‘I Have Been Patient Enough’: Gendered Futures and Mentors of Female Youth in Urban Zimbabwe

Abstract

This article examines the gendered futures of female youth and how mentors impact their journey towards adulthood. It is based on longitudinal research involving household dyad interviews with youth/young adults and parents or guardians in high density suburbs of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, between 1998 and 2001. The article sets the context of severe economic collapse and the raging AIDS epidemic in Zimbabwe. Most female youth/young adults either were forced to leave school due to lack of money or were unsuccessful in their O level exams. Further, they leave school as highly dependent individuals who lack essential skills. The mainly gender role ambitions of these young women are not realised and in most cases, they end up engaged in low-end, low-skill gender specific activities. While immediate or extended family mentors are present or close-by, their assistance is quite limited given increased struggles for basic daily survival. Marriage as a rite of passage to adulthood is also severely compromised. The generational bargain has unraveled for these young women, with consequences which will impact future generations.