“Down with Bridewealth!” The Organization of Mozambican Women Debates Women’s Issues

Abstract

In the early 1980s, Mozambique was in its first decade of independence under a socialist government that supported women’s issues. This chapter reports on a single provincial-level meeting of the women’s organization in 1983. The meeting included extended discussion about policy issues that affected women, keynote speeches by male political leaders, and songs. The analysis also discusses media reports that focused on men’s speeches, and personal reflections of the author. The official approach of Frelimo, the ruling party, called for an end to “traditional” practices such as polygyny, initiation rites, and bridewealth, while local women activists continued to see value in such practices and pushed back against the government perspective.