Sexual subjectivity among young female students at a university in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Perched precariously within the socio-economic hierarchy of the Zimbabwean nation, young female students in tertiary institutions adopt different strategies to survive and sustain themselves as they continue with their studies. This article considers how young women constitute sexual subjectivity through an analysis of primary narratives circulating around specific sexual practices and decisions. Focus is placed on how young women’s sexual choices are influenced and enveloped within unequal gender relations, which afford them little space to negotiate the nature of sexual relationships.

Keywords:

• Female sexuality
• female subjectivity
• agency
• sexual vulnerability
• Zimbabwe

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Kutizira is a type of Shona marriage process in which a girl elopes to her future husband’s home before the bride-wealth is paid. Her move is anticipated to force the man and his family to formalise the marriage by paying bride-wealth to the girl’s family.

2 The term age-disparate is used here instead of intergenerational sexual relationship as Leclerc-Madlala (2008) argued that age-disparate sex is a more useful conceptual framework because heightened vulnerability is indicated in young women who report partnerships where there is an age gap larger than 5 years. Intergenerational sex refers to a sexual partnership between a young woman (15-24 yrs) and a man of 10 or more years older.

3 UBA - This term refers to the imaginary community of young male students on campus characterised by hyper masculinities. It is an abbreviation for University Bachelor’s Association.