Dancing Double Binds: Feminine Virtue and Women's Work in Kinshasa
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Université de Montréal Dancing Double Binds: Feminine Virtue and Women’s Work in Kinshasa par Lesley Nicole Braun Département d’anthropologie Faculté des arts et sciences Thèse présentée a la Faculté des études supérieures En vue de l’obtention du grade du doctorat en anthropologie Août 2014 © Lesley Nicole Braun, 2014 Résumé Les femmes de Kinshasa, en République Démocratique du Congo, ont toujours été actives dans le commerce local. L’élévation de leur niveau d’études, ainsi que des circonstances économiques difficiles nécessitant deux salaires par famille, les poussent aujourd’hui vers de nouveaux métiers. Alors qu’elles deviennent plus visibles dans les sphères politiques et économiques, elles sont sujettes à de nouvelles formes de méfiance et d’accusation morale. C'est dans ce contexte que les notions de féminité et de vertu féminine sont définies aujourd'hui. Lorsque les femmes congolaises émigraient vers la ville de Léopoldville à l’ère coloniale, elles étaient confrontées à de nouvelles attentes sociales. Il était attendu qu’elles se « modernisent » et se « civilisent » tout en gardant leur rôle « traditionnel » au foyer et auprès de leur famille. Je voudrais démontrer que ce paradoxe continue d’influencer les représentations de la vertu féminine à Kinshasa aujourd'hui, notamment en établissant une distinction entre la femme « vertueuse » et « non vertueuse ». Cette thèse explore les façons dont les femmes participent et négocient leur nouveau statut et rôle à la lumière de ce paradoxe. Plutôt que de réifier la dichotomie locale entre la femme « vertueuse » et « non vertueuse », j’explore les causes sous-jacentes et les résultats inattendus de ces catégorisations. Je porte une réflexion sur la vertu féminine comme étant construite et influencée par ce qu'on pourrait nommer le « triple patriarcat » alimenté par des valeurs « traditionnelles », par des initiatives coloniales et postcoloniales menées par l'état, ainsi que par des discours pentecôtistes. i J’examine d’autre part comment ces facteurs ont engendré une double contrainte, un dilemme en la forme d’injonctions contradictoires, encourageant les femmes à jouer simultanément des rôles opposés, et à devoir soigneusement gérer leur image en public. Je montre enfin que cette double posture des femmes alimente la méfiance entre les deux sexes, impactant sur la perception des femmes au travail et dans la société de manière générale, de même que les projections qu’en fait la culture populaire. Car c'est une des professions les plus visibles pour les femmes de Kinshasa, le rôle de danseuse de concert est très utile pour illuminer les défis auxquels ces femmes sont confrontées. Cette thèse fournit donc un portrait ethnographique des danseuses, et se penche sur leur statut d’objets publics de désir afin de révéler la façon dont leur visibilité met en évidence les conceptions locales de la liberté, du pouvoir et de la féminité. Mots-clés : Femmes, Kinshasa, RDC, vertu, travaille, culture populaire, danse, visibilité, espace publique, rôles des sexes. ii Abstract While women in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo have historically participated in commerce at the local level, with an increase in higher education levels, and with dire economic circumstances necessitating putting additional pressure on already limited family incomes, women are increasingly entering new professions. In so doing, and as they become more visible in political and economic spheres, women are subjected new forms of moral suspicion. It is within this context that notions of femininity and female virtue in Kinshasa continue to be redefined. Historically, as Congolese women migrated to the city of Léopoldville, they were confronted with new demands to become “modern” and “civilized” they were also expected to remain “traditional” by staying home and tending to their families. I suggest that these binaries continue to inform conceptions of female virtue in Kinshasa today, namely in the form a distinction between “virtuous” and “non-virtuous” women, and this thesis explores the ways in which women actively negotiate new gender roles and expectations influenced by such binaries. Rather than of falling into the trap of the local dichotomy drawn between “virtuous” and “non-virtuous” women, I focus on the underlying causes and the unexpected outcomes of these local categories. I discuss how notions of female virtue have been shaped and influenced by what can be referred to as a “triple patriarchy,” consisting of “traditional” values, colonial and post- colonial state-led initiatives, and Christian Pentecostal discourse. I also examine how these factors have engendered new perceptions of female virtue that put women in a position of double bind, having to carefully manage impressions of themselves in public. Further, I show how this kind of impression management fuels problems of trust between and across the genders, iii ultimately impacting perceptions of women in the workplace and in society more generally through the performance of popular culture. Because it is one of the most visible occupations among women in Kinshasa, the role of the popular concert danseuse is useful in illuminating the new challenges faced by women in Kinshasa. As such, this dissertation provides an ethnographic account of danseuses, their particular status as public objects of desire, and how this visibility comes to bear on local notions of freedom, power and femininity. Keywords : Women, Kinshasa, DRC, virtue, work, popular culture, dance, visibility, public sphere, gender dynamics. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract i Acknowledgements x List of Figures viii Dedication ix Introduction 1 Feminist Scholarship 5 Sexuality and Gift Economy 8 Women and Work 10 The Body 12 Performance and Gender 14 Plan of Dissertation 17 Chapter 1: A Brief History of Women in the City 21 Christianity in the Léopoldville 22 From the Congo Independent State to the Belgian Congo 24 Urbanization and Gender Relations 27 La Femme Libre and L’Évolué 31 Muses for a New Urban Popular Culture 35 La Kinoiserie & Nganda Love 39 Authenticité and the Female Body 47 Débrouillardisme 49 Pentecostalism in Kinshasa 51 Chapter 2: Methodology /Research site 55 Ethnicity 57 Research Site 59 Research Periods 59 Initial Points of Contact 61 Research Participants 66 Performative Contexts 76 v Chapter 3: “Everything Depends on Where She is Dancing” 80 Importance of Dance in Kinshasa 83 How do Women Learn to Dance 84 Women and Performance 89 Popular Concerts and Venues 90 Wakes/matangas 94 Parcelle Parties 100 End-of-School Parties 104 Nightclubs 109 Dance Politics and Dance in Church 111 Conclusion 114 Chapter 4: A Virtuous Performance 117 Married vs. Single 123 Performing Virtue Through Symbols 128 Conclusion 146 Chapter 5: Temptress: Mixed Messages/Double Binds 148 Gift Economy, Love, Débrouillardisme 150 Transactional Sex 152 Débrouillardisme & Moral Contradictions 161 Temptress: Female Motifs/Mami Wata 163 Living Alone 176 Conclusion: The Trickiness of Female Virtue & Débrouillardisme 178 Chapter 6: Center Stage but at the Margins 182 Setting the Stage 182 In the Shadow of the Ndumba 184 Parental Concerns 190 Moral Plays on Dancing 195 Bound to Men: Relationships of Power and Opportunity 206 In the Hot Seat: Television Interview with Blanche Neige 211 Conclusion 227 vi Chapter 7: Working Women in Public 230 Male Solicitation 233 It’s the Law”: Gender Inequality 235 The Many Transactions of Mamas Cambistes 244 In the Public Eye, in the Public’s Gaze: Female Journalists 248 A Woman in Politics 250 Miss Coulibaly 252 Conclusion 255 Chapter 8: Trading Virtue for Virtuosity 257 Visibility: Performing on Television 260 Male Gaze 265 Dancing the Paradox: The Marginal Position of the Danseuse 279 Bottom Power 281 Conclusion 284 Bibliography 289 Appendix 313 vii List of figures Figure Page 1. Photograph 1.1 2 2. Figure 2.1 56 3. Figure 2.2 70 4. Photograph 3.1 94 5. Photograph 3.2 99 6. Photograph 3.3 106 7. Photograph 3.4 107 8. Photograph 3.5 107 9. Photograph 3.6 108 10. Painting 5.1 166 11. Photograph 6.1 194 12. Photograph 6.2 195 13. Photograph 6.3 197 14. Photograph 6.4 198 15. Photograph 6.5 202 16. Photograph 6.6 208 17. Photograph 6.7 208 18. Photograph 6.8 211 19. Photograph 6.9 221 20. Photograph 7.1 232 21. Photograph 7.2 239 22. Photograph 7.3 241 23. Photograph 7.4 245 24. Photograph 7.5 254 25. Photograph 8.1 265 26. Figure 8.2 266 viii To my mother, the woman who taught me how to express myself through dance. ix Acknowledgments I would like to thank Université de Montréal and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for funding my doctoral research, as well my advisor Dr. Bob White, for not only letting me do my own thing, but for also inspiring me while I was as an undergraduate to study popular culture in Africa. Bob, you are an incredible teacher! A special thanks to Dr. Karen Tranberg Hansen for taking an interest in my research early on in my academic career when I was presenting posters at conferences about Congolese dance. I wish to thank my Kinois friends, Judith Munze, and to the women living in la maison blanche on Mayoko street. My choreographers, Maître Mao and Maître Jerry were exceedingly patient with me in teaching dance steps as well as opening up to me about their creative process—I am so grateful to have learned from these masters. Thank you to my fellow danseuses, for teaching and sharing with me momentary states of grace. I would like to thank my occasional research assistants Serge Makobo and Contre Basse who also gave me Lingala lessons every morning. Contre Basse, tu est magistrale! I have especially benefited from stimulating exchanges with anthropologists Hélène Neveu Krinkelbach, and Laura Steil, two women whom I greatly admire.