If a man is a head of the household what is a woman? The impact of rural women's engagement in the textile industries of Lesotho on gendered relations in their households: a case study in Mafeteng, Lesotho

摘要

ABSTRACT__________________________________________________________udThis study examines the gender aspects of household dynamics in rural households inudMafeteng, Lesotho. It was inspired by the impact of changes resulting from the majorudretrenchment of Basotho men from South African mines which has coincides with theudemployment of a large number of women in relatively newly established textileudindustry. Snowball sampling was used to elicit data from ten women employed in theudtextile industries. Moreover, in order to establish the significance of employment onudgendered household dynamics, purposive sampling was used to elicit data from tenudunemployed women. This study reveals how decision-making is done in ruraludhouseholds of employed women. Among things that influence decision-making isudeconomic status. Furthermore, it exposes the gender aspects of household labourudwithin the employed women’s households. It also reveals the influence that women’sudemployment has on marital conflict between spouses.