cadernos pagu (45), julho-
dezembro de 2015. Also: Guilherme Afonso Mussane (2009) A Kuna N’Kinga: O Lobolo como foco das
representações locais da mudança social, Dissertação de Mestrado, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro-
UFRJ. Mussane joins Bagnol in stressing that lobolo is a widespread practice. Strangely though, he defined the
Tsonga as a matrilineal community, while others before him had defined it as a patrilineal community. Alfred
3.7%
1.8%
16.5%
42.2%
1.8%
21.1%
20.8%
1.8%
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Lobolo
Genital mutilation on girls
Kutjinga and Kupita Kufa
Initiation rites and practices
Kupita Banja
Traditional gender role prescriptions
Doesn't know
Genital mutilation on girls
Numbers in Percentages
Men's list of harmfull social norms and practices that should no longer be
continued

35
Before we take a further look into what factors might influence these views, we need to assess
what could be the reason why respondents from Central and Northern Mozambique
concentrated on denouncing the two practices of widow cleansing and initiation rites for girls,
and from Southern region on the gender role defining aspect of social norms; and why other
norms and practices found much less criticism. Is it because they are less common? This
explanation doesn’t really stand the test, considering that practices like the Lobolo in its different
forms is a quite common practice in particular in patrilineal communities.27
An alternative lecture
would be that the findings suggest that those who have adopted a negative attitude against
these social norms and practices do not reject traditional norms per se, but seem to make a
distinction between norms and practices they consider as being harmful, and those whose
existence is not only not interpreted as something harmful, but as a positive contribution to social
stability; a view defended by those for whom traditional social norms are constituting the
cornerstones of social harmony between the two sexes.
On the question of what factors or variables might influence this selection and these views? For
this purpose we shall compare answers given by people (men and women) with Christian with
Muslim beliefs focusing on the two traditional norms with the highest scores. Then, we shall
compare answers from people from urban and rural milieus, before looking into whether
education influences people’s perceptions towards the traditional norms requiring submitting
girls to initiation rites, and widows to cleansing rituals.
The influence of religious beliefs and affiliation on attitudes towards traditional norms and
practices: With regard to the three religious beliefs’ categories, Christian, Muslim and Agnostic
and its influence on attitudes towards traditional norms, data does not show any significant
relationship between both: 75% of Muslim, 75% of agnostics and 61.1% of people with Christian
beliefs, ranging from Catholics to a wide range of evangelical beliefs sects reject at least one of
the traditional norms in a similar proportion to that reported earlier. Only 7.5% of Muslims, 25%
of agnostics, who make only 3% of the sample, and 1.5% of Christians defend the existence of
traditional norms, rules and practices as a way of life.
The statistics just presented might suggest the variable: religious beliefs and affiliations is an
indicator of a rather strong rebuttal of traditional norms and of practices it entails. On the issue
of religion, authors like Signe Arnfred, to which we return further down in more detailed way,
Alfred Radcliffe-Brown (1952) The mother’s brother in South Africa, in Radcliffe-Brown (1952), Structure
and Function in Primitive Society. Routledge London.
27For Bagnol, the lovolo is still “a significant practice in urban society.” Unhappy with ‘conventional’ interpretations
of the bride price ritual seeing it as part of the reciprocity exchange and incest taboo rule set, sees its primary
function in allowing connecting “living people” with “ their ancestors, and helps to create or re-establish social harmony.”
Brigitte Bagnol (2009) Lovolo e espíritos no Sul de Moçambique, Análise Social, vol. 43, April 2008

36
and Alcinda Honwana have, each, offered a description of how these new religions articulate
with the ‘traditional religions’; and how it was influenced by an entanglement of religious,
economic and political motives. While Arnfred invested a great deal in looking into the forms
that characterized the expansion of Islamic beliefs notably in the Northern provinces of
Mozambique that go far more back in time, than the expansion of Christian beliefs and the part
they played in facilitating Portuguese colonial rule, 28
Mozambican anthropologist Alcinda
Honwana claimed that the arrival of Christianism too, not only did not lead to a disappearance
of traditional religions. While on the outside both religious beliefs appeared to have remained
largely untouched by the other, the opposite was true at the individual level of the ‘believers,
characterized by multiple forms of ‘syncretism’ tying together elements of traditional and of
modern religion.29
What she is saying is that syncretism is not so much happening at the level
of religious dogma, rather than at the level of the believers who are immerged in both spiritual
worlds and the social practices and beliefs each of them entail. It may even very probably
include the guardians and perpetuators of the social traditions, executing the different ritual
actions, who might well be also member of a religious congregation and participate in their
ceremonies and rites.
If Honwana’s description is correct it would mean that respondents do not really make a
difference, in their judgements, between tradition and traditional beliefs and practices and
religious beliefs and practices; their versions of both have already merged into a belief system
that corresponds and fits with the construction of their ‘selves’ and the attitudes it entails.
We decided to put these assumptions to a test, asking our interviewees about what their
respective (Christian or Muslim) religion says about the relationship between men and women
and whether and to what extent they share these views.
Graph 14 Religious belief systems and how it impacts on gender ideologies
28 See in inception report
29 Alcinda Honwana (2002) Espiritos vovos, tradições modernas: Possessão de Espiritos e Reintegração
Social Pós-Guerra no Sul de Moçambique, Promedia, Cooperação Suiça, p. 165. A better word for ‘modern’
religion would be “faith based religion’.
92.5%
73.3%
3%
20.7%
4.5% 6%
0
20
40
60
80
100
Does your religion claim that men are
superior to women?
Do you believe that too?
Attitudes towards religion and what it says about gender equality
yes
no
doesn't say

Oxfam gender study final report_march 2020

Oxfam gender study final report_march 2020

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