An Exploration of the Role of FEMINA HIP Media Programme in Promoting Girls’ Sexuality:

A Case Study of Kigamboni Ward, Dar es Salaam Tanzania,

By

Rose Reuben

A Thesis Submitted in Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Philosophy

(Anthropology) of the University of Dar es Salaam.

1
 CERTIFICATION

The undersigned certify that they have read and hereby recommend for acceptance by the

University of Dar es Salaam a thesis entitled An Exploration of the Role of Femina Hip Media

Programme in Empowering Girls on Sexuality Issues: A Case Study Kigamboni Ward in Dar es

Salaam Tanzania, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

(Anthropology) of the University of Dar es Salaam.

……………………………………………

Professor Thomas Tufte

(Supervisor)

Date ……………………………….

.....................................................................

Dr Datius Rweyemamu

(Supervisor)

Date ………………………………

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 DECLARATION AND COPYRIGHT

I, Rose Reuben, declare that this is my own original work and that it has not been presented and

will not be presented to any other University for a similar or any other degree award.

Signature ……………………………………………..

This thesis is copyright material protected under the Berne Convention, the Copyright Act 1999

and other international and national enactments, in that behalf, on the intellectual property. It

may not be reproduced by any means, in full or part, except for short extracts in fair dealings, for

research or private study, critical scholarly review or discourse with an acknowledge, without the

written permission of the Dean, School of Graduate Studies, on behalf of both the author and the

University of Dar es Salaam.

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 ACKOWLEDGMENT

After starting pursuing this program I discovered that, one cannot do it alone. I received moral

and material support from various people. Due to limited space, I cannot list all of them. I

request everybody who in one way or another contributed to the completion of this thesis to

accept my sincere gratitude.

I am particularly grateful to my supervisors Professor Thomas Tufte from the Department of

Communication, Business and Information Technology; Roskilde University, Denmark and Dr

Joachim Mwami from the Department of Sociology and Anthropology; University of Dar es

Salaam who offered supervisory support and encouragement, this thesis is the result of their

tireless reading and correcting different drafts and advice. I am grateful for their time took to

help me explore the possibilities. I profited not only from their intellectual expertise but also

from their patience and ability to bring clarity to my thoughts when things were contradicting; I

am proud of them.

I owe gratitude to Dr Datius Rweyemamu from the Department of Sociology and Anthropology;

University of Dar es Salaam who provided inspiration for this work, gave valuable criticism, and

comments which enriched this work from the very beginning to the end despite his busy

schedule, his word of wisdom and encouragement on this long lonely journey will always be

grateful, later he became a co-supervisor on this work after Dr Joachim Mwami shifted to

Katsina University in Nigeria. I salute you Sir!

Special gratitude goes to Dr Martin Andindilile for his interest on my work and mentorship in

my academic pursuit at the beginning of this work.

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I am very grateful to Kigamboni Community Centre (KCC) officials and youth who made it

possible to carry fieldwork in their environment. Special thanks to KCC young women who

responded on my data collection, their contribution to this work is highly appreciated.

I thank Media Democracy and Empowerment in East Africa project (MEDIeA) funded by

DANIDA for the scholarship which facilitated financially to my studies. MEDIeA project

colleagues contributed much from the initial stages to the end of this study. I appreciate the

efforts put in this study by Professor Winnie Mittulah from Nairobi University, Professor

Norbert Willdermuth from Roskilde University, and my colleague Grace Githaiga from Nairobi

University. You have a special place in my heart.

Many warm appreciations go to my family; my Mother, father, brothers and sisters, in-laws for

their moral support and endurance during this study. I am indebted to my children Noel, Thekla,

Theresia and Ebenezer for their constant patience and perseverance during this study will

continue to be treasured. Finally my most heartfelt gratitude goes to my loving husband

Advocate Joseph O.R Makandege who supported me in every aspect of this work. His endless

inspiration in my vision will always be valued. ERO KAMANO JATELO.

I declare that, I am responsible for all the information contained herein and that none of the

aforementioned should be held responsible.

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 DEDICATION

This work is dedicated to God my heavenly Father.

You give me the inspiration to work hard even at the most difficult and complicated moments.

GLORY TO GOD

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 ABSTRACT

How do young women use media in everyday life? How does the media use contribute to their

lives, their choices and opinions compared to other mediating factors in everyday life? Do the

young women make use of any of the civil society driven media platforms and their media

outlets and products to voice their concerns on social or economic security? These are some of

the questions that introduced the study of An Exploration of the Role of FEMINA HIP Media

Programme in Promoting Girls’ Sexuality in the low income neighborhoods of Kigamboni ward-

Temeke Municipality in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The particular interest is how media uses may – or may not – contribute to empowering the

vulnerable young women decion making of their everyday lives. The fact that the young women

in this area are reported to have been surrounded with high prevalence of HIV/AIDS traits,

unwanted pregnancies and prone to sexual harassment. Also of specific concern is whether these

young women make use of the media products and outlets offered by FEMINA HIP, a large civil

society driven media initiative which has the deliberate aim to empower young women on health

lifestyle, reproductive health, sexuality and civic engagement

Data collection based on ethnographic approach, 100 in and out of school girls were involved in

a mini survey to acquire general picture of the young women media use in Kigamboni area, their

health lifestyle, economic and reproductive health situation through questionnaire; annexed in

the last pages of this thesis. Later on the study narrowed down to 10 secondary school girls aged

15-19 who were purposefully interviewed in-depth study to acquire in depth picture and

situation of girls media use in Kigamboni area through interviews, participatory observation and

discussions.

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The study was informed by Paulo Freire's participatory communication theory (1970) and

Feminist theory. Participatory communication theory offers a specific perspective on how to

articulate social process, decision making process and change process within society in which it

was connected on the search of whether through media use you women has the enough

knowledge to comprehand and express issues surrounding their daily lives. Feminist theory

presumes the importance of gender in all human relationships and societal processes. The

researcher chose these theories because they both emphasize the centrality of empowerment of

young women in everyday lives.

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

Page

Certification …………………………………………………………………………………….i

Declaration and Copy Right ……………………………………………………………………ii

Acknowledgment……………………………………………………………………………….iii

Dedication ………………………………………………………………………………………iv

Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………….v

Table of Contents ………………………………………………………………………………vi

Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………………………vii

Appendices………………………………………………………………………………….......viii

List of Pictures………………………………………………………………………………......xiv

List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………………..x

Abbreviation ……………………………………………………………………………………..xi

CHAPTER ONE: RESEACH PROBLEM OVERVIEW

1.0 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………1

1.1 Background of the Problem ....................……………………………………………….12

1.2 FEMINA HIP Youth and Participatory ...........................................................................19

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 1.3 Statement of the Problem.............................................................................................. 26

1.4 Objective of the Study ..................................................................................................26

1.5 Specific Objectives..........................................................................................................27

1.6 Research Questions..........................................................................................................27

1.7 Significance of the Study.................................................................................................27

1.8 Research Setting................................................................................................................28

1.9 Positioning Kigamboni Community Centre.......................................................................28

1.10 Structure of the Thesis...........................................................................................31

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

2.0 Introduction ...................................................................................................................32

2.1 Girls Sexuality Cultural Discourse..................................................................................33

2.2 Girls Sexuality Audience .................................................................................................36

SECTION II: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

2.3 Introduction......................................................................................................................42

2.4 Participatory Communication Theory..............................................................................43

2.5 Feminist Theory in African Perspective..........................................................................47

CHAPTER THREE: FIELDWORK METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURES

3.0 Introduction.......................................................................................................................51

3.1 Study Design.....................................................................................................................51

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3.2 Ethnographic Research Process........................................................................................52

3.3 Methods ..........................................................................................................................53

3.4 Study Area.......................................................................................................................56

3.5 Sample..............................................................................................................................57

3.6 Data Processing and Analysis..........................................................................................58

3.7 Ethical Consideration.......................................................................................................59

3.8 Limitation of the Study....................................................................................................60

CHAPTER FOUR: RESEACH FINDINGS

4.0 Introduction ......................................................................................................................61

4.1 The Background of Kigamboni Community Centre FEMA Club ................................... 61

4.2 Ten Girls............................................................................................................................66

4.3 Ten Girls Common Characteristics and their Communicative Ecology............................75

SECTION II DEMOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS

4.4 Social Issues Contributing on Youth Health Lifestyle .....................................................78

4.5 Guidance on Reproductive Health Sexuality and Health Lifestyle..................................81

4.6 Girl’s stand about Participating in Reproductive Health and Health Lifestyle Programs

conducted by Media...........................................................................................................83

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 4.7 Girls perspective on Media Approach towards Reproductive Health, Sexuality and Health

lifestyle issues....................................................................................................................84

4.8 The use of Knowledge gained from Media Platforms .....................................................85

4.9 Girls Perspective on FEMINA HIP Output.......................................................................87

4.10 Girls Awareness on FEMINA HIP activities........................................................89

CHAPTER FIVE: RESEARCH ANALYSIS

5.0 Introduction.......................................................................................................................90

5.1 Girl’s Sexuality in relation to Unyago Rite .....................................................................93

5.2 Girl’s Media use as Lifestyle.............................................................................................97

5.3 Girls and Femina Health Life style programs....................................................................99

5.4 Girls Media Use as a Search of Identity..........................................................................104

BIBLIOGRAPHY .....................................................................................................................108

APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................

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CHAPTER ONE: RESEARCH PROBLEM OVERVIEW

1.0 Introduction

The fact that sexuality disparity starts during birth period, where either by learning from the

parents or the extended family, girls and boys assumes their social responsibility depending

on the culture surrounding their everyday lives. At the age of 13 both girls and boys begin to

move from childhood to youthful

Youth is a period in which attitudes, behaviours, power dynamics in intimate and sexual

relationships are rehearsed, and thus making it as an opportune time to promote reflection, skills

in healthy lifestyles and more equitable relationships. For its important age group the concept of

youth is in most countries policy a document. According to the United Republic of Tanzania

national youth development policy (1996) varies from one community to another depending on

the customs and traditions, social behavior and their location. Generally according to the customs

and traditions a youth is a girl or a boy who is in her/his transition period from childhood to

adulthood. Due to these variation the United Republic of Tanzania youth policy adapted the

definition of youth as declared by the United Nations which defines a youth as a person aged 15

to 24. During this period the community expects the youth to start participating in various

development activities and become self reliant to certain extent. This is the period in which youth

begin to show maturity in thought and reasoning. He/she begins to demonstrate brevity and

courage in decision making and in taking actions, although in the same age some youth begins to

manifest shyness and cowardice in attempting to make decisions.

In many settings of Africa and elsewhere around the world, there are strict socio-cultural

norms that surround youth sexuality. This study perspective focuses on girl’s sexuality and

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from Mensch et al 1998:18 discussions in the puberty stage society increases attention to

girls’ reproductive capacity, their movements outside their home and with more protection

from men and boys mainly because of virginity protection before marriage. To them sex is

for married people and young women has prove their innocence through virginity during

marriage as the token for prestige. Therefore when they become sexually-active, girls are

expected to be sexually reserved and passive with their partners, hence restricting their ability

to negotiate when, and how sex happens and when or how protection is used. As a result we

find from the massive study conducted that women are prone of HIV/AIDS, unwanted

pregnancy, school pregnancy, gender based violence and rape.

UNFPA (2005:11) reports that girls worldwide are 1.6 times more likely to be HIV-positive

than boys of the same age. The report further shows that some girls and young women

experience violence in one form or another from their partners, spouses, and/or experience

sexual harassment in offices, streets, learning institutions and in market places which result

into unplanned pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The consequence is probably the result that

of why there are collective strategy on girls’ sexual empowerment in priority agenda for

policy-makers and programme planners worldwide. In 2010, the UNIFEM marked the 15th

anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the World

Programme of Action for Youth, and the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Millennium

Declaration as well as Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. In

Tanzania, there are several local and international initiatives aimed at empowering girls

implemented from the grassroots community level to the national level. Moreover, civil

society-driven media platforms have increasingly communicated health life style issues to

youth. Media platforms used to communicate these health lifestyle messages to youth have

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narrowed down to specific messages for girls health lifestyle both in print and electronic

media. The media platforms used brochures, magazines, TV and radio talk shows,

advertisements, documentaries, and billboard adverts. Some of these organisations involved

in these initiatives in Tanzania are Pathfinder, Red Cross and FEMINA HIP.

Moreover, families and communities have their own ways of transferring knowledge on girls’

sexual health lifestyles to their youth; they have their own ways solving problems affecting

youths as well. Adults, religious leaders and family members are important partners in the

process of training and guiding youth and girls in particular. Debra Hauser (2002: 35) concur that

communities are experts on community culture because they understand community resources

and constraints.

Despite the initiatives made by media platform civil society organisations to collectively voice

for girls’ needs and demands and their proposals for a better health lifestyle on the one hand, and

the initiatives made by their girls’ immediate communities and families, on the other hand, the

results on promoting girls’ sexuality in Tanzania continue to leave much to be desired, with girls

being victims of negative circumstances which leads the need for this study, to explores the

effectiveness of FEMINA HIP Media Programme which for more than 10 year has engaged in

educating and empowering girls to enhance their decision making on issues concerning

sexuality, health life style and civic engagement focusing Temeke District in Dar es Salaam city

of Tanzania, specifically in Kigamboni Community centre as a case study.

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Key Terms Definition

In this study, several terms are dominant. It is therefore important to unpack them and provide a

clear conceptual basis according to the study of an exploration of the role of FEMINA HIP

media programme in promoting girls’ sexuality

Media Use:

Simple explanation of the meaning of media use is the way people interact with media. However

media and communication scholers one being (Kim Schroeder et all, 2003:05) urgues further that

media use varies from person to person, group to group and at various times during an

individual's life and that media use is attached to the contexts of everyday life because people

live their lives as members of partially overlapping large and small groups at the global, national,

regional and local levels. This study considers media use as the way people interact with media

and how they use what the receive from media in the context of their everyday life that is how

individuals use and make sense of the media materials in to their health lifestyle, and civic

engagement. The main focus of this study is on the user side of the media.

Girls:

Girls are female youth; the literature definition of a girl is included in the description of youth

group. Further more the definition of youth varies from one community to another depending on

their customs and traditions, social behavior, policy surrounding the community and the location.

The United Republic of Tanzania policy (1996:1) adopted the definition of youth as declared by

United Nations, that the youth is a person aged 15-24 and that the youth is a boy or a girl who is

in the transition from childhood to adulthood. This study consider young women as all girls aged

15-19.

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Empowerment:

Empowerment is a multifaceted, multi dimensional, and multi layered concept. It is the process

by which the disempowered or powerless people can change their circumstances and begin to

have control over their lives. In other words empowerment results from change in the balance of

power in the living condition and/or in the relationships. According to the country report of the

government of India (1995), empowerment means moving from a position of enforced

powerlessness to one of power. Connecting this concept with this study means that

empowerment promotes girl’s inherent and position. Another clarification of the concept comes

from Bush and Folger (1994), who defines empowerment as the means to restore people’s sense

of their own worth and strengthening their ability to resolve their own problems. Further, the

Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (1999) describes empowerment as the means

of increasing opportunities for both men and women to control their lives: empowerment equals

power to make decisions, be heard, set agendas, negotiate and face difficulties on one’s own.

Empowerment is also defined as a group’s or individual’s capacity to make choices and then to

transform those choices into desired actions and outcomes (Alsop et al. 2006). From the

discussion above this study defines girl’s empowerment through media use as the received

meaning of the media product and its role in intesification of girls capabilities in engaging in

dialogues, decision making, debating and making independent choices of their health lifestyle

and civic engagement issues.Capability means the ability to carry out valuable acts and to

achieve or reach valuable states of being dependent on each individual and her context (Sen &

Nussbaum, 1993)

This study in a way adopts the meaning of empowerment from health dictionary which refers it

as a process in health promotion through which people gain greater control over decisions and

17
action affecting their health (Medical Dictionary 2008: 19). Further elaboration shows that

empowerment may be a social or cultural process through which individuals or social groups are

able to express their needs, presents their concerns, devise strategies for involvement in decision

making and achieve social and cultural action to meet those needs. This study defines

empowerment of young women as their ability to make decisions and have control over their

personal daily lives.

Sexuality:

Holland, Ramazanoglu, Scott, Sharpe and Thomson (1990:339) defines sexuality as not only

sexual practices, but also what people know and believe about sex, particularly what they think is

natural, proper and desirable. Also sexuality (ibid) includes people’s identities in their cultural

and historical diversity. Sexuality practice is socially constructed within social and cultural

systems that shape not only sexual experiences but also the ways in which it’s interpreted and

understood. Kirstie et al in Sexual Messages in Teen’s Favorite Prime-Time Television Programs

(2002: 63- 64) argues that in sexuality; physical actions must imply potential or likely sexual

intimacy between the participants. In this study sexuality is referred as any depiction of talk or

relations that involves sexuality, sexual suggestiveness, sexual activities and relationships

amongst young women everyday life.

1.0 Background of the Problem

Young women empowerment issues are of increasing interest to policy makers and program

planners worldwide. A good example from international forums is when UNIFEM marked year

2010 as a landmark of different initiatives where it simultaneously marked the 15th anniversary

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of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, as well as the World

Programme of Action for Youth; the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Millennium

Declaration and Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. 2010 was a

historical milestone for community’s initiatives of empowering adolescent women, the

establishment of UN Women; and the beginning for the United Nations International Year of

Youth: Dialogue and Mutual Understanding. In the Book titles Her Story which has documented

the journey of the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) on

advocating for the rights of African women (2012:37) states that the achievement of the network

is that gender equality has remained as their vision which guides the struggle and efforts in

building skills and capacities of gender mainstreaming, advocating for the girl child and

advocacy for the inclusion of women in all levels of decision making. Moreover, in Tanzania

there several local and international civil society media-driven organizations which uses media to

communicate issues about health life style and empowerment. Some of these organizations are

Family health International, AMREF, Marie Stopes, Pathfinder, Red Cross, Femina HIP and

UNICEF to mention few.

Above context shows the space to voice adolescent young women’s needs, demands and

proposals, which are designed to discuss and exchange best practices for advancing their

empowerment. It also shows that governments and civil society, as well as the community

development partners are prioritizing adolescent women’s empowerment agenda in all spheres

and trying to improve the situation of millions of young women by enabling them to be active

agents and strategic partners for development ideally. But

the remaining question is, is it the same practically? The answer may not be simple YES or

NOT; it needs a critical exploration and thorough analysis. This study will therefore start by

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discussing four critical areas which are striking back adolescent women empowerment initiatives

to establish the main part of the background of the research problem:

 The empowerment of young women through the use of new media and

communication technologies (ICTs)

In today’s global world, the use of social networks on the Internet, mobile phones and

audio/video tools have sped the flow of information and images in real time. ICTs are powerful

tools to strengthen the skills of young people, to build their leadership skills in all arenas, to

develop their networking capacities and to strengthen their political agendas. Howener it has be

challenge in most rural parts of Africa where internet connection is poor or not connected at all.

Norbert Wildermuth in the book, Speaking Upand Talking Back drawn from Media Democracy

and Empowerment in East Africa, (covering Tanzania and Kenya) funded by Danida (2013:59)

explains that despite the fact that Kenya being the most advanced ICT connected in East africa

there challenges to ensure that ICT benefits the majority. Although the mobile use has become

widespread, many people owns personal computes and afford broadband subscriptionsits only

within very small reach of majority population and limited to urban area. For that cause and the

consequences facing young women everyday lives the ownership of personal laptops and phones

may not be a challenge but the usage may be narrowed down to the information and the exposure

surrounding community. In the same book, Grace Githaiga (2013:129) urgues that ICT

encompasses the technology used to intergrate symbols, data, voices and images from live and

recoeded events which have been possible by the convergence of previously separate industries

such as information ie media, telecommunicatios and computingon a single platform provide by

internet.

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In her Study Githaiga declares that young people mostly use internet technology and phones than

older people however it is not clear on how young particulalry those living in informal

settlements make use of ICT. Whether ICT is shapping their communication strategies and

practices as a group or individuals (Grace Githaiga 2013:130). Schilderman&Ruskulis

(2006:01), in Global Urban Development Magazine argues that poor women in informal

settlements are often more disadvantaged than men in terms of representation and participation

in decision making, income generation opportunities and human rights. Many of them appear

marginalized, even hidden, from ongoing events in their communities because of lack of skills,

literacy, status, mobility, and self-confidence. The fact that women are seldom involved in

decision making or policy formulation processes has hindered their socio-economic development

and has led to most key issues affecting them remaining untouched.  However women are

conscious that the acquisition of knowledge constitutes the first step towards the process of

change, be it social, economic, cultural, or political. Schilderman being an International team

leader of the Access to Services Program of Practical Action in United Kingdom and Ruskulis

currently being an Independent Consultant and Author, previously served as a Human Settlement

Information officer for Practical Action also in the United Kingdom, points out that information

is the catalyst, the driving force, and the product of an evolutionary process of change; on the

other way they mean; with information adolescent women are expected to learn how to

communicate their living conditions and livelihood issues, participate on public social and

political issues, and decide on matters touching their mutual understanding. Tufte, T, (2000:33)

agues further basing diachronic dimension which is often an interviews about people’s history or

that of their family – can with advantage be related to the analysis of the historical matrices of

21
the genre, providing a historical narrative on the role of particular genre in the lives of the

adolescent women in focus.

 Empowering Young women about HIV and AIDS

Knowledge of the risks concerning the sexual transmission of HIV among women is spreading,

however the controlling safety can be problematic for young women, if they play subordinate

roles in sexual encounters. Once people have been given information of how HIV can be

transmitted sexually and advice on safer sex, the empowerment is measured on how they make

sence of what they have learned. They have to consider whether what they know has any impact

in their lives, and how, when or whether to put this knowlwdge into practice. Rates of sexually

transmitted diseases are raising amongst young women and women group in general. Hence

ndicating that more study reasearch are still needed to empower young women on how to make

sense of the messages received from the media, for the argument remains on the variations of

levels of power and autonomy in the negotiation of sexual encounters that highly to safe or

unsafe sexual behaviour.

Young women are disproportionately affected by HIV and AIDS: According to UNIFEM

(2010), it is estimated that on average some 3,720 young women are infected each day and

young women represent about 60 percent of all young people living with HIV. Tanzania

HIV/AIDS and Malaria Indicator Survey (THMIS), 2011/12 shows that HIV prevalence estimate

for the age group 15-19 is assumed to represent new infections and therefore serves as a proxy

for HIV occurrence among young people. A comparison of HIV prevalence estimate in the 15-19

age group beteenTHMIS 2007/20808 and 2011/2012 reveals no change in prevalence ie the

22
estimates shows 1 percent in both the 2007/2008 and 2011/2012 survey. Background data shows

that there were no specific information about the prevalence of HIV/AIDS among adolescent

women aged 15-24 in Tanzania regarding to THIS, (2003/2004) but THMIS (2007/2008) reports

shows that women aged 15-49 rates higher prevalence than men counterpart. Also the Akatarawa

Valley Emergence Response Team (AVERT) records on HIV/AIDS in Tanzania (2008) specifies

that women comprised over 60 percent of people living with HIV in Tanzania and among them

15-24 age groups. AVERT report explain further that adolescent women group tend to become

more infected, partly due to the tendency of women to have older partners or get married earlier.

Report shows another reason for the higher prevalence being the difficulties women experience

in negotiating safer sex because of gender inequality. Women often accept sexual practices with

older men, or ‘sugar daddies’ due to dependency and for various reasons like money, affection

and social advancement.

From Holland et all (2014:143) perspective young women in the age of consent engage in sexual

begin to engage in sexual relationships to test their identity that means initially they no so much

to draw on. Hence they engage into relationship due to the raising pressure from men sexual

encounters. The Author argues that young wome make sense of information given from different

sourses – childhood exeriences, schools, youth workers, parents, siblings, peers, and the mass

media which regularly give them contradictory messages. Since they have no overriding

conception of enjoying they relate ideas about love, romance and femininty which leads to their

relationship with men.

 Unwanted pregnancies amongst adolescent young women.

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Unwanted pregnancies among adolescent women are another critical area of action when dealing

with adolescent women empowerment issues. Basic Statistics in Education (BEST) compiled by

the Tanzania Ministry of Education and Vocational Training shows that adolescent women are

number one victims of unwanted pregnancy. In 2008, the report shows 21.9 percent of secondary

school female student dropped out of school due to pregnancies. Unwanted pregnancies not only

affect girls’ health, education, and future employment but also undermine their ability to reach

their full potential in life. Like in the prevalence of HIV/AIDS where adolescent women faces

difficulties in negotiating sex relationships and often accept sexual practices due to dependency

or for various reasons like money, affection and social advancement; the challenges here is to

create an enabling environment for advocacy and creation of awareness focusing on confidence

in decision making.

 Ending violence against girls and women

Violence against girls and women is one of the most widespread violations of human rights and

takes place in every context, both in rural and urban areas and the public and private space.

Adolescent women and those living in poverty are especially at risk because they may not able to

access protection from these crimes, justice when they occur, or treatment for their impact.

According to TAMWA (2008:109) six out of ten women in Tanzania have experienced violence

in one form or another from their spouses, and nine out every ten women are reported to

experience sexual harassment in offices, streets, learning institution and in markets, etc. The

challenge is to see young women empowered to make positive decision on their everyday lives.

Drawing back from several civil society media-driven organization initiatives on adolescent

women empowerment critical areas elaborated above the most complicated part is how to induce

practical initiative processes, where adolescent women are participants, feel included and

24
communicate/debate issues influencing their everyday life. In other words it is expected that with

media and communication, knowledgeable and well informed adolescent women will be able to

debate courageously and even express or discuss issues surrounding their everyday life; like in

gender quality, sexual practices, unemployment, development, leadership and politics. However

regarding to the critical areas discussed above the expectation of actual situation is opposite.

1.2 FEMINA HIP Youth and Participatory Governance

The FEMINA HIP Media Programme has been chosen as a case study because it is a multi-

media initiative grounded in principles of participatory communication. FEMINA HIP

Programme has been exploiting the opportunities that radio, television, and print media outlets

offer in the communication process in addition to using school clubs, community outreach

programmes and website portals (FEMINA Hip, 2009: 04).

FEMINA HIP founded in Tanzania 15 years ago as a project educating about healthy lifestyles,

sexual and reproductive health and HIV/AIDS and now it has evolved in to a fully fledged media

platform speaking up about an expanded agenda of issues that affect young people’s lives.

FEMINA HIP articulates on media platforms in the intersection between radio programs,

television programs large print media, school clubs, community outreach programs and website

portal. Initially FEMINA HIP started with one media product Fema previously published under

the name of Femina but now it has five media products known as Fema magazine, Si mchezo!

magazine, Fema TV Talk show, PilikaPilika Radio program, and a website portal known as

Cheza Salama.com.

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According to (FEMINA Hip report, 2009:13), Fema Magazine started in 1999 with a print run of

20,000 copies quarterly. Today ten years later the print run has reached 170,000 copies and

magazine is distributed free of charge to more than 2300 secondary schools and 300 partner

organizations in every district of Tanzania. Fema continues to be a quarterly, full color magazine

with strong secondary school profile and is endorsed by the Ministry of Education and

Vocational Training (MoEVT). Also in the same page the report shows estimation that each copy

of Fema is read by approximately 15 readers, making the total readership 2.5 million. Moreover

TAMPS 2009 reported that Fema brand is known by 9.8 million Tanzanians and every week, the

estimated 2.8 million Tanzanians read this magazine. Fema magazine content includes sexuality,

relationships, risk, HIV and AIDS, contraceptives, life skills, civic engagement,

entrepreneurship, livelihoods, financial literacy, livelihoods in agriculture and other lifestyle

issues. All integrated into a high quality format with: cover stories featuring role models

sometimes celebrities; club and advice pages; photo-novels; letters from readers and

competitions. Each issue has a theme and editorial collection done in one region of the country to

profile Tanzania.

26
Figure 1&2: Demonstrates two of the Fema magazines cover pages1

In expanding its sphere FEMINA HIP introduced Fema TV Show in 2003, which has steadily

grown more and more popular and enlarged its view ship. 30 minutes, Swahili language talk

show consists of in studio and out of studio discussions, vox pops, and testimonials and comedy

sketch that mirror the content of other FEMINA HIP products. (FEMINA HIP report, 2009:14).

Moreover the report shows in (Page 15) that 37% of all viewers are between 15-30 years old and

contrary to what many thinks TV is not an urban phenomenon. 58% of the viewer lives in urban

areas and 42% live in rural settings.

Figure 3: Fema TV show’s dynamic host, Rebecca with black t-shirt in the middle invites young

people, experts, celebrities and politicians to discuss critical and sometimes controversial issues

relating to youth lifestyles and the theme of the day.

Sections of Fema TV show also include testimonials, viewer letters, SMS and prize giveaways.

Also the show has the comic element featuring comic character Bwana Ishi ‘Mr. Live’.

Moreover, the parts of the show are shot on location in rural areas allowing a wider public to

share their experiences and giving voice to young people and communities in general.

Interactivity and commentary to the program are encouraged through SMS and email and also

copies of the show are sent to schools, clubs and clinics for further use.2

1
http://www.feminahip.or.tz/femina-hip/vehicles/fema-magazine/
2
http://www.feminahip.or.tz/femina-hip/vehicles/fema-tv-show/

27
Si mchezo! Magazine is another FEMINA HIP media product which was first published in 2002

and last published in 2013, The magazine aimed at reaching semi literate, out of school youth

and their communities and each issue was produced on location in different districts of the

country. In the early days page sixteen of Si Mchezo focused on rural youth but later the

magazine distribution expanded throughout the country, including less developed urban areas.

The print run had also grown immensely from 10,000 copies per issue in 2002 to 175,000 copies

per issue in 2009.The magazine content usually included rural lifestyles, HIV/AIDS, sexuality,

life skills, entrepreneurship, citizen engagement and livelihoods. Also the arrangement includes a

testimonial, cover story, photo-novels, cartoons, news, and letters from readers. It is written in

Swahili language, content and format are tailored for a semi-literate audience.3

Moreover, FEMINA HIP became a partner in PilikaPilika (meaning Busy Busy) Radio show in

2007-2010, a 30 minutes show includes 15 minutes soap and 15 minutes talk show where experts

discuss theme of the day’s soap. The soap took a depiction of a fiction rural lives and

personalities to make it very appealing Tanzanian village and easy for listeners to identify with.

Cheza Salama.com, according to FEMINA HIP, (2009:18) Chezasalama (meaning Play it safe)

website was launched in 2004 and was the first interactive HIV/AIDS and sexuality education

website in Tanzania. This website aims at filling the gaps in sexuality and healthy lifestyle

information as internet penetration grows across the country. The website targets Swahili and

English speaking youth on issues of sexuality, HIV/AIDS, health services and life skills. The

product mirrors the content of other FEMINA HIP products and employs an interactive

approach. Current issues of Fema magazine can be downloaded from the website that also has

active discussions forums and celebrity chats. Regular polls are conducted on issues relating to

3
http://www.feminahip.or.tz/femina-hip/vehicles/si-mchezo-magazine/

28
youth and healthy lifestyles. In 2009 polls were conducted on issues such as treatment of

sexually transmitted diseases, face book, life skills, Femina Hip’s one love campaign, HIV/AIDS

and poverty.

Studying its media programmes trends and habits from Tanzania all media products survey in

2012:30, FEMINA HIP found that Fema and Si mchezo magazines were widely shared and the

stories highlighted in are highly discussed recently. In that case FEMINA wishes to promote

mediated learning more as it identified as a strategy which contributed highly to behavioral

change among the youth, which is one of FEMINA objective to the targeted audience.

Apart from the recurring FEMINA HIP products a range of one-off publications and products

which covers specific themes are also developed and transmitted each year. Its content ranges

from user guides to booklets on themes such as life skills, living positively with HIV/AIDS and

school curriculum biology books. The booklets are distributed throughout the country with

FEMINA HIP magazines to key decision makers, partner organizations, schools and colleges.

Generally, in its existence FEMINA HIP has managed to cut across major mass media channel

both electronic and print with long term objective of building a supportive environment for open

talk, critical thinking and social change that will foster health life styles and positive attitudes

towards sexuality, HIV/AIDS, gender equality and democratic culture (FEMINA Hip report,

2009:04).

Moreover, in the same page as a compliment to adolescent women/youth empowerment using

media, FEMINA HIP aims at building a supportive environment where communities exercise

their right to express themselves, participate in public debate and engage in civil society. To

ensure that its media products rich the expected audience FEMINA HIP has strengthened its

29
distribution system data base across Tanzania to regional, district and ward level, where they

have more than 900 partner organizations and 2,300 secondary schools, while 450 schools and

partners are on waiting list of receiving FEMA magazine media product (FEMINA HIP report

2009:08).

Moreover FEMINA HIP has community mobilization program which focuses to develop

community oriented supportive environments for open talk, critical thinking and social change

that will foster health lifestyle and positive attitudes towards sexuality, HIV/AIDS, gender

equality and democratic culture. The agenda centers on behavior change and communication for

social change. From this program it’s believed that individuals need a supportive environment in

order to adopt healthy lifestyles, talk openly, exercise their right, protects themselves from

HIV/AIDS or live positively with HIV/AIDS. In order to empower Tanzanian youth to make

informed choices and lead health lifestyle FEMINA uses Road Show and Fema Clubs to inform,

educate, build awareness and interact with audiences, generate feedback, address stigma,

promote open debate and trigger social change within communities. (FEMINA HIP report

2009:23)

The 2014 Femina Youth conference was held in Dar essalaam where the event brought together

Fema clubbers, partners and mentors to discuss youth voice in Tanzania for three days. With the

watchwords “Youth of Tanzania ‘Pump up the Volume’ Speak up and Let your Voice Be Heard”

this conference came up with launching of a new logo featuring red lips and a great big speech

bubble. This reflects the urge to share more voices, opinions, ideas and actions taken within

clubs and communities4. Moreover FeminaHip started, 15 years ago main objectives were to give

voice to youth about sexual health and HIV they used the ribbon to represent the theme, now has

4
http://www.feminahip.or.tz/femina-hip/home/

30
extended the organizational objectives to talk more about jobs and money as well as citizen

engagement, whereby the images in the new logo portrays that all topics are open for discussion.

Figure 6: The old Femina Hip logo Figure 7: The new Femina Hip logo

1.3 Statement of the Problem

Generally, it is argued that access to information is essential to the health of democracy and that

Tanzanian girls are trained and guided on health lifestyle by families and communities (see

USAID, 1999; Schilderman&Ruskulis, 2006; Tufte &Mefalopulous, 2009; Rodriguez 2001).

Moreover, the civil society media-driven platforms are also helping to empower these girls.

However, the actual situation of girls in Tanzania is still a far-cry from the ideal situation as the

girls continue suffering from the negative effects of lack of proper empowerment when it comes

to their sexuality (THIS, 2003/2004; THMIS, 2007/2008; THMIS2011/2012, AVERT, 2008;

UNIFEM, 2010; BEST, 2008; TAMWA, 2008; Schliderman&Ruskulis, 2006).

The problem may be the approach used to communicate health lifestyle messages, the timing and

medium of communication, cultural issues surrounding the girls, contextual issues or living

environment, or the kind of approach deployed by the Civil Society media-driven platforms to

31
communicate healthy lifestyle messages to these vulnerable members of the community in

Tanzania. Against this backdrop, this proposed study is aimed at exploring and analysing social

and cultural dynamics of media consumption, with a view to determining how they can ensure

that girls make informed choices concerning their sexuality in Tanzania as urged by USAID

(1999), Schilderman and Ruskulis (2006), Tufte and Mefalopulous, (2009) and Rodriguez

(2001).

1.4 Objective of the study

The main objective of this study was to explore how media use contributes to the empowerment

of girls in the light of the stronghold social and cultural practices have on their everyday lives.

1.5 Specific Objectives

To realise this primary objective, the study specifically seek to:

1. Explore the contextual issues surrounding girls’ media use

2. Explore the impact of media use on the empowerment of girls in their decision-making

pertaining to sexuality issues.

3. Explore girl’s perception on FEMINA HIP’s media platforms approaches and their

impact on changing the sexual and health lifestyle.

1.6 Research Questions

1. How does the use of mass media impact the empowerment of girls in their decision-

making pertaining to sexuality issues?

32
2. What media platforms and approaches does FEMINA HIP use to change the sexual and

health lifestyle among girls?

3. What contextual issues surround girls’ media use?

1.7Significance of the Study

As this proposed study seeks to explore media use and its associated impact on girls’

sexuality in Tanzania, the resultant findings provided insights on how families, communities

and media-driven organisations undermine or empower girls on matters relating so their

sexuality. Moreover, the study has generated information on the impact of the multi-pronged

FEMINA HIP Media Programme on girls’ ability to debate, express and discuss sexuality

issues with a view to making affirmative decisions

1.8 Research Setting

Tanzania is the unitary republic, the mainland formally Tanganyika got independence in

1961, and Zanzibar got independence in 1963, later formed union in 1964. Geographically

Tanzania is the largest of the five East African countries, with total area of 945,087km2

(378,000 sq mi) and Zanzibar 1,658km2 (640sq mi). It is boarded by Uganda, Kenya

Burundi, Rwanda, Indian Ocean, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and the Democratic

Republic of Congo.

Tanzania has a population of 44.9 million people among them 23.0 million being women

which equals to 51% of the population; moreover 4.36 million population in Dar es Salaam,

33
Temeke municipality 1,368, 882 population and Kigamboni ward has 27,789 people

according to 2012 population and housing census brief result 2013, given by Tanzania

Bureau of Standards (NBS, 2012 report) .

Tanzania’s terrain is coastal plains, a central plateau, highlands in north and south, and the

highest point is Kilimanjaro with 5,895m. Climate varies from tropical to arid to temperate.

Ethnic groups in Tanzania are native African 99% of which 95 are Bantu consisting of more

than130 tribes; other1% consists of Asian, European, and Arabs. Religion disparity varies

from Christianity, Muslim and indigenous beliefs. Official language is Kiswahili and

English.

The research in study in question was done at Kigamboni ward and specifically within

Kigamboni Community centre where 10 in secondary school girls aged 15-19 years old were

involved in the in-depth ethnographic research which included interviews, observation and

informal discussions only to explore their daily media use, their communicative ecologies

and cultural surrounding their daily lives. Beside 10 girls, a mini survey was done to 100

secondary in school and out of school girls to attain a general picture of the in-depth research

amongst young women of the same age and education level.

1.9 Positioning Kigamboni Community Centre

Kigamboni Community Centre (KCC) is situated in Kigamboni peninsular ward on the

outskirts of Dar es Salaam started in 2006. The researcher choose to work with this centre

because it has active FEMINA HIP club where youth both in school and out of school work

together, developing their talents and learn languages, and information technology (ICT)’s.

The centre is a registered nonprofit organization which provides education, peer education,

34
English course, talent development knowledge and skills and community outreach to

children, youth and adults in Kigamboni area as follows;

Since nursery school education is not free in Tanzania, large numbers of children do not

access to private nursery education and they end up with less knowledge in first year of

primary school. Therefore KCC provides free nursery school program to children whose

parents can’t afford to pay private education.

Moreover, for one reason or another there are children who were not able to join standard

one of primary school at the age of seven years. In that case most of them do not get a place

in standard one class in formal schools and the option given is that they should sit and pass

exam given to primary school at the end of fourth year. Of course a child who did not attend

previous classes is unlikely able to pass the exam. Therefore KCC provide free accelerated

primary program, covering year one to four in two years period, there after children sits for

fourth year primary government exams, those who score pass will access into the government

primary system and those who fails remains at KCC to re-sit exams until they pass.

To primary and secondary school students KCC offers free tuition, to enhance the quality of

their education skills and knowledge due to the fact that teaching standards in many of

government primary and private schools is still under par .

Since KCC has a number of children and youth from different background and so far have

become a family, peer education is provided. In collaborating with different educators among

them FEMINA HIP, KCC provides peer education which includes issues related to health

lifestyle, safety, reproduction health, and human rights. Peer education enhance youngsters

with knowledge to overcome challenges related to poor health, teenage pregnancy,

35
HIV/AIDS, sexual transmitted diseases, road accidents, gender discrimination and domestic

violence.

Also KCC has talent development programs and entertainments, youngsters participate on

acrobatics, drama, fine art, football, netball, handcraft, modern dance, music sewing and

traditional dance. Of course the tangible products attained from talent development groups

are sold in different occasions of shows and performance of intangible products of talent

developments programs.

From running programs for children and youth KCC also runs programs aimed at uplifting or

engaging the surrounding community, for example taking care of homeless children, showing

them that they have safer place to go, somewhere to wash their clothes where there adorable

activities to be involved with and where they can get informal and formal counseling aimed

at changing their situation for betterment.

Furthermore KCC run community outreach aimed to adults, bringing community members

together to discuss and generate ideas about how to address complex problems within their

surrounding and undertake ownership of their roles in the community. On the outreach KCC

also runs a mobile library every Friday afternoon (if weather permits. Books from KCC

library are taken to different locations in the nearby community to enable children, youth and

adults read and discuss knowledgeable issues.

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Picture 1: KCC graphic structure uploaded from the website. 5

1.10 Structure of the Thesis

The first three chapters of this thesis introduces major themes, analytical and methodological

tools which guides the study the first chapter introduces the topic in question, discussion on

FEMINA HIP youth and participatory governance, research questions, objectives, focus of the

5
http://kccdar.com/about/. The structure shows different departments of the centre where youth are highly involved.

37
study and brief reflection of Kigamboni Community Centre as one of FEMINA HIP Clubs.

Chapter two introduces analytical and methodological issues that have determined research

writing and meaning making and gaps from different authors in the same study discourse or

literature review. The theoretical framework also is discussed in this chapter. Chapter

threefocuses on the presentation of fieldwork procedures, data collection, process and analysis.

The chapter begins with a presentation of study design, proceeds to descriptive research process.

There after the presentation data collection technique employed in the study, then sampling

process used to obtain research participant. Data analysis process is also presented in this chapter

and it will end with a brief discussion on ethical consideration observed in the course of the

study and the main limitations of the study.

Chapter four contains a broad introduction of Kigamboni Community Centre, indepth discussion

of ten girls who were the main respondents of this study, girls media use dialogues obtained from

field survey and Femina media output which base on the information taken from face to face

interviews and participatory observation of their everyday activities at KCC FEMINA youth club

during field work period. In other words the chapter establishes the description of data collection

process and findings both from the in depth research done from 10 in school and KCC FEMINA

Hip club girls aged 16-19, and the survey of 100 girls of the same age who were not necessarily

in school, or involved in FEMINA HIP social club and so on.

Chapter five addresses the analytical perspective part of the research. In this chapter sub topics

like girls sexuality and cultural practices, girls empowerment, girls lifestyle, and girls identity

comes as an analytical perspective of the study. Last but not list chapter six which is last chapter

of the thesis provides concluding remarks of the thesis and recommendations.

38
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK.

2:0 Introduction

39
In this literature review, I am critically reviewing the existing knowledge together with

substantive findings relevant to the exploration of the role of FEMINA HIP Media Programme in

Promoting girls6’ sexuality. The interest is on how current discourse on media use contributes to

the empowerment of young women. The analysis position of young women in media use from a

gender perspective takes the consideration that girl’s life experience is fundamentally different to

boy’s life experiences. The review is guided by two theoretical frameworks, theparticipatory

communication theory and the Feminist theory both narrowed down and related to an African

context. Both theories focus on participatory processes. In this study participatory remains the

key component in seeking to understand girl’s world by trying to change it, collaboratively and

reflectively as well as participatory communication as the strategic tool to persuade young

women/people to change and enhance communication for development.

Audience Studies

(have theoretical debates about this field, and also about HOW this field has dealt with issues of

sexuality audiences over the years.) audience reception, which is about how we can understand the way

people make sence of their media use. This is what ‘audience studies’ is all about)

James Lull

David Morley

Janice Radway

Kim Schrøder

6
In this study the word ‘girl’ and ‘young woman’ will be used separately to show the same meaning as female aged
15-19. The same shall apply on plural term

40
Stuart Hall

2:1 Girls Sexuality on Cultural dialogue

Anthropologists working in African societies have described traditional rite which girls undergo

as they grow. Anthropologists perceive when girls grow to womanhood as one critical stage of

life to another. For example Munthali, A and Zulu, E. (2007), in their study titled the Timing and

role of Initiation Rites in preparing young people for adolescence and responsible sexual and

reproductive behavior in Malawi7 enlighten that puberty changes are associated with excitement,

anxiety, distress and many more psychological problems depending on the expectations and

understanding of what the changes signifies. On that case the growing interest in understanding

the formulation of adolescent girls’ sexuality has been brought about by the mounting evidence

that they are uniquely vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections (including HIV/AIDS) and

unplanned pregnancies.Chijioke, U & Wright, S (2012)8 reports that, young people becomes

sexually active at the age of sixteen and the majority student who have experienced sexual

intercourse has more than one partner. Further, Munthali& Zulu (2007) expound that the

exposure to out-of-wedlock sex has increasedto adolescent girls because they mature earlier and

marry later than previous generations did. While many studies have examined the timing of

pubertal changes and their implications for sexual and reproductive health, there is scanty

evidence demonstrating how young women comprehend the cultural contextual surrounding their

sexuality and what is expected of them as sexual beings. This study contributes to filling this

knowledge gap by examining contexts of Tanzanian young women sexuality.

7
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2367147/
8
http://file.scirp.org/Html/3-5200027_18019.htm

41
Time goes and much transformation happens. The alteration of time affects culture, knowledge,

technology and lives of people. 21st century found a number of changes in cultural practices

which were practiced in 20th century, the same happened to 19th century and soon 22nd century

will come with more changes on cultural and rites. Sexual activities are culturally increasingly

changing from what they used to be. Kazaura&Masatu, (2009:01) 9 explains that knowledge of

sexual practices among youth is the basis to raising awareness among girls on practices that

involve risks. Furthermore, (ibid) sexual activities are increasingly changing from the cultural

point of what they used to be in previous days; where by the practice was strictly for married

couples while the unmarried were supposed to abstain (ibid). Kazaura and Masatu (2009) in a

way argue that media use can raise awareness amongst young people on irresponsible sexual

practices through advocating information that involve risk and the solution abiding in it, to

reduce risk sexual practice,the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and unwanted pregnancies. They

examined sexual practices among young girls who were in school and the unmarried out of

school adolescent both in primary and secondary schools. However their study lacks information

on young women media use. Also as part of their study challenge, they failed to quantify and

validate the magnitude of young women knowledge of sexual practice decision making.

Moreover despite their clear analysis of sexual practise changes, Kazaura and Masatu sidestep

the effects of media use; they did not expand their analysis to how media can or cannot

contribute to the changes of young women sexuality, hence here I find the need to conduct

further research on the contribution of media use to promoting or empowering young women

sexuality.

9
http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2458-9-373.pdf

42
Kara Chan in Tween girls’ Sexuality and a media in Hong Kong article in the book Yearbook

(2011:109) starts with an argument that adolescent today are more confused about their sexuality

than they were in the past. With development of birth control measures and the rise of the

feminist movement, adolescent have moved from viewing sex as forbidden to viewing sex as

accessible and interesting, yet terrifying. However, youth are independent social group which has

opportunities to act and they live in time of fundamental changing world intensified with

transformation, fragmented ideologies, less fixed life cycles and trajectories. In this context role

of media in promoting girls sexuality is an extremely area for more study.

Mwai, W. (2012:02)10 describes an African culture rite like ‘unyago’ as an important experience

used to nurturing the intelligences of young women. Poetic creations “Nyimboza Kike”

empowers women through nurturing of the multiple Intelligences shared toyoung women by the

older and experienced women towards harmonizing themale/female distinction into a social

whole. Unyagotraining cultivates socialand emotional intelligence in girls that men and women

live in one world, no matter how much it appears separated into two domains from an

outsider’spoint ofview. The underlying question that remains unanswered by ‘unyago’ rite

practicesis that in diverse world where people interacts with other people of different culture the

indigenous knowledge acquired by a girl child fades out due to social competences and the way

of handling contagion emotions among multi society.

Karl, P et al (2006:04) argues that Sexuality in African communities has transformed

dramatically from the framework where it was open but kept with a well defined social control

and regulating mechanisms to being an individual private matter surrounded by personal

opinions and silence. However Karl, P et al (2006) did not respond on the contribution of media

10
http://www.ijern.com/images/February-2013/11.pdf

43
use and communication ecologies to the lives of African communities. This study leaves a gap

for more research on how media use promotes girl’s sexuality.

To further the discussion on sexuality on cultural dialogue, Rolls, H (2009:64) looks at the topic

‘Masculinising and Feminising Identities: Factors Shaping Primary School Learners’ Sexual

Identity Construction in the Context of HIV/AIDS. She investigates ways in which primary

school children create their sexual identities. She argues that sexual identity construction of

children is based on specific context and situation and illustrates how games, chores and

entertainment act as discursive spaces for sexual identity construction. According to her, there

are specific ways that children position themselves and it is through these engagements in social

activities supports the shaping of masculine and feminine identities.

Rolls further states that contribution to sexual identity is majorly done by parents and siblings as

role models thereby creating or destroying prevailing constructions. She says that it is best to

view children’s sexuality as an intergrated process and not as a separate entity where they

continually construct and deconstruct their sexual experiences in interaction with their partners.

The increase in the spread of HIV/AIDS and increase of children involvement in sex have led to

a keen interest in children’s sexual identity construction. There is need therefore of focusing on

children since they are being shaped by the environment they find themselves in (James et al,

1998) (cited in Rolls, 2009).

Rolls, H. (2009:64) conducted a study exploring how 10 year old children developed their sexual

identities within the South African HIV/AIDS context. The study was conducted in some

primary schools in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. The major concern is if the

environment that children are growing up in contributes to their sexual identity construction.

44
The study centres on the premise that ideas of identity in South Africa are socially constructed in

complex contexts, that is, severely racialized and gendered. Therefore, the growth and

development of children in their social practices is affected by the environment they grow up in

(Rolls, 2009).

In summary below is how the study was conducted:

Methodology

Since the study was aimed at investigating how children constructed their sexual identities, a

methodological approach that prioritised the subjective experience and perspective of the child

was appropriate (Greig & Taylor, 1999) (cited in Rolls, 2009).To allow for particular attention to

be paid to children’s responses and experiences, a qualitative approach was used Rolls, H.

(2009).

Sampling

Schools were sampled as follows: All primary schools in the Cape Metropolitan area were

categorized into the four pre-1994 racialized system of schools,ie white,Indian,coloured and

black schools.One school was then randomly selected from each of the four groups, except for

previously black schools, from which two schools were randomly selected. In total, there were

five schools (Rolls, 2009).

Data collection strategies and study sample

Data Collection Strategy Sample of learners Total number of learners

1.Questionare survey Entire grade 5 class in each Average:25-35 learner per

school school
2.Focus group interviews Selected 8-12 mixed gender 8-12 learners per school

45
 groups at each school
3.Individual interviews 5 learners from each school 5 learners per school
4.Observations Learners behaviour in 25-35 learners per

classroom and on playground school:playground depending

on activity;eg skipping rope: 8

learners

Methods of Data Collection

Rolls, H. (2009) points out that several methods were used which are: observations,

questionnaires, focus group discussions and individual interviews. Observations were sone at

school both in the classroom and playground. The children were observed during Life

Orientation lessons which provided a good arena since the study was concerned with sexual

identity construction.

The questionnaires filled acted as a guide to understand the socioeconomic characteristics of the

children. The results were used to select 8-12 children for the focus group discussions. Their

responses to parental status, home environment and economic status formed the basis of

selection and after which five children from each focus group were selected for individual

interviews.

Sensitivity to the Topic and Working with Children

During the process two issues were significant, that is, the sensitivity of the topic and challenges

regarding working with children Rolls, H. (2009).Since the topic about sexuality is sensitive, the

researcher had to ask questions in a non- embarrassing way while avoiding the sensitive topics.

The children are considered minors and therefore parents were asked for permission to involve

46
their children in the study. Language was also a problem since some children were not able to

express themselves well and it was a task to understand their perspective. To overcome the

challenge, they were asked politely to repeat their answers and by breaking down the questions

in a way they could understand. To overcome literacy problems, the interviews were recorded

instead of asking them to complete questionnaires. They also viewed the researcher as an adult

hence not able to open up but this was overcome by having an icebreaker prior to the interviews.

Context of the Children in the Study

According to Rolls, H. (2009:66), she provided contextual characteristics of the schools which

helped to interpret the findings. In summary, the characteristics in the specific schools were;

School 1: School is situated in a well established suburb and historically catered for English

speaking white South Africans but the demography has changed to accommodate a diverse racial

profile. All parents are professionals and school fees is paid regularly.

School 2: School is situated in a suburb that has numerous smaller suburban extensions. Houses

are mostly two-bedroomed and mainly a colored population. 12 of the 39 respondents live in a

black township while the rest lived around the school. Only 1 parent had a professional career.

School 3: School is situated in a relatively large area with a range of religions and way of life.

The community consisted of various groups in terms of economic status. There are a variety of

houses ranging from economic homes and flats to semi-detached and free-standing luxury

homes. From the students dressing, a majority of the interviewed seemed poor.

School 4: School is situated in the southern suburbs of Cape Town that is near a sewerage site.

The occupants of the area are mainly black people and the majority of the children lack school

47
uniforms because of lack of finances. Only 1 of the children’s fathers had a professional career

while the rest worked as mine workers, bakers, painters, shoe makers, shop assistants etc.

School 5: School is situated in a black residential area that consists of both a township and an

informal settlement on the outskirts of Cape Town. Out of the 34 respondents, 8 did not have

direct access to running water but only 1 had no access to electricity. The school is located in a

poor area, and the school office only has the minimal essentials.

Conceptual Framework

In the past, childhood was not given attention but today, the thought has shifted to them having

the same rights as adults. This shift is as a result of ideas of children identity growing from being

viewed as essentialist biologism to include social ideas that tend to view childhood more

holistically according to James et al (1998) (cited in Rolls, 2009). James et al (1998) continues

to say that children sexuality in the past was viewed as an insignificant occurrence but this has

changed to being viewed holistically and thus an important foundation in their identity

construction.

Rolls, H. (2009) points out the importance of knowing the context in understanding sexual

identity construction, Also, contexts within which the construction occurs is characterised by a

variety of factors like HIV/AIDS and gender. In the age of modernity, theorists like Giddens

(1987) (cited in Rolls, H. 2009) view sexuality as a fluid characteristic of the individual which

connects the body, self, identity and social norms. Weeks (1986:15) (cited in Rolls, H. 2009)

concurs with this and defines sexuality as a ‘ historical construction that brings together a host of

different biological and mental possibilities- gender identity, body differences, reproductive

capacities, needs, desires and fantasies’. McDermott (cited in Weeks, 1986) argues that the

48
growth of the sexual self takes place in a context and does not take place in isolation. Dilley

(1999:5) in Rolls (1999) gives a definition of context. He defines it as something that surrounds

an object and suggests a number of synonyms such as ‘environment, milieu, setting and

background’.

Rolls (2009) acknowledges the importance of using a historical approach to sexuality in this

study as it brings to light the power elements that determine the meanings people give to their

lives in general and their sexuality in particular. However, some theorists do not put the

importance of context into consideration while discussing children’s sexuality. Woodward

(2002) in Rolls (2009) maintains that gender had been used as a notion that provided a focus for

the social construction of femininity and masculinity including hierarchical separation between

women and men based on social, political and economic traditions and institutions.

Bra (in Weedon, 2000:129) in Rolls (1999) says that social constructions that are engraved in

social orders play a role in sexual identity formation. He says that one’s experiences and social

relations build his/her sexual identity. The determinants of experiences are based on social

relations and interactions with family, peers, media, class and religion which in the end

determine the sexual identity formation.

Main Findings

Rolls (2009) points out that the data collected gave an indication of contexts in which children

made sense of their sexuality and these included; the nature of the games they played and the

extent to which the games were gendered and sexualised, name calling, division of labour and

the chores they performed in and out of school and media influence and lastly religion.

Games Children Play

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It is through games that children make sense of their daily lives (Rolls, 2009).Games open a

channel of understanding social relations in the communities between adults and children and

between the children themselves. It is no wonder that children act out what they experience in

their communities through games; some games reflect community values and thus this way

children have a safe-space to act out what they see (Rolls, 2009).

In this study, children seemed to develop an understanding of what is and what is not allowed,

who is and who is not allowed to speak and the conditions under which these rules and

regulations operate. Hence, it is through the games that they learned the rules of the game that

apply in their social environment (Rolls, 2009).

Socioeconomic environments

Rolls (2009) notes that the games the children played are influenced by the different

socioeconomic environment they come from. It is worth noting that children from poorer

socioeconomic environments invented games and also games that have been passed down

generations. These children happened to be more creative and innovation in their games. From

the study, children from the poorer backgrounds played games such as; ‘carrying each other on

the back’ which they described as a girl ‘ getting on the boy’s back, ‘doll’s house’, ‘hide and

seek’ and ‘spin the bottle’ which did not require a lot of resources. On the other hand, children

from rich neighbourhoods played some of the above games like ‘hide and seek’ but mostly

played sports like football, handball and cricket sometimes (Rolls, 2009).

Gendered Nature of Games

The study revealed that the games were also gendered, that is, there was a clear impact of boy-

girl relations. They also gave some implicit and explicit sexual connotations to the games they

50
played Rolls (2009). There was a clear demarcation between the gendered nature of games in the

‘rich’ and ‘poor’ schools. The children in rich neighbourhoods had fixed games for boys and

girls while in the other schools there was flexibility but when it came to games that involved

boys and girls, their sexual identities were very clear (Rolls, 2009).

They had ‘expected’ and ‘accepted’ behaviour which were entrenched in the rules of the games

as well as the nature of the games and they obeyed them without a lot of questioning (Rolls,

2009). Mostly, the boys played separately from the girls, and games like football were perceived

to be for the boys and in cases where girls played with the boys, the boys took the lead as the

girls followed in tow so as to stay in the game. On the other hand, boys who played in games

perceived to be of girls like ‘skipping rope’ was regarded as a ‘moffie’ (a colloquial term used to

refer to a male who displayed feminine characteristics (Rolls, 2009).Games that cut across the

gender like ‘hide and seek’ and ‘skipping rope’ were initiated by girls mostly. In school 3, they

had a particular game that involved running from pole to pole and the girl was supposed to try

and catch the boy between the poles. The boys would catch the girls in a physical way and the

girls would respond by either angrily deterring the boys or laughing in manner to suggest that

they should ‘control’ themselves (Rolls, 2009).

Sexual Connotations and Implications

There was a regular and perhaps persistent allusion to sex during game playing or other observed

activities (Rolls, 2009).Some interactions during games could be described as explicitly sexual in

nature. A number of games were identified as having sexual connotations and implications. For

example, ‘spin the bottle’ where “the bottle is spinned and if it faces you, they will dare you to

51
do something between the girl and boy”, said Sharlene, one of the students. “The boy and the girl

have to go in another room and kiss... and take off your bra and all that...when you take off your

bra and show the boys then the boys have to touch it”, added Simone another student.

Another game that that has a sexual connotation and implications was ‘Abba’. Desiree another

student said, “the boys lie on us like they are attacking you or something...it doesn’t feel

nice...boys touch us everywhere” (Rolls, 2009).

One point that came out clearly is that seemingly there was emphasis on ‘other’ aspects that were

often sexual in nature other than the game itself. The children integrated these ‘other’ aspects as

part of the game consciously and unconsciously (Rolls, 2009).The sexual connotations and

aspects of the game were mainly determined by the space in which a particular game was played

and were played in spaces free from adult supervision like the school playground and classroom

and home environment. Since children created their own spaces away from the adult supervision,

it can be argued that deliberately did so as to have an opportunity to explore and express their

sexualities. Also, some of the games with explicit sexual connotations could eventually lead to

unprotected sex even though the activities may initially have happened as part of the game but

may end up being a habit (Rolls, 2009).

Rules of the Game

Rules in the games had both a literal and figurative function and played a role in determining

their sexual identities as Rolls (2009) says. The literal part of the rules provided actual

boundaries while the figurative part enabled the sexual construction of specific patterns and

behavioural nuances.

Name Calling and Aggressive Behaviour

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It was apparent that name calling and aggressive behaviour were frequently perpetuated during

some of the games Rolls (2009). Seemingly, the girls acted as passive recipients and tolerated

bodily harm, slander and harsh utterances. It seemed like they had minimal control over their

choices, the boys sometimes treated them in a condescending manner and despite that, they

submissively tolerated the power display demonstrated by the boys. This was an act of

establishing certain rules regarding their femininity. Desperation was evident and much tolerance

was displayed as the girls do not contest the aggressive behaviours from the boys, thereby

instilling the practices as a norm, and accepting it as the nature of the boys (Rolls, 2009).

During the games, boys showed another form of aggression as explained by Toby one of the girls

interviewed,

“We play arm wrestling, and sometimes their hands go there...they go with their hands o the lower part of

our body by the tummy. They are not supposed to do that”.

Chores

Rolls (2009) add that apart from games and name calling, the chores played an important role in

shaping their identities. In schools 2, 4, and 5, there were distinct division of labour. The children

believed that girls were restricted to certain roles because of their physical strength and

biological makeup and it was an accepted norm that specific duties were assigned according to

gender. When they were asked about their parents’ participation in chores, Beverly, a student in

the school 2 said, “My father is the head of the house. He is the boss of the house. Payments are

his responsibility”. Carlin, a student at the same school said about her mother’s role, “she must

be there. She buys food, clothing... she does the work”. This goes on to show that parents

influenced the manner in which chores were performed at home.

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Media and Sexuality

Children from schools 2, 4 and 5 said that television had a role in their pursuit or constraint of

activities that had a direct impact on the manner in which their sexual identities were formed.

They said that were tempted to imitate what they saw on television for example pornographic

scenes (Rolls, 2009).The students end up discussing what they saw on television at school with

those who do not have therefore influencing them. Also during their games, they might end up

practising what they saw and this exposes them to sex (Rolls, 2009).

Transcending the Biological Boundaries

One of the students did not adhere to what was considered normal for either boys or girls. The

student, Toby was close to her brother and openly said that she did not like ‘girl’s’ stuff but

instead liked to play with the boys, watch scary movies and kept on talking about what her male

friends liked. The other students viewed her as going against the norm and some even used the

Bible to criticise her saying that that was not ‘God’s creation plan’. This discussion went on to

show how religion played a role in shaping their masculinity and femininity (Rolls, 2009).

Discussion

The study above shows the various factors that shape the sexual identity of children. Certain

influences seem to be stronger than others but in other cases they reinforce one another. Through

the games they play, their sexual identities are constructed, gender identities are produced,

reproduced and regulated. Girls learn how to be ‘girls’ while boys learn how to be ‘boys. It is

here that rules and patterns are formed that impact on their masculinity and femininity. It is

concerning that some of the games they play may lead to risky sexual behaviour. It is also noted

that there was acceptance of male domination and female submission as normal. This acceptance

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especially when girls were sexually harassed and seemed ‘okay’ with it could also inhibit the

negotiation of safe sexual relationships (Rolls, 2009).

Conclusion

According to (Bordieu, 1993) (cited in Rolls, 2009), the social worlds around children enable

them to have tendencies to act in certain ways and view issues also in specific ways. The study

has shown that children construct their sexual identities from their socioeconomic and historical

backgrounds, activities like games, chores and entertainment, agents like parents and siblings.

Even though there is an exception to the norm like the learner who challenged the dominant

discourse. Therefore, children sexuality cannot be viewed as a separate entity but as an integrated

process where they constantly construct and deconstruct their sexual development experience

(Rolls, 2009).

2:2 Girls Sexuality Audience Research Discourse

Audience researchers acknowledges that media serves as a powerful force in changing

community perceptions and merging the power of public participation in people’s everyday life.

More reviews shows that accessing the information is essential to the health of democracy that

guarantees citizens to make responsible and informed choices. This may be relevant to the study

on board in which Thomas Tufte and Paolo Mefalopulos (2009) makes a note in their World

Bank working Paper No 170:411. They argue that spaces of communication and dialogues are

essential and participatory media communication allows more dialogue or debate within citizens.

Tufte and Mefalopulos describes the importance of media use as a life changing tool. However

they lack an analysis of cultural aspect of young women sexual practices on everyday lives

11
https://openknowledge.worldbank.org

55
especially in African environment. From this standpoint, I find a need to the proposed study on

the role of FEMINA HIP media program in promoting girls’ sexuality. The study will add more

knowledge on the young women media use, sexuality and culture, particularly in the Tanzania

context.

In her old highly innovative study, ‘Reading Women’s Magazines: An Analysis of Everyday

Media Use’, Joke Hermes examines women’s magazines through the eyes of their readers.

Hermes, J (1995:148) explores the ways in which individuals use media products in their daily

lives, as well as the way they interpret and employ it to make sense of media texts. Drawing on

extensive interviews with both female and male readers; Hermes (ibid) shows that, many readers

finds women’s magazines as a genre that helps them to pass time, and are easily put aside when

other things need to be done. Sometimes these magazines offer stories or information that may

strengthen the reader in the provisional period, thus occasionally empowering readers. In the

process, they may also provide them with an opportunity to imagine having perfect selves even

though readers do not attach much meaning in what they read. Hermes warns that authors often

make mistakes of assuming that the text are always important while the fact is some readers do

not bother about what the consumed from the media. The relationship between media products

and consumers may not always passionate ones. The book provides both a detailed analysis of a

particular media genre and an excellent introduction to the role of media products in the day-to-

day lives of individuals. Perhaps the same tendency appears to girls who read FEMINA HIP

magazine, they might as well put much meaning on what they read on magazines or watch on

TV or hear from radio. As Women magazine readers’ young women might also use media in

pleasurable way to fill in relation moments. Despite Hermes’ description of how media use can

empower a reader and that for some women magazines are for passing time and when other

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activities arises they are put aside and perhaps forgotten, she did not categorise the age of the

audience in discussion and, therefore, the outcome fails to provide critical information on how

media use promotes girls sexuality by looking at their social cultural environment, which in the

context of Tanzania has far-reaching implications. Hence lives the gap that gives the significance

of further study on the role of FEMINA HIP media program in promoting girls sexuality.

Appropriately, cultural anthropology studies have shown that communication cannot be

separated from other aspects of social life since meaning and the values are implicit in activities

of people’s daily lives. In this regard, studies of indirect communication exemplify how

individuals use and make sense of media material, as determined by the identities and

communicative repertoires they have been socialised into as a result of their membership to

certain groups or communities in the course of their life history. In fact, age-group, religious

leaders, and ethnicity rather than the medium of communication determine the healthy lifestyle

of an individual. Kim Schroder et al (2003:5) further explain that people develop their cultural

identities and communicative repertoires throughout life in a variety of intersecting socialization

institutions such as family, the school, clubs and associations and peer groups. Schroder et al.’s

research on audience generalises media user and, hence, comes up short in their descriptive

analysis of the role of media use in promoting girls sexuality.

In their work, Media and Global Change: Rethinking Communication for Development, Hemer

and Tufte (2005:242) treat culture as an important ingredient in educating human beings through

social means, such as interactions and through products of culture. Also Spitulnik (2002:351)

argues that culture constitutes habitual practices, institutions, maps of meaning and modes of

meaning-making through which reality and lives are made intelligible and compelling. Both

Hemer and Tufte (2005) and Spitulnik (2002) agitate for a rethinking of communication and

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culture for development. Despite it is relevance this information based on a study conducted

abroad in a different context, therefore it add value on understanding girls’ sexuality, culture and

their socio-economic development.

FEMINA HIP, upon which this proposed study will be focused, is a multi-media initiative

grounded in the principles of participatory communication. For more than ten years, it has been

articulating its own media platform in terms of the intersection between radio and television

programmes, print media, school clubs, community outreach programmes and web portal. Its

objective is to help build supportive environments in Tanzania with an aim of enhancing the

ability of young people to enjoy their lives in their own communities, enjoy their right to access

information and social services, hence leading to improved health lifestyles and empowerment so

as to make positive, informed choices on matters of their sexuality (FEMINA HIP, 2009:13).

Nevertheless, FEMINA HIP’s long-established deployment of health lifestyle media platforms to

educate the youth, there is hardly any substantive research that has been undertaken on the use of

media and the effects on promoting girls sexuality in Tanzania, a gap that this study seeks to fill.

In this intervention the study seeks to grasp from FEMINA HIP media users to why high rates of

HIV/AIDS incidences are being reported for girls in Tanzania (THIS, 2003/2004;

THMIS2007/2008; UNIFEM, 2010), why there is still more violence against girls (TAMWA,

2008), and why there is still a high spate of unwanted pregnancies amongst girls (BEST, 2008).

In his book titled “Communication Power” Manuel Castell states that in a world marked by the

rise of mass self communication, social movements and insurgent politics have a chance to enter

the public space from multiple sources. By using both horizontal communication networks and

mainstream media to convey their images and messages, they increase their chances of enacting

social and political change-even if they start from a subordinate position to institutional power

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(Castell, 2009:302). In a way communication leads to social intelligence; which simply means as

person’s abilities to perceive, identify, understand, and successfully manage emotions in self and

others. Daft.(2011:129) expands more by arguing that persons’ ability to perceive emotions,

integrate emotions to facilitate thought, understand emotions and to regulate emotions to

promote personal growth leads to the ability of identify, assess, and control theemotionsof

oneself, of others, and of groups. From these two works I find that there is recognition of

centrality of communication in the society, and taking FEMINA HIP media program as an

example, with its intersecting edutainment media programs and participatory approach through

radio and television programmes, print media, school clubs, community outreach programmes

and web portal. However the question remains why girls should remain in a vulnerable group of

health lifestyle.

Ulla Carlsson (2013:133) publicizes media as the most powerful social forces of in recent; one

cannot avoid talking about media in all spheres such as political, economic or cultural sphere.

Media and not least the internet represent social and a cultural resource empowers people in both

their personal advance and progress as members of society. However many girls live in poverty

and they lack access and knowledge to social media, poor schools, gender discrimination and

poor health system. In that case despite the initiatives made by media platforms organizations to

create awareness and enable girls to understand sexuality issues, social and cultural problems and

engage them on discussion the result are not tangible if measured the situation of girls.

Creating participatory version for youthboth girls and boys however might be the challenge.

Does it mean that different approach should be used to girls unlike way from the male

counterpart? The answer depends on learning materials, along with what should be taken in to

account when planning local media information. SirkkuKotilainen&AnnikkaSuoninen in their

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article Culture of Media and information literacy among young; south –north in the Media and

Information Literacy and Intercultural Dialogue(2013:141) views that media use are regarded as

core skills of active citizenship, however the challenges are in creating local versions of learning

materials which mostly present the ideal situation of girls. At the same time in all situation there

strong influence of habit, culture and tradition surrounding everyday lives. Since the audience is

increasingly becoming a multi platform world,girls anticipate and embrace news from TV and

Radio, they also like to catch up with online news, and they enjoy taking time with physical or

online magazines or newspapers. In such situation a number of questions remain an answered.

Girl child empowerment in the international level was seen at the UN Commission on the Status

of Women 51st session which was specifically focused on platform of action critical area on the

girl child. According to the book titled Her Story by FEMNET (2013:84) the theme of the

session was elimination of all forms of discrimination against girl child. Relevance to this study

the session focused on giving young women a platform to discuss their common concerns and at

the end of the day see where empowerment drivers have failed to incorporate young women

issues that would enhance the ability to voice their problems, debate and decide on the action

plan, both on developmental, health life style and sexuality issues. Moreover, since

empowerment is process and not a set of static categories to which young women can be

assigned but the way of control the process and possibilities of women’s attempts to gain control

of their sexuality. The empowerment of young women in negotiating safer sexual encounter can

never simply be achieved but must be constantly struggled for, since the process of

empowerment in the lives of young women constitutes the challenge to male power.

However (Ibid, 2013:85) despite the resolution acknowledgment that women and girls should

actively involved in social, developmental, peace and security promotion, the implementation of

60
the resolution 1325 was replete with many challenges among them the lack of knowledge and

awareness of the resolution and lack of political will from governments to the local government

levels implementing the agreed resolution. More than that relevant actors lacked both human and

financial resources that are needed to enhance women capacities and skills to enable them

participate effectively in developmental, peace and health lifestyle processes.

SECTION II: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

2:3Introduction.

Theory has a scientific value in any study as it helps to describe, interpret, understand, evaluate

and predict phenomena (Fourie, 2007: 25). To explore media use, and social and cultural

practices that hinder girls from responsible sexual practices, participating in public debates and

dialogue, this study will adopt Paulo Freire’s perspective on participatory communication theory

(1970). Though Freire’s theory is based on group dialogue rather than the mass media there is a

sense in which this theory can apply to almost every aspect of human communication in truly

participatory manner which led useful in this study in regard to FEMINA Hip media programs

which bases on youth group dialogue. Also this study adopted the Feminist theory in general and

narrowed it to the African context. Feminist Theory, broadly definedas an extension of

mainstream feminism in theoretical discourse. From the feminist perspective this theory seeks to

comprehend the nature of gender inequality resulting from socialization or social programming

in an entire society. In particular, Feminist Theory examines the women’s social roles,

experience, and interests also the inherent feminist political views in anthropology, sociology,

communication, psychoanalysis, economics, literature, education and philosophy.

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2: 4 Participatory CommunicationTheory

In 1970’s and 1980’s according Participatory Communication: A practical guide, World Bank

working Paper number 170, Tufte T, Mefalopulos P, (2009:1-2) Models of strategic

communication had no participatory elements. The assumption was that the power of

communication to enhance development was targeting the audiences with the goal of individual

behaviour change. Throughout 1970’s and 1980’s the strategic approach focused on individual

behavioural change and therefore as the model it was used as a social marketing strategy to

promote particular behaviour or social norms through communication interventions. Behavioural

change communication model was widely used in health communication including HIV/AIDS

campaigns, family planning and food and nutrition campaigns which needed individual

behavioural change and involvement. In 1990, education, communication and information items

began to be integrated in developmental projects which were typical non participatory but

emphasising dissemination of information through audio-visual and print materials.

Occurrence with participatory communication first appeared when Brazilian educator Paulo

Freire worked with adult literacy campaign in North Eastern Brazil (ibid, 2009:02). Freire’s

original work empowered landless peasants to put together their demands for better life and

liberate themselves from oppressive environment. From this campaign he grew to a most

influential components of participatory communication and practice which centred to the

involvement of the stakeholders in the development process and determine the outcome rather

that the imposition of external actors outcome. From Freire’s point of view the participatory

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communication was on dialogical communication which emphasised on participatory and

communication and collective process in research, problem identification, decision making,

implementation and evaluation for change

Paulo Freire advocates the free and open dialogue as the core principal of participatory

communication. He defines participatory communication as the encounter between men in order

to name the world around them; that those who are denied right to speak must reclaim it and

prevent the act of exclusion, free and open dialogue is determined by people who were

excluded to do so previously. To him voice is the central point of consciousness of power

contained in human relations. As it applies to the subject in this research Freire’s concern is

giving voice to the marginalized groups, time and space to articulate their concerns, define

their problems, formulate solution and act on them. The role of media in participatory

communication has similar concerns of supporting and strengthening community. Media

ensures that marginalized groups have a platform to voice their concerns, engage on public

debate and solve problems. To Freirethe key result of participatory communication is

articulation of awareness raising and commitment to action. Primarily it becomes the process

of empowerment to the involved communities or marginalized groups that feel commitment to

and ownership of the problem.

Freire argues that there is no such thing as a neutral educational process since education either

functions as an instrument, which is used to facilitate the integration of the younger generation

into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity to it, or it constitutes “the

practice of freedom” by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and

discover how to participate in the transformation of their lives and their world (Freire, 1983).

Also, notably decentralised media systems and democratic communication institutions tend to

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emphasise self-management by local communities, such as the example of FEIMNA HIP use of

education and entertainment materials on youth health lifestyle, school clubs and community

clubs for youth. In this regard, new concepts of media professionalism bring a greater knowledge

of and respect for forms of people’s communication, and emphasise the recognition of and

experience with new formats of media and communication, which accord the community to its

cultural identity.

Freire’s theory is based on group dialogue and it applies to all aspects of human communication

in participatory manner. The theory is defined as dynamic interactional and transformative

process of dialogue between people or group of people and institutions that enables people either

individuals or groups to realise their full potential and engage on their own welfare. While

participatory comes in all shapes and sizes, participatory communication means working on or

working for people. The approach central point on dialogic pedagogy has found more application

in the practice of community development, literacy education, participation and transformation

because it is focuses on the public and community access to appropriate media; the

participation of people in message design, media production and self management of media

message components.Its application is through theatre art, performing art, aerobics and

community information.

The approach is all about empowermentthrough participatory approach where participants

learn from each other in mutual transformative process. Different from other approaches

which involves subject-object relation, Freire’s approach involves subject –subject relationship.

He emphasizes that the theme underlying dialogic pedagogy should resonate with peoples

experiences, and issues of surrounding their daily lives as opposed to well meaning but

alienating rhetoric

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Therefore, this study deployed Participatory Communication Theory as a model for exploring

media use and girls’ empowerment when it comes to sexual practice issues. Dialogue and face-

to-face interaction are an integral part of participation, therefore the researcher spent ample time

in the field to develop rapport and trust, maintain contact, keep promises, and make follow-up

visits with the respondent groups. There are two major approaches to participatory

communication. The first is the dialogical pedagogy of Freire (1970, 1983, 1994), and the second

involves the ideas of access, participation and self-management as articulated in the UNESCO

debates of the 1970s (Berrigan, 1979). Participatory communication on one hand base on

participatory process, and on the other hand it base on media and interpersonal communication

which facilitates a dialogue among different stakeholders around a common problem and goal

with the objective of developing and implementing of activities to contribute to its solution or its

realization.

On the whole, the Participatory Communication Theory will offer a specific perspective on how

to articulate the social process, decision-making process and any change process as they relate to

girls’ media use and resultant empowerment in their sexuality because the theory supports the

idea of education, raising of awareness and promotion of participation, aspects which can be

applied in any developing society.

2.5 Feminist Theory in African Perspective

According to Patricia Madoo& Jill Niebrugge in Contemporary Sociological Theory (1992)

Feministy theory in women centered in three ways; first its major ‘object’ for investigation, the

starting point of all its investigation, is situation or situations and experiences of women in the

65
society. Second it treats women as the central subjects in the investigative process, that is, it

seeks to see the world from the distinctive vantage point or vantage points of women in the

social world. Third, Feminist theory is critical and activist on behalf of women, seeking to

produce a better world for women, and thus they argue for human mankind.

Dues to the attendant problems associated with Western-derived Liberal Feminist Theory, this

study will also consider some aspects of the African Feminist Theory, which also seeks to give

the woman a sense of self as worthy, effectual and contributing being with a positive identity in

the African context (Akpabio, 2000: 29). African Feminist campaigns underscore the importance

of taking on board the African lifestyle, values and concerns in any feminist analysis. To begin

with, African feminist believe that feminism needs not be oppositional to men as it is not about

adversarial gender politics.

African Feminist also caution against women neglecting their biological roles (Ogundipe-Leslie,

2000:542). The impetus of African Feminist is a simple question like ‘what about women’ or

‘where are women in the situation being investigated?’ The consequences of trying to answer

these questions have been revolutionary and dramatically.

Furthermore, African feminists insist that the African woman should be aware of her goals and

self-reliance and should engage in social co-operative works. Like the Western-derived Liberal

Feminist Theory, African Feminist Theory promotes the idea that individuals should be treated in

accordance with their talents and efforts, as opposed to their characteristics of their gender. In

other words, African Feminist Theory also strives to remove obstacles, be in political, social,

legal or economic frameworks, to uplift women to the level of having equal opportunities as their

male counterpart without being bogged down by patriarchal values.

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In the book titled Her Story, Our Journey: Advocating for the Rights of African Women by

FEMNET -The African’s Women Development and Communication Network, (2013:84) shows

that more than 200 young had attended the 51st session of the UN CSW which focused on the

critical area on the girl child. They spoke about issues ranging from sexual violence, prostitution,

reproduction, forced and early marriage and other topics on issues affecting women and girls.

However the emphasis was to remind the World that in spite of the programs made towards

young women empowerment violence against girl child continues unabated. The main challenge

being lack of political and social will of the of the UN resolution agenda, relevant actors lacked

resources to enhance women’s capacity and skills. Empowerment of young women consists of

their self–esteem, self efficacy, feeling worth and internal locus of control. The way people

work together have an effect on their community. Optimism and control of future gives a

positive outlook for the future

The Media Council of Tanzania research paper titled 2013, Enhancing Visibility and Portrayal of

Women in Tanzania, 2014:1-2 analyses the recognition of the significance of the role played by

media in defining gender roles and reinforcing or challenging gender stereotypes which

contributes to the understanding of what it means to a female or a male and the expected roles of

both gender. Of course stereotypical and humiliating representations of women in the media have

negative impact on how they are treated by their families, communities, workplaces and in the

societies at large.Perhaps the stereotypical and demeaning of female figures in the media reduces

young women self esteem and the involvement in debate and decision making issues.

In the contemporary mediatised societies, access to the media is vital for citizens both as source

of information and as a forum for participatory discussion of public issues, however in

developing countries women have less access to media than men and even more so to those

67
living in rural areas. Margaret Gallagher (2002:2-3) expresses that women have less access to

media publicity as an active participants of public debate who voices their concerns and express

their opinions. In Tanzania media women tend to get less coverage compared to men and their

portrayal is often on one dimensional and stereotypical, urging that gender bias in the media is

due both socio-structural and cultural reasons (MCT, 2014:01). The survey shows that on one

hand media content reflect the position of women in Tanzania society at large while women are

stil under-represented in decision making positions. On the other hand, the invisibility of women

in the media and their stereotypical representations is due to cultural determined gender

perceptions which also affect the judgement of journalists and media platforms.

According to the Tanzania National Strategy for the Gender Development (NSGD, 2005: 07), at

the household level men are still automatically considered as the head of the family and the

existing patriarchal structures and the traditional understanding of gender roles limits the

possibilities of women to have their voices heard even at the family level. Therefore it is not

surprising that their voices are also not adequately heard in the media. On another perspective

oppression of women is not confined to Tanzania, rather it is viewed as a regional phenomenon.

The East Africa Journalist Association report, EAJA, 2008: 09 puts it that Eastern Africa men

are mostly the ones who controls the means of production and resources and have decision

power both at household level and in various social institutions, on the other hand women have

low status and no full access to education, training, health care, credit, formal economy and

political decision making.

However there are considerable differences in status between individual women regarding their

level of education, economy, and exposure. Gallagher (2002:03)specifys that the lesson from

feminist theory over the past twenty years is that women’s experience of discrimination and

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identity is determined by differences in terms of class, economic status, age, religion, race and

nation.

Feminist media theorist like Ross &Byerly, 2004:10 and Morna, 2002:05 have focused on

stereotypical representation of women especial the tendency of representing them as sexual

objects. Women are often sexualised and they are defined in terms of their physical appearance

rather than abilities. When women are not portrayed in as sex objects and fashion models they

are mostly represented either as victims or as ceregivers and homemakers (Morna, 2002:05)

Both the Participatory Communication and the African Feminist theories facilitate the study of

the girls, their media use, and the effect such usage has on their sexuality and every-day lives as

they struggle to assert their identities in a largely patriarchal Tanzanian society. Both

Participatory Communication Theory and African Feminist Theory advocate for the balance of

power, giving the voice to the marginalised social groups, giving them time and space to

articulate their concerns, define their problems, formulate solutions and act on them. These

theories, therefore, are applicable in almost any aspect of human communication as they promote

participation not constricted by one’s sex or even gender. Moreover, as the objective of this

study is to explore the use of mass media to promote issues of sexuality among girls in a society

with entrenched social (and often debilitating) values, the study employed both theories:

Participatory Communication Theory to generate the required information in a participatory

environment and the African Feminist Theory to comprehend the operational environment in

which the girls strive to develop responsible health lifestyles. After all, the researcher finds it

pertinent to explore the situation girls in Tanzania face when it comes to sexuality issues by

factoring in all the social and patriarchal factors. On the whole, the researcher believes that both

theories will reveal the realities behind the forces that continue to undermine the envisioned

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effects among girls of the interventions and initiatives as promoted by civil society-driven media

platforms such as FEMINA HIP through its multi-pronged media approach.

FEMINA HIP media programs enhance a participatory communication process through the

development of civil society-driven media platforms in radio, televisions, magazines and web

portal. Common occurrence to all FEMINA products is participatory production process, which

ensures young people’s voices and concerns are taken on board. All FEMINA products reflect

the concerns of their reader thus they are working carefully on securing spaces where Femina

Clubs and ordinary readers can voice their concern. Further the issues are cultural sensitive,

language sensitive and the content is based on in-depth and participatory approach.

The fact that liberal feminist believes on women emancipation through reforms of rules and

regulation and African feminists insist that the African woman should be aware of her goals and

self-reliance and should engage in social co-operative works, it shows that feminists tend to

conduct themselves according to their beliefs of gender equality between women and men, and

they have high political zeal to the elimination of any forms of women’s oppression. In view of

the given purpose Feminist theory and participatory communication theory goes hand in hand on

accomplishing this research objectives of seeing how FEMINA HIP program media use

empowers young women in discussing issues surrounding their daily lives social and economic

development, researching their common fear or anxiety or problems, coming up with solution

and putting in to action the generated solution.

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CHAPTER THREE: FIELDWORK METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURE

3:0. Introduction

This chapter focuses on the presentation of fieldwork procedures of data collection, process and

analysis. The chapter begins with presentation of study design, proceeds to description of

research process. There after the presentation data collection technique employed in the study,

then sampling process used to obtain research participant.Moreover, data analysis process is also

presented in this chapter and the chapter ends with a brief discussion on ethical consideration

observed in the course of the study and the main limitations of the study

HERE you should add a strong conceptual section, some pages, where you introduce more in

detail what media ethnographyis, use Jo Tachhi’s, Debra’s and my work to write this section.

And make sure to add that mini-surveys like the one you have done, is perfectly possibly within

a media ethnography. This is also where you – with the help of Jo Tacchi – should present and

discuss what a communicaton ecology is, and how you can visualize them – Jo shows you the

way!

Recall that Debra and Marjan De Bruijn from Holland both have done media ethnographies in an

African context. You might also want to draw on Ruth Teer- Tomaselli from Durban who has

worked with media ethnography.

3:1 Study Design

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This study applied descriptive research design, which is a scientific method involving observing

and describing the behaviour of a subject without influencing it in any way (Uwe, 2009). This

type of research design is often used by anthropologists, psychologists and social scientists to

observe natural behaviours without affecting them in any way. The subject is being observed in a

natural and unchanged environment. Also the study used a non-experimental study design, in

which participants were exposed to the agent or putative cause in a natural way, as the

investigatordid not control the circumstances of exposure to the subject(s). The aim of non-

experimental studies was to simulate the results of an experiment (Jefferson &Demicheli, 1999:

112).

The study, applied ethnographic approaches to 10 FEMINA HIP youth clubs girls, to clarify the

cultural practices of their everyday life associated with media use and its effect on promotion of

young women sexuality. The unit of analysis was girls’ media use in everyday life and its effect.

The detailed description of everyday life facilitated in the substantial analysis of the role of

media use in girl’ssexuality and empowerment. It also provides the basis for a more factual

grounded in-depth analysis of the social uses of the media, the ways they are received/consumed,

and the impact which has to the girls and their social culture.

3:2 Ethnographic Research Process

The research process began by first obtaining research permit at the region and the district levels.

This was then followed by an introduction to the ward level and Kigamboni Community Centre.

First visitation was used to introduce research assistant and informal conversation which led to

identification of potential key informant. During initial visits we also had an opportunity to see

different activities done by youth for example traditional dances, drama, acrobatics and

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handcrafts, jogging and many types of training etc (See the pictures below of KCC daily youth

activities and output, and some of the the girls in the picture were involved in the research)

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In the first visit we found that starting with min survey will give us the clear picture of the

community and help us to familiarize with members of the community and there after simplify

the process of selecting 10 girls who will fit in the in-depth research. Therefore the

questionnaires were distributed to 100 young women, some of them were not in KCC-FEMINA

HIP Club and some were not in formal school but they are all members of KCC. We took a week

to collect questionnaires and about 65 girls responded quickly, in that process we got 10 young

women who were put in to ethnographic study.

Ethnography research process took over, Hammersley& Atkinson (1998:110) refers the

ethnographic research approach to involve direct and sustained social contacts with agents and

subsequently of richly writing what you encounter, respecting, recording, and representing the

irreducibility of human experience. Furthermore, as characteristic form of ethnography is, we

were involved in their daily lives for an extended period three month, watching what happens,

listening to what is said, asking questions and collecting whatever data are available to throw

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light on the research phenomenon. Moreover participant-observation approach was employed,

that means an intensive fieldwork in which the investigator is immersed in the group under

study.

3.3 Methods

The central part of ethnographic knowledge is through participant-observation, recording and

researcher involvement of what the participants are doing. During fieldwork the researchers

deployed the participant-observation: first, carrying out detailed specific observation of the

everyday lives of 10 secondary school girls aged 15-19, and, second, conducting a general

ethnographically-based interviews with 100 school girls on their usage of FEMINA HIP media

and the impact this exposure has on their sexuality and social culture, as indicated by Spradley,

(1979: 58-59). The aim was to generate information on the role of FEMINA HIP Media

Programme on the promotion of girls’ sexuality in Tanzania using Temeke Municipality in Dar

es Salaam as a case study.

Observation was the main research methods we used as ethnographers. We planned and

conducted our ethnographic observation according to the objectives of our study. We

established the respondents communicative ecology which is not only to notice interesting

features of the of their media use and their daily lives interesting stories, but also to

separate patterns among those events and to explain those patterns and their significance

to our study. In planning and conducting our observations, we followed the following

guidelines:

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  Weasked for permission to observe. Our research subjects were aware of the fact that

they are being observed. Not only is this practice or ethical research, but it also helped as

later on to approach the respondent with interview or more clarification of what we did

not understand.

 We introduced our selves to the research respondent and made our goals clear to them,

and then became observant unobtrusively as possible. Keeping the interviews later if it

was needed.

 Keeping notes, record events, language and other interactions between the young women

we were observing as well as their surroundings.

In addition to observing their everyday lives, we conducted interviews with the respondent ie the

girls. Interviews allowed us to obtain an in-depth perspective of their social culture that is hardly

possible through observation alone.

In designing the interview, we explained a clear purpose of our interviews so as to give

them the sense of purpose, and understand what we want to hear, the facts, the stories, the

advice, the complaints, or whatever. In otherwords, it is not good enough to begin the

interview with someone, only with a vague idea about what you are interested in. If you go into

an interview without a clear purpose, both you and your interviewee are likely to leave the

session dissatisfied, frustrated, and wondering why you had wasted time on the interview at all.

Next, we allowed time for contacting the girls whom we had interests of interviews and

scheduled the meeting. Since it was exam time (all 10 girls were secondary school students) to

our subjects we found that those who had interesting things to say usually had busy schedules

and could not give interviews on a short notice. Sometimes, we squeezeda short interview in

76
during our ethnographic observation session. But when we wanted a longer or more structured

interview session we had to plan ahead and contact them with the interview request sooner rather

than later.

It was also important to resent ourselves as friends, interested, and passionate interlocutor. If you

arrive at the interview disinterested, distracted, and unorganized, your interviewee may wonder

whether you really need the interview and whether she should waste time with you.

We took time to learn the background information about the girls as possible. Of course, when

interviewing someone, you are looking for new knowledge, and one of the reasons why you have

asked this person for an interview is because he or she has the information or opinions that you

don’t have.You cannot always predict interesting or useful information your interlocutor may

want to share with you during the interview. Sometimes we allowed them to lead the interviews

to let them tell us something unplanned which resulted in to deeper and more interesting

information.

Primary research methods such as interviewing and observing are central to ethnography.

However it may be tempting to think of ethnography depends exclusively on primary sources

and methods. That is not the case, either, as ethnographers usually use a variety of secondary

sources, both print and electronic ones, in their work. We used secondary source to add texture to

our work. Secondary research helps ethnographers to broaden their work by explaining the social

cultures surrounding the respondents in study in larger historical, geographical, and political

contexts. We found that studying a social culture through observations and interviews is an

interesting and useful endeavor capable of teaching readers a lot. But, like any writing that

neglects secondary sources, such research provides only with one perspective of the respondent

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in study. Throughout this research, I have observed the importance of secondary source of

information. I used KCC website linkhttp://kccdar.com/ and other official documented

information about the centre to include a touch of secondary information to this study. Adding up

secondary research to my primary source investigation allowedgaining another perspective about

the respondents.

3:4 Study Area

The study was conducted in Temeke Municipality in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The municipality

has purposively been selected because it has several secondary schools and community centre

with active FEMINA Youth Clubs (FEMINA HIP, 2011). The availability of such FEMINA

clubs provided the researcher with easy access to the beneficiaries of FEMINA HIP Media

Programme and be able to conduct a detailed study with the respondents in line with the non-

experimental and ethnographic research design.

Moreover, the 2002 population census for the United Republic of Tanzania shows that only four

(4) percent of the population in Temeke District is aged 60 or above and 36 percent is aged less

than 15. The remaining 61 percent of the population in the municipality is aged between 15 and

59, hence making the area suitable for this study. From this population, the study involved 10

secondary school girls aged 15-19. The targeted girls required to meet the following criteria:

First, they were bona fide members of existing FEMINA Youth Club, or secondary school; and

second they should be residents of Temeke Municipality.

3:5Sample

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This study ethnographic field research based on the lives of 10 KCC FEMINA HIP youth club

girls. They were monitored closely for three months in the first phase of the field study and one

month in the second phase. Field was done by gathering data through continuous involvement in

the respondents’ lives and activities in the community centre. Researchers began the first phase

with systematic observation and keep daily field notes, in which the significant events of each

day were recorded. Observations focused on general, open-ended data gathering derived from

learning the most basic lives of the respondents, their cultural rules, sexual practices, their

involvement on FEMINA media products and how do they live it ie how do they use the

information consumed from FEMINA HIP media programs.

Ten respondents were selected after mini survey for in-depth sessions, because the investigation

of media use and cultural patterns usually calls for lengthy and repeated open-ended interviews.

As the selection of such a small number does guarantee the representativeness of the study

sample, the researcher careful chooses subjects to ensure that those who are well-informed and

reliable are included in the sample. Key informant selection is known as judgment sampling and

which is, particularly, important for ethnographic qualitative research. The second phase of field

study not only based on the continuing with the in-depth study of the 10 FEMINA youth club

secondary girls but also involved a data collection of questionnaires from the mini survey

conducted to 100 girls who were members of FEMINA youth club, also were not necessarily in

school so as to obtain the overall picture of the contextual issues surrounding girls’ FEMINA

HIP media use and its effect on their sexuality but of the same age and members of the same

community.

3:6 Data Processing and Analysis

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Data from this study were processed in a manner of compiling fieldwork data, which involved

mapping out the girls’ communicative ecology, their story description, transcribe and translate

data from Kiswahili to English, write down their stories and their common characteristics. In the

analysis the researcher came up with four perspectives; such as girl’s sexuality and cultural

practise, girl’s empowerment, girl’s lifestyle and girl’s identity, these perspectives allows the

researcher to go in-depth in comprehending the contribution of media use in young women aged

16-19 in relation to development their sexuality and empowerment as to capabilities of decision

making, debating and choosing what they want in life.

Initially, the researcher drew a map of the her respondents communicative ecology to facilitate

the understanding of the participant’s social network, the people, activities, sexual relationships

and media they are linked to on a weekly basis and what they use it for. The thrust was be to find

out how they engage with and use each different medium and what kind of communications

these provide. After documenting these data in detail, the researcher organised them in readiness

for analysis. This process entails labelling all data, so that the researcher knows where the data

are from and how they were collected. As data-processing and analysis in qualitative research is

an ongoing process, data were summarised and raised. In conducting qualitative research, the

researcher had time to go back into the field to collect additional data or verify and clarify

conclusions. Some of these steps involve:

Labelling data: A label is given to each item of data (labelling each tape recorded interview,

each interview transcript, each field note and so on) so that any point during research the

research team can see what it is and where it come from. Every single data collected were

labelled.

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Coding data: A code is the way of organising the data in terms of subject matter. In this study,

the researcher use many codes, some general and some very specific. The codes will usually be

based on the discussion guide or the checklist for observations. Qualitative research findings are

basically a set of texts (observations, and interview records). Also, qualitative research involves

processing of large amounts of textual data. This is usually done manually. However,

quantitative data analysis software SPSS was used to support data-processing in few

demographic questions which qualifies the qualitative analysis.

3:7 Ethical Considerations

Research permit was obtained from the University of Dar es Salaam where I am (researcher)

registered. However, as an ethnographic researcher, I was aware of the following issues:

Kiswahili language was used in field research during data collection period as its main medium

of communication in Dar es Salaam City. Also was aware of the importance of informed

consent, confidentiality and anonymity research undertaking, which were followed accordingly. I

employed two research assistants to help on data collection, coding, transcribing and translating

data. The study employed explanatory introduction to each individual on the purpose and the

benefit of participating in the study. Oral consent was sought from the respondent prior

involvement in the study the study used qualitative technique (interviews), also the respondent

were informed that there will be audio recording before their involvement in the study.

3:8 Limitation of the Study

Time limit was the main constraint faced on this study. All participants are school girls so they

needed time to do their homework, and prepare for the day after school sessions. Also April, the

month which the fieldwork study resumed was the pick period of classes and secondary school

81
exams normally start in mid May, so initially girls had limited time to participate in the study,

however in June to first week of July they were on holiday hence they participated fully.

Financial resources also constrained field work research conduct. Scholarship finance and salary

did not come on time.

The study is also limited to Kigamboni Community Centre girls and cannot claim to make

generalization of all girls around the country.

CHAPTER FOUR: RESEARCH FINDINGS

4:0 Introduction

The main interest of this study was to explore how media use contributes to the empowerment of

girls in the light of the stronghold of social and cultural practices on their everyday lives. The

study concentrates on the exploration of the contextual issues surrounding girls’ media use, the

impact of media use to their everyday lives and also it explores girl’s perception on FEMINA

HIP media platforms on empowering their sexual and health lifestyle. Field work was carried out

82
at Kigamboni Community Centre (KCC) which is one of active FEMINA youth club family in

Tanzania.

This chapter contains a broad picture of Kigamboni Community Centre, in-depth discussion of

ten girls who were the main respondents of this study, girls media use dialogues obtained from

field demographic survey information taken from face to face interviews and participatory

observation of their everyday activities at KCC FEMA youth club during field work period.

4:1 The Background of Kigamboni Community Centre FEMA Club.

Kigamboni Community Centre (KCC) is in the peninsular of Dar es Salaam City in Tanzania.

Being the largest city in Tanzania, Dar es Salaam has the population of around 4.5 million

people. It is located in the east of Tanzania right on the Indian Ocean and it is the hub of the

Tanzanian transportation system. Although Dar es Salaam lost its official title as capital of

Tanzania in 1974 it is the regional important economic centre and the country’s richest city, also

it remains the centre of the permanent central government bureaucracy. The city is divided into

three Municipal councils such as Ilala in the centre, Kinondoni in the north and Temeke in the

south. Temeke which is the case study area is the industrial part of the city, where the main

manufacturing centers are located12. In this area you find the largest port in the country, the Dar

es Salaam Port, the Zanzibar Ferry and the Kigamboni Ferry stage. Kigamboni is an

administrative ward of Temeke Municipal. This area has a mixed population of lower and higher

incomes, although Temeke remains to be one of low-income concentrated residents within

12
http://kccdar.com/about/tanzania/

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Tanzania. Kigamboni is attractive because of its beautiful beaches, low population density while

still being part of a big city of Dar es Salaam.

According to Femina Hip Club Poster (2009:01) Fema clubs started with an objective of letting

the students or peer groups of youth aou of school share the experiences and learning together to

express their voices, listen to others, and develop confidence and communication skills. Also

establish an atmosphere of trust, creating safe spaces so students and youths to talk openly about

sensitive and personal issues. Fema clubs initial were aimed for students to volunteer, take

initiative and start activities, developing leadership skills and to learn about their rights as youth

in the country, learn youth responsibilities and develop the skills, which will make them

respected and successful citizens. The first Fema Clubs started in 2001 as reading clubs in

secondary schools, where students read and discussed the issues raised in Fema Magazines.

When designing the club program, a conscious decision was made to reach a large number of

students across Tanzania; all clubs were expected to report back to Femina on a quarterly basis.

Fema Magazine was and still is a substantial and reliable support and source of information for

Fema Clubs and the primary communication channel between the clubs and Femina HIP.

The club’s key activities today also include peer education, voluntarism, community activism

and leadership when trying to foster an environment of mutual exchange and learning throughout

communities. Currently there are approximately more than 550 in - school clubs and more than

70 out school clubs KCC being one of the out of school Fema club. ConstansiaMgimwa and

Karen Marie Thulstrup (2011:05) research of Club Environment and School Governance in

secondary schools in Tanzania indicated that all clubs are required to develop a constitution and

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elect their own leaders. In every quarter all clubs are encouraged to report back to Femina HIP

on number of members, activities, possible challenges and how to overcome them. Fema Clubs

vary in terms of size, frequency of meetings and level of activities and engagements.

VijanaFema Club was started in 2004 and later became Kigamboni Community centreFema

club. Initially youth joined together to read and discuss issues raised in Fema magazine, which

later led to the development and creativity or putting the ideas raised on magazines in practice.

Later they came up with the idea of initiating an official entity. Kigamboni Community Centre

was initiated in 2006 by few youth such as FestoChengula, Rashid, George and Nassoro 13 who

felt that their neighborhood had a number of youth both girls and boys who had nothing to do in

their evening times or after they have finished their elementary school. Youth were hanging

around and most of then hit by poverty. Nassoro and his fellow founders organized themselves

and approached local government official in the area with their proposal, whom then they

provided the group with the premises and a blessing to start a youth centre in the area.

“A group of us wanted to do something that will develop youth skills and talents

so we pulled together to start community centre. Five of us endured the start up

despite financial challenges ahead us. We used our various skills and knowledge

in the arts, dance, sports and academics to strengthen the club”

(Interview Nassoro, 2013:01).

KCC founders shared ideas and suggestions that influenced and inspired youth to take action on

their everyday lives. Soon they started the centre with few youths, later more and more youths

13
Nassoro is the recent Director of Kigamboni Community Centre

85
joined the activities and the center became busy. A year later they drew up a Constitution for the

club, which was followed by the group registering as a Community Based Organization and later

it became a community centre which has a greener future.

“The group now has a plot of land where we will build a large youth center and

various departments. Here we have different activities such as making necklaces,

tailoring, dancing and acting. We have our own shop where we sell things made

by club members. We perform dances whenever we can. This brings some income

to the members and it keeps youth busy and inspired.”

(Interview Nassoro, 2013:01)

Nassoro a young man nearly middle thirty’s hopes that there will be changes in the way older

people, especially in government, view young people who work hard in the pursuit of their own

development. Young people need support from parents, community and government particularly

when it comes to talent, skills development and civic engagement in general. He believes their

club centre is a good example of cooperation between youth, the local government and the

community as well as the international community.

“The KCC has in a way served what is described in the Youth Policy 14 as

to put in order youth to meet their responsibility in society. They’re an

example to be followed” (interview; Nassoro, 2013:01)

Most of the vicinity youths feel not only at home or suitable joint to hang around when they are

at KCC, but also they describe the place as the area where skills and talents are promoted. A

number of youths and children gather in this centre from morning to evening depending on their
14
Tanzania National Youth Development Policy (2007) aims at creating an environment where youth can thrive, develop and
participate better in society

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convenient time to perform different activities. At KCC youths have access to computer

knowledge, leadership skills courses, English courses, peer education and counseling classes.

Also youths have access to sports activities. All these sorts of activities glues youths to the centre

and also attracts more youths even from afar areas.

Figure 1 .Kigamboni Community Centre young on action

Activities performed in the centre covers all age groups from children to matured youth male and

female. Youths feel involved and participate in different activities. Most of what they do comes

from their own creativity and guidance from the founders who plays the role of coach. Youths

knows each other and understands each other, learns to follow rules and regulations and at also

gain knowledge of youth rights. From local community, government, non government and

international community contribution Kigamboni Community Centre gains youth training, youth

awareness programs, and talent development programs.

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4:2 Ten Girls

Given anonymous names Jane (16) and Khadija16) are in form two, Juliet (17), Nasra (17),

Lidya (18) and Lilian (18), are in form three, Amina (19), Asha (19), Lina (19) and Lulu (18) are

in form four. All girls lives parents/guardians and also they are all members of Kigamboni

community centre Femina Hip youth club.

Jane

Jane (16) a tall and slender girl who likes to smile though shy in her expression.She is a gifted

young woman. She is in form two in one of government ward secondary school in Kigamboni

area. She lives with her parents and four more siblings. She is an active girl and informed girl

who frequently reads news papers, FEMA magazine, story books, watches television and listens

to the radio. At KCC Jane is lively in drama poetry group where they compose short stories

drama, songs and poems. She goes to the centre at least four days a week and spends about two

and half hours or more depending on the activities. She composes song’s lyrics and drama

outlines from the stories she read on newspaper or Fema magazines, what she watch on TV or

listen on the radio.

Jane’s mother is a teacher in one of neighbouring primary school, and her father is a medicine

doctor in one of private hospital in Dar es Salaam city, they are of middle level economy. At

home Jane has access to Radio, televisions and news papers. She is confident and likes to go out

with friends. She likes swimming, with her extended family and friends Jane goes to beach

regularly. KCC seems to be the hanging out recreation area to meet friends. Jane has no

88
boyfriend though relates with a number of boys in her group of friends. Jane is a Christian

church member and attends church mass every Sunday.

Jane wishes to have a close boyfriend though her family may not accept a pregnancy before

marriage. She says her age mate in the extended family and her entire community has lovers and

it is a secret between peer groups.

Khadija

Khadija (16) is slim with average height form one student in one of government schools in

Kigamboni area. You can tell from her head covering and mannerism that she comes from

Muslim background. She lives with her parents, four siblings and the extended family of three

grown up cousin brothers. Khadija has grown up from the Zaramo 15 tribe cultural values and

norms whereby at the age of teen all girls goes through an initiation rite commonly refereed

“unyago”16 in Kiswahili language. The initiation rite is done to girls as the sign of the beginning

of adulthood, where they get information about biological changes or features, sexuality,

marriage and parental responsibilities, and societal roles. It is clear that Khadija’s references in

of sexuality and civic engagements are arranged in between lines of her cultural and traditional

norms, religion background and mass media information.

Her parents are government workers. At KCC, Khadija loves reading magazines, participating in

peer education and leadership skills classes. She finds physical activities boring though she

would like to watch all the performances wherever she has time. Khadija has a number of friends

15
http://www.joshuaproject.net/people-profile.php?peo3=16090
16
https://etd.ohiolink.edu/ap:0:0 pg 164-247

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and during her free times she hangs on at KCC meeting friends gossiping and socializing. At

home Khadija loves watching television soaps both local and international soaps; also she is

found of popular East African music ‘taarab’17 . She does not have a boyfriend for the moment.

She has a broken relationship which lasted for six month.

Juliet

Juliet (17) is a form three student. She lives with her aunt’s family and attends one of the private

secondary schools in Dar es Salaam. Her parents lives in up country regions but takes care of her

school fees and upkeeps. Juliet is a talkative and outgoing person with strong aspiration of

becoming a designer. She wore average fashionable clothes and is attracted to modelling. She

reads women and health magazines, which has health, designs and cosmetic stories. Juliet is

active in KCC designing section where there a number of girls and youth making ear rings,

necklace, and different ornamentals using local cheap materials.

Juliet is a television beauty and health lifestyle person. She frequently watches programs which

add values in her future career. For example beauty and design context live programs, soaps and

designers programs. Juliet has no boyfriend currently. She is too selective and would like to

relate with people who support her carrier aspiration in future.

It is noticeable that Juliet knows what she wants in her future. She is positive being at KCC that

when commenting that activities undertaken in the centre contributes to her skills to pursue her

future carrier. Her family is a middle level economy society which posses few property. If she

17
http://www.zanzibar.net/specials/zanzibar_music_-_taarab

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works hard at school and exceed for further studies her family is ready to support her. Juliet is

from active Christian family.

Nasra

Nasra (17) is a form three student in one of the Government schools in Kigamboni area. She

leaves with her widow mother of five grown up children. Two of her elder brothers are working

and all pursued their university education in the country. A sister and a brother are in high

school. She is the last born in the family. She is from Muslim, rich and educated background

family.

Nasra is a relaxed and talkative young woman. She likes politics and always following up what

is happening in local and international politics. She is informed and likes to be a public speaker.

She has access to televisions, radio, and news paper and mobile phone at home. At KCC, Nasra

attends leadership skills classes. She is ambitious to reach at the highest political positions in

future. In school she participates in debates. She feels that watching TV, listening to Radio,

reading news papers/magazines and surfing in the internet gives her satisfaction and enough

information to build her personality.

From her discussion that she is worried those women politicians do not get enough support from

men. Nasra is of the opinion that many men do not support their wives on political carrier

development that is why there few women in political high positions. She is into relationship

which might end up in marriage.

Lidya

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Lidya (18) is a tall and attractive young woman who is in form three in one of private schools in

Kigamboni area. She is reserved but confident and well focussed on her plans. From her

conversations she has apparent timetable of her studying plan and leisure time which she

normally spend at KCC where a number of her friends hangout. She also has a planned schedule

of helping domestic activities like cooking, taking care of young brothers in tackling home works

and cleaning the house. She is a hardworking young woman both at school and home, rarely

participating in KCC physical activities. According to her household tasks and school

homework’s do not leave enough time for her to engage the series of physical activities which

need rehearsal day by day.

Lidya is the first born in the family of three children and lives with her parents. Her young

parents work in private companies and own few properties. They are from Christian religion

background.

She is attracted to science subjects and aspires to be a medical doctor like her father. She is

interested in reading news papers; books, watching TV music programs and she hardly ever

listen to radio. Lidya is fond of face book and mobile phone messaging, she interacts with

different friend and relatives locally and international. She uses 2000 Tsh of her pocket money a

week to buy mobile message and internet bundles.

Lilian

Lilian (18) is a form three girl in one of the government in Kigamboni area. She is an orphan

who lives with close relative guardians. Her guardians own business centres in Dar es Salaam

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and they are rich. She loves being a business woman and on holiday times she spends time in

family businesses. She seems to have an influential relation with KCC community; partly she

claims to play leadership role and informal counselling to her fellow youths.

Lilian is a self confident young woman, hardworking and well informed through the use of TV,

news paper and magazines, also has access to social media. She likes to attend to KCC peer

group sessions at least once a week. She uses KCC premises for quite reading and has fewer

interactions in the centre. Lilian is in relationship and her boyfriend in high school. She is from

Christian religion background.

Amina

Amina (19) is ashort and a bit chubby in statue. Talkative and optimistic young woman who is in

form four in one of the government secondary schools in Dar es Salaam. Despite her height and

weight Amina is a very good netball player. She is in KCC netball and volley ball team.

She lives with her elder brother’s family. Her parents live in coastal region and they are not poor.

Amina will be completing her ordinary level of secondary school by the end of the year. She is

therefore busy revising her lessons hoping to go to high school. On this case, recently she rarely

participate in KCC activities though she still spend more time at the back yard rooms for quite

studying or discussions with her friend who are in same stage.

Amina has access to a number of media outlets. She frequently watches Latin America soap,

Nigerian moves local Tanzanian moves and drama, music programs, health and safety TV

programs. She likes teaching. She is in a new relationship; her boyfriend is a matured person. It

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is clear that Amina does not want to talk about her relationship life. She believes that FEMA

magazine introduces youth especially girls to a quality health life style aptitudes which enables

them to face day to day relationship challenges. She is of the opinion that most girls have access

to media, they listen, read and watch health lifestyle messages, but applying them depends on

once mannerism, goals, and the surrounding community, especially the immediate family.

Amina is pessimistic about some of traditional, cultural and norms surrounding girls everyday

lives. Referring from her tribe “Yao” traditions and practice that also performs “unyago”18to

teenage girls, that the initiations fast tracks girls to conjugal life without considering age and

formal education which has important contribution to sexuality and civic engagement. She is

Muslim and regularly performs prayers.

Asha

Asha (19) is a beautiful girl who is in form four. She lives with her grandmother, (the mother to

her mother) and gets support from her uncle’s (brothers to her late mother) who also live in Dar

es Salaam. Asha’s mother died when she was nine years old. She ran from her father’s house

after she was forced to marriage at the age of 15. She passed to continue with education after

primary school education, but her father’s family had arranged a marriage in which she

successful escaped, there after secured a refuge to her late mother’s family. Even though she still

has a continuous conflict with her father as a result of early marriage escapement, she hopes with

time the father will appreciate her education.

18
“Unyago” is the initiation rite practice done to girls as the sign of the beginning of adulthood.

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She is from Muslim background, his father has two more wives and large extended traditional

family. The family is not poor but believes that a woman should be married at early age. That’s

why they had arranged a marriage for her.

Asha works hard on her lessons and is determined to exceed to high school. She spend most of

her free time at the backyard rooms in KCC where most student undertake serious discussion and

reading for final exams. She does not have a boyfriend though she would like to have one in the

near future. Asha is affirmative about what FEMINA Hip and other media platforms are doing in

educating youth. She is believes that health lifestyle messages are not only usefully to youth but

also to the society surrounding the youth. She is the ‘never miss’ of FEMA magazine issues, she

also likes to watch TV soap opera, music, reading news paper and women magazine. Apparently

Asha would like to be social worker. She likes KCC and feels at home, where every individual is

believed to have a talent and bright future. She has a number of friends and this is their meeting

place.

Lina

Lina (19) is in form four. Beautiful young woman filled with lots of smile on her face all the

time. She lives with her widow mother of three children. Being the second in the family Lina has

a sister and younger brother. Her mother works in a government office and owns a number of

assets left by her late husband. Their family is of middle level economy and from Christian

background.

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Lina is a self- confident and relaxed young girl. She is informed and optimistic about

government and civic society initiatives to empower young women on sexuality. She broke the

relationship with her boyfriend six months ago. She likes watching TV especially music and

moves, reading women magazine, and interacting with many people through mobile phone

messages and face book. At KCC Lina enjoys peer group sessions and performing arts.

Lulu

Lulu (19) is an introvert but intelligent young woman who is in her forth class of secondary

education in one of the government secondary school in Dar es Salaam. She lives with her

parents, two young sisters and brothers. At KCC, Lulu is the fun of watching acrobatics and she

sometimes participate in women show. She likes watching TV music programs moves and

current news, rarely listening to the radio and frequently reading news paper and women

magazine. Lulu is conversant and has strong interests of becoming an independent woman who

can come up with decisions that will affect the community. She aspires to be lawyer and

therefore has asked her parents.

She is fond of FEMA magazines claiming that most of the stories written in it are true experience

which contributes to support her with extra hour’s tuition fee in to increase her capabilities on

her education. Lulu is in relationship for a year. Her boyfriend is university student. All ten

described respondents are brilliant young women who have dream of positive future. They all

have a dream of who they want to be, well informed and have set goals to achieve. About eight

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of them have had relationship and three of them and three among them have experienced broken

relationship.

Every one of them positive with KCC set up and they find the area a nice place to hang out,

place to meet friends, the place to learn new things and the place to relax. To all of them it is the

place where they can develop their education skills. Every time I visited KCC the place was

characterized by continuous coming in and coming out of people ie children, youths and adult

people of middle age. The place is lively sometimes with a lot of noise, music, and drums and

sometimes moderate atmosphere. However the back yard is is quite and it’s for those who come

to study. Even though the KCC becomes crowded environment especially evening hours there

was a general relaxed and friendly atmosphere and youth feel safe to be there.

4:3 Girls’ Common Characteristics and their Communicative Ecology

What common characteristic do these 10 young women have in common? What feature do they

share despite their differences in family background? Let me write down some of their recorded

similarity.

All ten girls are secondary school student, aged 16-19. This is important to note because it

shows similarities in thinking and focus on what they are doing while they have education role to

play. Every one of them had aspiration of who would like be in the future, of course all of them

were also specific in narrating what the like to be and where. The role of media use will be seen

in the following pages. This contextual analysis shows how they view socio cultural surrounding

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their everyday lives. Who do they live with and what are their roles in the family or what they

are expected to be by those who surround them.

When it comes to their ways of socialization, the study shows reasons of the same kind to why

they would like to hang out in KCC. They all argue that it is the area where they meet with

friends, where they can discuss issues, relate with new people, get new ideas, develop talents and

in between attend peer group sessions.

Everyone in the group lives with at least one parent or the guardian who supported them in

living and education. The study show on that case despite the fact that all young women found

relaxed environment in KCC, yet they had domestic obligation which limited time spent in the

place. The extended families, cultural, values and norms surrounding their families shaped their

ways of life.

Moreover every young woman agreed that media use contributed significantly in their lives,

both in what the society wanted them to be and what they like to be. Young women develop their

self identity from their experiences. They learn about what is pretty and what is not from their

mothers, friends, and even the media as Hendricks and Burgoon explains self-concept skills do

not crystallize overnight; they develop over time, primarily through comparisons with others

(Hendricks and Burgoon, 2003:02)

The communicative ecology of all ten girls involved in the studyie analysis the relationship

between social interactions and technology of an individual shows that all girls at a different

time had a time to listen to radio, watching Television, reading news papers or magazine, they

also had access to mobile phones in which they frequently sent messages to relatives and

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friends, moreover, through mobile phones some of them accessed internet bundles which

enabled them to interact through face book. Access to mobile phone allows young women to

share new information, develop and maintain personal relationships. However to Kigamboni

young women mobile ownership correlates with education and the wealth of the parents,

guardian or boyfriend. THMIS 2011/2012 shows that women and men living in urban,

Kigamboni young women being among them, are more exposed to media than those living in

rural areas. The most popular form of media for Kigamboni young women is radio followed by

television.

Broadly, (Foth& Hearn, 2007:09) refers communicative ecology as the circumstance which

communication processes occur. This process normally involves people communicating with one

another in their social networks, both face to face and using a mix of media and communication

technologies. (Tacch, Slater & Hearn 2003) (Tacch; et al, 2007). Communicative ecology

enabled me to take a holistic approach to understand the dynamics interrelationships between the

social discourse and communications technology in through respondent’s face to face interaction

and through media outlets. Foth and Hearn, (2007:10) further explains that understanding the

ecologies are not isolated units from similarities, differences, interrelationship and

transaction.From my understanding therefore all girls used media with same expectations of

having meaningful life full of interesting experiences that drove their hearts and minds.

Freire’s notion of participatory communication stresses the importance of cultural identity to the

local communities, democratization and participation at all level ie local individuals, nation and

international level. Paulo Freire (1983:76) advocates that participatory communication points to

strategy, not merely inclusive of, but largely emanating from traditional receivers referring to it

as the right of all people from individual to collectively speak their word. From that perspective

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it is not a privilege of some few young women but the right of every young woman, therefore

can speak out for herself not for or for others. Participation is very important in any decision

making process because it leads in to sharing information, knowledge, trust and commitment in

development. The end result of participation process is empowerment.

SECTION II.DEMOGRAPHIC FINDINGS

4:4 Social Issues Contributing to Youth Health Lifestyle

From the study design section out of ten girls (10) who are in secondary school who were

involved in the in depth study, also the study involved a data collection survey with 100 girls

who were or were not active members of FEMINA youth clubs at the KCC, some were out of

school attending talent development training in the centre. Talent development roles included

tailoring, fine and performing arts and ICT training. Using SPSS 19 data analysis software survey

enhanced the process of attaining the overall picture of the demographic aspects of young girls

and their perceptions towards contextual issues surrounding girls’ FEMINA HIP media use and

its effect on their sexuality.

The results show that six in ten young girls interviewed (61%) were aged A good number of the

respondents were at the age of 17 to 19 19 yearsmaking 61% of the respondents and and another

31% of respondents were aged between ,15 and -16 years. The remaining were 31% and 8%

ofthe respondents did not indicate fill in their age, from the result it is obvious and true to say

that at the age of 20’sand below youth are more active in participating in peer groups, social
19
Statistical Package for Social Sciences

100
clubs and they are at more knowledge seeking than the rest of the age groups, and thus they are

more likely to be victims of trying to practice what they are seeking and learning, if they are not

careful or not guided. Also the result shows that the low the level of education seem to be the

more desire for one to seek more knowledge by engaging in different educational activities in the

centre, that means girls with less age seemed to be more interactive in different activities than

those who were more matured. Possibly the result shows the immature age are at more risks on

reproductive health and sexual related issues and therefore seeking more information than the

matured ones.

DATA, DATA…….

In Tanzania, information on religion has been consistently excluded from national surveys since

2002 Tanzania National Census, 2002, TDHS, 2010, TMHIS, 2012) particularly because of the

………. However, basing on the fact that Kigamboni is predominatly a moslem community, I

was interested in seeing young females involvement in religious issues. Two questions were

asked, one on religion (what is your religion?) and another one for religiosity (How often do you

go to the mosque/church-daily, weekly, ……..list here the options you had?In studying cultural

context surrounding girl’s sexuality, religion was found as one of the significant aspects affecting

girl’s everyday life. The results demographic survey showednthat more than half (59%) majority

of the respondents were Muslims and four in ten respondents 59% vs. Christians 41%. Also most

of the Muslims showed daily mosques attendance making 32% of those respondents attending

churches/mosques daily, on the other hand most 48% of Christians said were attending church

mass once a week.18% of the respondents declared to have no habit of attending

churches/mosques. Though Muslims were many of the respondents and who compelled to attend

mosques daily their attendance shows to be low, and the Christians who were a bit few, their

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once a week attendance is high, this could imply Christians are more church attending than

Muslims attendances to mosques and may have impact on moral conducts and sexual behaviors.

Family background living arrangements also was studied. one of the aspects used to measure

cultural context surrounding young girls in this study. From the results majority of the

respondents (64%) were livinged with guardians, and almost 30% were livinged with

parents/parent. The remaining and 6% of the respondents could not answer this question.

Moreover survey data shows that family more has more influence in health lifestyle up-bringing,

than any other support organ in the society. Family background in education of either of one of

the parents/guardian, economic y situation of the family and religion shows to have

contributed in girls’ sexuality more than other organs such as media, peer friends and media

platforms.

From the above analyzed statistics out of a hundred respondents, the most relied pillar on girls

up- bringing and reproductive health and sexual issues is parents/guardians at 49%, followed by

friends 6%, where by 7% said that both of the pillars have equally contributed to their

personality and health lifestyle. This makes me to agree with Kazaura&Masatu, (2009:54) point

of view that sexual activities are increasingly changing from the cultural point of what they used

to be; that youth obtain sexuality training and information from parents/family instructor at teen

age the analysis on sexual practice changes, findings shows that civil society media platforms in

recent still least, or little influence to girls sexuality, health lifestyle, reproductive health and

sexual relationships by 7% of the respondents. However no respondent agreed to have been

influenced by religious leader in health life style and sexuality issues. From this aspect therefore

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although all 88 respondent shown to belong from Muslim or Christian religious (59% Muslims

and 41% Christians)….

Most reasons on why parents/guardians stand top, for a relied pillar on youth personality and up

bring; is that they are the closest persons who have shown care and love than all to the

respondents; they are always the first to see the changes of their kids especially during the

adolescence. And they have spent most of the lifetime with their children than the others so they

know them better. Although parents and guardians seem to be more reliable people in

adolescents girls, they don’t contribute to a straight advice at early stages until their kids are at

the adolescence period, which led to a concern among girls. Probably this is due to the cultural

settings on sexual relationships and reproductive health to children, for it is strictly meant for

adults and for them it is from adolescent stage.

Unexpected thing is, all the respondents are members of social welfare organization KCC and

despite the fact that some of the were not members of FEMINA Hip club but have access to

Femina magazines, media; be the televisions, radio or social media, and other social welfare

organization youth printouts or news papers which contains youth sexuality information. Yet

they did not pin out these media forms as much contributed to their personality and reproductive

health lifestyle. From the results, I come up with the prospects that parents/guardians have more

influence because they are close to girls and therefore see the changes earlier than any other part.

However from girl’s perspectives although parents/guardians are close people they live with, yet

they partly don’t rely on instant reproductive health advice given at early teen age or from

103
cultural settings where sexual relationships and reproductive health instruction provided when

girls attend ‘unyago’ rite.

4.5 Guidance on reproductive health, sexuality and health lifestyle.

Parents/guardians, friends and health services providers were mentioned by the respondents as

the source of reproductive health, sexual practice and health lifestyle information.

Parents/guardians were the leading guiding group for upbringing, reproductive health and

sexuality for 86% of all respondents’ advice sources. Religious leaders and social welfare

organizations were the least consulted only by 8% of the respondents, where by 6% of them did

not know where to get advice about sexuality and reproductive health. From my understandingin

my view this situation is the result of close relationship with parents/guardians and friends they

are therefore free to discuss sensitive issues affecting their lives. Also the health provides are the

groups which bring solution of most of their sensitive sexual health problems when fear arises

of unexpected pregnancies and STDs and at times of check up results into consultancies.

Though parents/guardians were pointed earlier as the relied pillar on up bring and personality to

youth, here they are not that much reached out for opinion, only by 28% of the respondents from

49% who relied on them for upbringing and personality, this might be the result of fear of

immoral conduct behavior expectations.

However why shouldn’t they run to media social welfare organizations? This brings me to Paul

Freire’s Participatory communication theory, taken as a model for, exploring media use and

girl’s empowerment when it comes to sexual issues. The theory involves the ideas of access,

participation and self management. Thus even though media and social welfare organization like

FEMINA Hip in this case claim to have been using participatory model of communication, from

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the survey results showed that …………??????? media and social welfare organizations has to

rethink on their approaches to girls as a special group instead of taking youth group as whole

when it comes to issues concerning sexuality. The below table 2: shows a clear trend of where

girls prefer to get reproductive health, sexuality and upbringing advice.

35% 31%
30% 28% 27%
25%
20%
15%
10% 6% 6%
Percent

5% 2%
0%
s s s s ns
an nd d er er io ow
di ie ea vi
d
at kn
ar Fr sl ro z n't
Gu u p ni
ts/ io ce ga Do
n lig rv
i or
re Re e re
Pa S
al
fa
lth
a lw
He c ia
So
Figure 1: Influencial up-bringing pillars

4:6Girl’sStand about Participation ngin the Dialogues on, Youth Reproductive Health

ProgramsConducted by the Media.

Being the voice of the girls themselves, they said it is a must thing for girls to be self determined.

Participation in dialogue especially for girls in activities that educate community is important,

and that media have to continue educating the community in all ways and means on, family plan

reproductive health, sexual relations and its associated resultants, without confronting the

community and girls. Media should reflect ways and means by which the community and

105
individuals can protect themselves from the impacts of reproductive health and sexuality. Also

media has to be aware that it cannot make it alone without the community itself and other

stakeholders on the agenda.

Girls should not find it time wasting to participate in dialogues, rather they need to be

courageous and know that what they are doing contributes to the …….. in the community

surrounding them. They also urged that reproductive health should be compulsory detailed

subject from primary schools.

4.7 Media Approach towards Issues of Reproductive Health and Sexuality

Media approach towards issues concerning reproductive healthy and girls sexuality be

televisions or radio, newspapers and social welfare organizations was another aspect that were

brought in the survey, taking in to consideration that information from media might have

contributed in girls decisions on reproductive health or sexuality. About 74% of the respondents

agreed that the approach used by the media have positive influence on girls attitudes towards

decisions on sexuality and reproductive health, of whom 53% had explanations on their agreeing,

said; It exposes them to 1.reproductive health, 2.family planning, 3.how to face temptations and

4.when to engage into sexual relations e.g. the use of FEMINA HIP magazines also they declare

that media approach increases awareness on girls self determination and gender based violence.

Also 21% just agreed with no clarification. 20% said its of no help and 6% were neutral implying

to positive or negatively influence, pointing the fact that, most girls do as exactly as what they

see or hear from the media e.g.; dressing fashions, cosmetics and music has consequences in girls

daily lives. Media connects integratedifferent societies in the world hence affect cultural context

106
thus conspires with the feminist theory that pact to see a woman grows up with a sense of self as

worthy, effectual and contributing being with a positive identity in the African context (Akpabio,

2000:29). While African feminist campaign emphasizes on the importance of taking on board

African lifestyle, values and concerns in any Feminist analysis, media with unbalanced output

erode some cultural aspects.

6% 21%

Yes
No
Yes and Explained
20% Neutral (They may help or
53% may not)

Figure 2: Media approach towards changing youth attitudes to reproductive health

However even though young women in this study understands that they are the victim of unequal

gender conditions but they are active individuals with desire and ambitions, both personal and

societal. They are active agents of change and have great aspiration of changing their the routes

of the destinies.

4.8 Use of knowledge gained from the Media to improve or overcome the challenges

of Reproductive Health and Sexuality among Girls.

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A good number of the respondents 70% agreed that it is easy to use knowledge obtained from the

media to overcome the challenges on reproductive health and sexuality, out of them 38%

explained that media information about sexuality and health life style is easy to get and grasp for

most media outlets reaches many people in different areas and at the same time; with an example

of Radio and Televisions. Media information was found to be easy even for those who were not

well educated and also easy to practice. However some of them argued that media exposes girls

to risk sexuality. 6% of the respondent could not answer this question and 24% of the

respondents said that, media information is not necessarily useful to youth because, people differ

on the way they perceive and understand things, where by some take them as periodical

entertainment or acts some take it as an instructor and reliable source of information.

Also Girls were asked their view on participation on dialogues about reproductive issues and

sexuality. The results sponse shows that more education and dissemination of research findings

which will raise awareness within community is still needed.…………..The discussion shows

that in one way media contributes to forced sexuality among girls at a tender age; the use of

pornography information from video tapes, TVs and magazines contributed to immoral acts and

violation of human rights which at the end accelerate the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, abortion,

sexual transmitted disease in the society. Girls are the most victims of conditions caused by

unfair everyday lives especially when coming to sexual relations and reproductive health. On the

othe side media information is useful in dealing with challenges of their reproductive health and

sexuality. Some of the respondents didn’t respond to this question however it keep in line with

the literature on African feminism which emphasizes that women don’t have to be oppositional

to men as it is not about adversarial gender politics, further caution that African woman should

108
be aware of her goals, self reliant and should engage on cooperative works (Ogundipe-Leslie,

2000:252), but the literature does not talk about their awareness of sexual inequalities and

exploitation despite the fact that identity of modern woman in Africa are articulated at the

intersection of the lived and mediated experience as well as the intersection of various power

dimensions concerning sexuality, class, religion, and gender.

On engaging on media dialogues 83% of girls responded that dialogues helps them to change

their attitude, on issues of, sexuality and lifestyle. 41% of respondents explained that the access

to brochures and magazinesgives them an ample time to extract information at moment when

one feels to. Also they argues that youth are so good on listening, reading and watching TV and

they therefore found it attractive and useful dealing with risk sex which leads to childhood

pregnancies and improper family planning. From their point of view media contributes to build

self esteem and determination which impacts on gender based violence. 11% could not answer

this question where as 6% said it can positively influence their attitude or mislead, depending on

the way one perceives what is instructed and implement. It is from this ground I argues that there

is a need to increase intersection between Radio and Television programmes, print media,

school clubs, community outreach programmes and web portal, to help build supportive

environment to Tanzanian young women. The aim is to enhance their ability to enjoy life in their

own communities, access information and social services, hence leading to improved health

lifestyles and empower them in decision making and engagement on dialogues which will lead

into to making positive, informed choices on matters of their sexuality and civic engagement as

per FEMINA HIP ( 2009:13) reflection.

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 45% 42% 41%
40%
35%
30%
25%
Percent

20%
15% 11%
10% 6%
5%
0%
Yes Yes and Explained No Response Neutral (They may
help or may not)

Figure 3: Media influence on attitude change

4.9 FEMINA Media Output

The understanding on FEMINA Hip and other media platform or social welfare

organizations contribution into girl’s sexuality; a number of 55% disagreed with the

existence of media platform for a past one year and 17% could not respond to this

question, where as only 28% agreed to their existence, mentioned them and in brief

explained the way they benefit from such organizations;

 FEMINA TALK and FEMINA HIP: they educated on reproductive health and sexual

practice, family plan and STDs, preserve Tanzanian culture, sports, and painting, acting,

life skills and entrepreneurship for economy empowerment as a whole a

 PASADA: educated on self determination on reproductive health and self decision on

sexuality.

 ANGAZA: was pointed out to be less interactive and socializing among their society.

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  WAMA: there was no explanation on the role it played in the society and it

impactseither.

In Tanzania there are several local and international initiatives aimed at empowering girls

implemented from grass root community level to national level, but the implications from this

result rises a mark on their activeness to the intended goals to deliver the message to the

community. With the above response it shows that media platforms happens periodically with

less reliance on continuity hence results a gap of knowledge between youth age groups. Probably

it’s a result of the fact that most media platform organizations depends on donor aid to deliver

their messages or fulfill the objective therefore when they run out of financial aid their

intervention in the society stops. Also probably it is because most media platform organizations

working plans are short and donor influenced which lead to a change of priorities at a short

period. These few probabilities brings me back to the statement of problem which shows why

there is high rates of HIV/AIDS incidences reported for girls in Tanzania (THIS, 2003/2004;

THIMS 2007/2008; UNIFEM, 2010), why there is still more violence against girls (TAMWA,

2008) and why there is still a high spate of unwanted pregnancies amongst girls (BEST, 2008)

4.10 Awareness on FEMINA HIP Activities.

Despite the fact that KCC was mentioned to be one of the active Fema club in Dar es Salaam the

researcher was curious to ask if girls in this community even those who were not members of the

club were familiar with the existence of FEMINA Hip media products. From the survey 78% of

the girls asked said they know about the media products done by the organization of which

63% explained what was in the those products as follows;

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  Educating on family planning, life skills, entrepreneurship, right to reproduction health,

youth rights and health services.

 Report and protect on gender and gender based violence.

 Awaken the community on the importance of VCT

 Entertainment which based on education about the impacts of alcoholism and drug

abuse.

17% of the respondent said they were not aware of the activities done by their organization

where as 5% could not attempt the question and 15% of those who agreed they just said they

know but could not explain its activities. However, the result shows that, even the civil society

media driven organizations, that communicate health lifestyle messages through difference mass

media channels, appear to have only a limited impact in empowering Tanzania girls, when it

comes to matters of their sexuality and issues affecting their very well being.

The challenge here is how these platforms face and induce sustainable practical initiative

process, where girls are participants; feel included, and able to communicate/debate issues

influencing their daily life. This couldbe the very reason why, the actual situation of girls in

Tanzania is still a far- cry for close to negative effects that comes with sexuality and health

lifestyle as disclosed in previous reports in the background of the problem (THIS,2003/2004;

THMIS, 2007/2008; AVERT, 2008; UNIFEM 2010; BEST, 2008; Schliderman&Ruskulis,

2006).

Views about participating in FEMINA HIP workshops, training and dialogues or reading

magazines, and the way it contributes to girls’ courage in overcoming the challenges of sexuality

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and health lifestyle the respondents had different views on this issue; some said it helps girls to

enable girls have self determination on reproductive health, sexuality and challenges that faces

them as girls or women in their communities.

63%
70%
60%
50%
Percent

40%
30%
15% 17%
20%
5%
10%
0%
Yes Yes and Explained No No Response
Figure 4: Awareness on FEMINA HIP activities

Others explained that it is so helpful for they get educated on family plan, awaken about gender

roles and gender based violence. Simply the all agreed that the information obtained from

FEMINA Hip media products was useful to their lives in different aspects as follows:

 Reproductive health and health lifestyle

 Protection against gender violence especially sexuality

 Abortion & impacts of early age sexual relations.

 Campaigns against childhood marriages

All the respondents could not critically express their view of the way FEMINA HIP and its alike

organizations could help girls overcome or face the challenges of health lifestyle and sexuality as

major incidents affecting Tanzania girls today in regard to cultural contexrual issue which could

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add value or help to understand girls’ sexuality, culture and the need for their empowerment to

accelerate their socio-economic development.

From the survey the respondent explains that there is Lesson learned from FEMINA HIP media

programs. Through FEMINA Hip media they have improved their reproductive health and thie

attitude toward sexuality issues is always improved positively. With different views, respondents

explained the following:

 The truths that girls are aware of the other girls situation which may sometimes be the

same to their situations gives them clue that they are not alone. From there they also learn

how to solve their own crucial situations.

 They learn how to deal with sexual temptations at tender age, how to engage on sexual

practice, family plan, reproductive health and STDs, unwanted or unexpected

pregnancies, health and economy education and entertainment.

 Keep and maintain single sexual relationship.

 Knowledge transferring to those who don’t know especially of your age once you have

leant useful things.

Despite the positive views, some had negative look on what is learnt from FEMINA HIP

saying; they have never new things from FEMINA magazines, magazines contains life

experiences which are obvious in human life, some said they have been taught a lot of

things which can’t be implemented or be put in to practice. Finallyfew of the respondents

could not answer this question.

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From the above response I come into conclusion that knowledge of sexual practices may be a

base for raising awareness among girls health lifestyle, even though Kazaura and Masatu (2009)

emphasizes that sexual activities are increasingly changing from the cultural point of what they

used to be; where by the practice was strictly for the married while the unmarried were supposed

to abstain. With the above results we are drawn back to making more use of media as life

changing tool by involving girls’ in sexuality advocacy.

I miss a substantial conclusion on chapter 4. Follow my suggestions for a reorganization, and

then make sure to make a clear conclusion of this chapter.Section 4.4 can based on Datius’

comments be expanded significantly.

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CHAPTER FIVE: RESEARCH ANALYSIS

5:00 Introduction

This chapter is based on the analysis of findings on issues raised by young women regarding

their daily media consumption. Basically all girls came up with issues of sexuality and cultural

practise such as family background tradition and norms, lifestyle, and shaping identity they are

empowered, in connection with Paulo Freire’s participatory communication theory and Feminist

theory which in a way is narrowed down to African Feminism context.

Refer to page 29 of your thesisabout the following

 Communicating health lifestyle messages

 the timing and medium of communication

 cultural issues surrounding the girls sexuality,

 contextual issues

 the kind of approach deployed by the Civil Society media-driven platforms to

communicate healthy lifestyle messages to the young giles.

From the theory, you have to tell us your findingsabout the following:

1. those who are denied right to speak must reclaim it and prevent the act of exclusion,

2. Free and open dialogue is determined by people who were excluded to do so

previously.

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3. Voice is the central point of consciousness of power contained in human relations.

4. Giving voice to the marginalized groups, time and space to articulate their concerns,

define their problems, formulate solution and act on them.

5. .marginalized groups have a platform to voice their concerns, engage on public

debate and solve problems.

6. the key result of participatory communication is articulation of awareness raising

and commitment to action.

7. the process of empowerment involves communities or marginalized groups feeling

committed to and owning the problem.

8. education either functions as an instrument, which is used to facilitate the integration of

the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity to

it, or it constitutes “the practice of freedom” by which men and women deal critically

and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their

lives and their world (Freire, 1983).

9. decentralised media systems and democratic communication institutions tend to

emphasise self-management

10. group dialogue between people or group of people and institutions

11. the participation of people in message design, media production and self

management of media message components.

12. empowerment through participatory approach where participants learn from each

other in mutual transformative process. Different from other approaches which

involves subject-object relation, Freire’s approach involves subject –subject relationship

as opposed to subject-object relationship

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 13. dialogic pedagogy should resonate with peoples experiences, and issues surrounding their

daily lives

5:1 Girls Sexuality in relation to unyago rite

The exploration of the role of FEMINA HIP media program in promoting young women’s

sexuality led to a broader examination of other potential influences surrounding girl’s everyday

lives. In the previous chapters it was reflected that there several components that contributes on

sexuality empowerment rather than media consumption. The research disclosed different cultural

aspects that add value on the understanding the issues flanking young women’s sexuality.From

the findings unyago ritual was found to influence girls’ sexuality in Temeke Municipal. Though

the area is multi cultural populated with different tradition and norms. Out of ten girls who

participated in the in-depth study six underwent unyago training ceremony and shared their

experiences with peer group.

As replicated in previous chapter’s this study respondent were girls aged 16-19. They are in

teenage years, the age which marks the physical transition of individuals from children to adults

which from traditional perspective there formal procedures aimed at empowering a child to get

into transition from childhood to adulthood, it is conducted both girls and boys who has this kind

of cultural background. However this study focusedon a young women. 16-19 is the age where a

person experiences a number of physical and biological changes hence tends to ask a number of

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questions regarding the biopsychology changes. Halley (2012:295)20 agree when explains that

the pace of growth and change associated with teens are subsequent to those seen in infancy

regarding to their impact on the body. During teenage an individual undergo a rapid growth burst

and achieve full reproductive capacity. It is a stage which also plays a key role in sexual

differentiation. From freire’s participatory communication theory perspective this is the age

where young women tend to ask themselves, peer friend, parents and/or guardian a number of

questions. Hence parents/community surrounding young women’s lives has their own ways to

communicate their culture to their young ones with the intentions to empower them in decision

making, civic engagement, marital responsibilities and social responsibilities.

From traditional perspective at the onset of teenage years, the girl child from the unyagorites

background sets on a new journey in her life through formal instruction. The process takes place

in an enclosed and isolated space, and a traditional instructor; somo/kungwi21, takes the role of

transferring knowledge and skills acquired throughout generations to the young girl. Usually the

instructor identifies her own candidate as the girl grows, that means she should be a close person

to the girls’ family and may possibly be an aunt or a very close companion of the girl's mother.

Soon after the onset of puberty of the of the girl, the instructorwho should be a successfully

married woman, takes upon the role to instruct a girl on personal hygiene, especially on how to

take care of her body during the days of menstrual flow, self adoration, beauty and self

acceptance.

20
https://etd.ohiolink.edu/ap:0:0

21
http://www.ijern.com/images/February-2013/11.pdf

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The girl is also instructed love her body, keeps away from sex before marriage and she is also

empowered with skills to face life as an adult woman, a mother, a wife and in some ways a

leader in her generation. In her article Unyago a Swahili girls to women nuptial institution,

Mwai, (2010:31) symbolizes the privacy unyagocelebration as girls death and ritual rebirth into

the community of adults and women folk have the opportunity to disclose their innermost selves

to the upcoming women. The girl observes what her mother and other women around her do and

it ends with a big celebration which symbolizes that the girl is already an adult and ready to

marry. From the above traditional point of view I find these findings connected to feminist

theory in African context which also seeks to give the woman a sense of self as worthy,

capabilities and abilities to contribute in the society positively (Akpabio, 2000: 29).

Responses from however reflects both positive negative aspects connected to traditional rites.

Asha (19) who escaped from forced marriage is of the opinion that despite the fact that tradition

rites aims at empowering young women with skills for better future, they in one way lead in to

forced marriage because soon after the ceremony the girl is announced read for marriage.

Ignorantly many young women have been forced into marriage and dropped out

of school. My family and community wanted me to marry an old family friend. I

needed more education and therefore escaped to maternal family who supported

my education.

Asha (19), interview (2013:28)

Perhaps,unyago training enabled Asha abilities take risk to acquire her educational ambitions

despite the fact that this may not be the only factor. Her life was definitely surrounded by

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education motivated people whom she face to face communication or else she may be

stimulated by media products consumed.

Tanzania policies and feminist movements are against child marriage this led information posted

on the Interpol Website points that the age of consent for marriage is eighteen (18) years of age

as per SOSPA [Sexual Offences Special Provision Act of Tanzania law] of 1998 22. This act was

against another applicable law of the United Republic of Tanzania, the marriage Act of 1971 23

which stipulates that minimum age for marriage is 15 for girls and 18 for boys. The same Act

states that a married woman at 15 years and above is no longer a child. Further Islamic law is

also applicable in the country and it permits the marriage of individuals who have reached

puberty, at which point they are considered to be adults 24. The Islamic law also seems to

recognize the possibility that girl child may be married before the reach puberty and without her

consent ie only if there is consent from the parents or guardian.

I miss a conclusion of 5.1?! Synthesize your analytical points.

5:2. Girls Media Use as Lifestyle

In this study lifestyle is defined as unspoken outward words of individuals’ cultural

identities. I am of the view that, the act of media consumption is in itself a result of the encoding

and decoding process therefore media producer, journalists, civil society media based

organization like FEMINA HIP has no control over how their product will be applied. This
22
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/vaw/responses/TANZANIA.pdf pg 4
23
United Republic of Tanzania Law of marriage Act 1971
24
http://www.refworld.org/docid/3f7d4e2d2a.html

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perspective concurs with the communication scholar Kim Schroder et al, (2003: 16) in his book

titled Researching Audiences explicating that even the most understanding of textual research

studies cannot tell us anything about how people fitting the textual products offered by the media

into their everyday lives, nor can they tell us how they make sense of cultural meanings offered

by these messages.

From my observation and experience in field work, girl’s opinion over media use differed

depending to the cultural background, parents’ education and personal desire which in the end

developed one’s lifestyle as a result of media use. Juliet (17) says, she never miss beauty contest

and fashion show programs to gains beauty and cloth designs information which are also part of

her topics of interactions and outlook lifestyle because her aunt works as the organizer of beauty

contest and modeling events.

There are programs I never miss watching. In case it happens to miss I will make

sure I watch the replay, we also share the information with friend. Media

information is part of our daily interactions.

Juliet (17), interview, 2013:05)

KCC girls show that the centrality of media usage to youths is connected to their consumption

practices and exists as their lifestyle which at the end results into material expression of an

individual’s identity. Miles in his book Youth Lifestyles in a Changing World, (2000:26-28) also

narrates lifestyle as outcome, lived cultures in which individuals, like Juliet (17) dynamically

express their characteristics, but sometimes do so in direct relation to their position in the

dominant culture. Others encounter media output and in turn figure out the sense to their process

of civilization. Television consumption, for example, from this research finding was mentioned

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the number one media accessed by all girls and is therefore reflected in their daily lives choices

and preferences which at the end turns into lifestyle.

Moreover, Miles, (2000:23) describes the role of young people’s lifestyles as related to behaving

in accepted culturally ways. That leads me to agree that ways of life surrounding a young woman

in which she is involved develops results in to one’s lifestyle. On the same time Paul Freire’s

Participatory communication which involves subject –subject relationship emphasizes that

dialogic pedagogy resonate with people’s experiences, and issues of surrounding their daily

lives.

In depth research and observation shows that Lilian’s (18) daily routine has been influenced by

Television schedule; she plans her evening and weekend hours depending on programs she

wishes to watch. She became an early-morning study person because of evening time soaps,

news and news features.

I always spend evening hours at home and most likely watching TV. There

interesting programs. I can’t concentrate on reading. However, this is the only

time I can also help in domestic chores. It is easier to cook and listen to TV.

Lilian (18), interview, (2013:17)

In my interpretation young women media use is fixed in their everyday life’s context. Moreover

they are not just media consumers but also make use of what drives their minds and hearts

and they consumes what they think will make meaningful lives full of interesting

experiences. In their age 16-19 young women have ambition and aspirations also are of the

view/wish to succeed in everything, they have a number of unfulfilled dreams; it’s like they have

it all and do it all period. They want to succeed in relationship, education, and dream career.

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5:3 Girls and FEMINA Health LifestylePrograms

Kigamboni Community Centre girls involved in the study are fully aware of Femina Hip media

programmes. They understand that Femina Hip programmes focuses on developing wellbeing

Tanzanian youth by initiating them on choosing health lifestyle and making positive sexual

health choices. They also had a clear understanding of messages and admitted that through

Femina health lifestyle media programmes they learnt a lot of things which later had a

contribution in reducing risky sexual behaviors. They participate in media platforms, counseling

and reads Femina magazine issues constantly. Julieth (17) health lifestyle and reproductive

issues are the most wanted knowledge by girls.

We need to know and understand health issue, sexual issues, diseases, pregnancy,

contraceptive not only that we live in a complicated society with a lot of risky

conduct like rapes, unwanted pregnancy and poverty can lead a girl in to

hazardous relation.

Julieth (17) interview (2013: 29)

KCC Femina club combines youth from different background in terms of social, economic,

cultural, religion, age and even education aspect. The club has in school youth and out of school

youth. Out of school youth includes those who completed their primary or secondary schools or

those who in one reason or another dropped from school. However through participatory

approach all youth feels included. Using peer group education sessions where youth reads

magazines and come up with topics to discuss stimulates interactions and social change within

individuals. Fuglesang, M & Thulstrup K, (2013:230) of the Milid Year Book, describes

youth clubs as an ideal avenues for dialogue and discussion to encourage reading,

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discussions and dialogue about health lifestyle and skills for entrepreneurship featured in

Femina products.

Girls seem to be interested on what is happening in youth club. While nicknaming the club as the

place to get solutions, home, seating room and so on, they refer it as a place where they get

reliable information and true life stories and experiences. Femina Hip objectives of establishing

clubs is to create a trustful atmosphere and safe place where youth can discuss, talk openly and

build up leadership skills (Fuglesam,M& Thulstrup k, 2013:232) article in the Milid Year Book

2013. Lilian admits that it was not easy to get out and speak in public, but through participating

in different activities in the club she has courage to not only to talk in public but also to train and

mobilize other youth health lifestyle, youth rights and responsibilities.

It’s not easy every skill comes by training and guidance, our skills are natured.

We get information by watching Femina TV show, read magazines, live

performance media platforms outreach and at KCC we can access Femina web

portal and download different information. With all these information we are

loaded and can talk

Lilian (18), 2013:29

Girls face challenges of house hold responsibilities than male counterpart; their attendance in the

club differs from that of male equivalent. Despite Femina Hip media programme this study

found that other civil society like PASADA, WAMA, and ANGAZA also were on the ground to

empower youth on reproductive health and sexuality, family planning and sexual transmitted

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diseases. Through participatory approach youth are trained self determination on reproductive

health and self decision on sexuality.

5:4 Girls Media Use as a search of Identity

In their teen years boys and girls begin to question their parent’s cultural values and authority as

they begin searching for the sense of their own identities in the world outside the home. On his

perspective, media anthropologist Keller, S.N, (2000:12) advocates that teen frequently try out

new unsafe behaviour such as unprotected sex, drugs and violence due to internal conflicts over

the question of identity. They feel deeply anxious and insecure, hence making them easily prey

to media’s glamorization of sex without consequences or violence without pain. Keller

expression in connection to this study shows that girls use media to shape identity outside their

homes and the identity may be towards love, romance and relationships. Jane’s response shows

that age affects young woman’s identity because what she wants to do may not be acceptable to

the society.

Our society does not accept sexual relationship before marriage though young

people find it as a part and parcel of being youth. It gives recognition among peer

groups

Jane (16) interview 2013:20

Nevertheless, adolescents struggle to become independent and equal members of society which

Weber, M, 2013:368 calls it the process which requires a redefinition of the childhood identity or

the redefinition of one’s identity during adolescence involves detachment from family and

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parental dependencies and a reorientation toward social groups that accept the adolescent as an

equal personality which present issues, feelings and act responsible. (ibid) Further claim that

they young people use media content to evaluate, embrace, or reject models of social roles and

communicative styles and as material for differentiating their own identities

Weber describes the usefulness of media contents to adolescents towards the change of

childhood identity to who they will love to be or become in present and future time. This reminds

me of Nasra (17) whose aspiration is to become a politician and therefore following up local and

international political news and she has number political personalities as role models.

I like to be a politician. I know for God’s sake one day I will be in the parliament

representing my people. ‘I honorable Tanzania National assembly speaker Nasra’,

like Madam Anne Makinda25 ………by watching what they (politician) are doing

on TV programmes I learn. I will be a very good politician.

Nasra (17) Interview 2013:02

Nasra like other girls finds media use as a positive means for shaping their future in which

(Weber, 2013:377) on other way describes that adolescent use media as a useful tool for

spending leisure time with friends, source of information when it comes to complex negotiation

of social roles and norms which were perceived to be contrary to the parental influence, which

leads to Juliet comment;

In media we get a lot of stuffs, good and bad which later produces a number of

questions; I cannot discuss some of these issues with my parents

Anne Makinda is Tanzanian politician, the recent and the first female speaker of the Tanzanian National
25

Assembly.

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Juliet (16) interview, 2013: 23

In this study, I define media use as the way people interact with media. Media use varies from

person to person, group to group and at various times during an individual's life (Schroeder et al

(2003:05). Each girl in this study has her own ways of consuming information from

different media at a different time though they use same information to discuss complex

issues surrounding them. Even thoughtheyapply same medium at different time, research result

shows that every girl in the group has her own ambitions and also has urge to learn new things

different from her own society, her family and in the end they could use what they had consumed

in their face to face interactions, this related Weber, (2013:374) which refers media content as

the representation of individuals social roles. The audience consumes certain type of media

contents that relates to their roles, usually genre shows typical behavior. For example those

watched soap opera or real life experience fiction and nonfiction which demonstrated feminine

identity perceived it and used this content to represent their femininity among their peers (Weber

2013:275), and some of the critical positioned their lives to the situation. Nasra (17) observation

of few women in the high political position in Tanzania is due to lack of support from men in the

society. She believes that for any achievement there should be supporting background.

Men do not like female politician, very few support this.

What if your partner does not support you, in politics?

I will love a person who supports me.

Nasra (17) Interview, 2013: 02

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Also the study findings show that girls had special interest to reproductive health

information. Here they were not specific of which medium they would depend on, however

FEMINA hip media programs came up being one of the most accessed area of health

information. Lidya opened up on girl’s interest to reproductive health information. To her health

issues are of first priority but all along she faces a lot of challenges which would leave a lot of

unanswered questions.

We (youth) knows what we are doing and what we want and sometimes we are

not able to express what we feel to elders. In that case we take FEMINA

magazines to read other peoples experience and instructions given. It is easy to

get counseling by asking question to the media using anonymous name. I feel shy

and I may not want people especially close relative and friends to know if I am

the one asking question about sexual transmitted diseases, about my health or

expressing my feelings on media. I have a lot to ask but privacy comes first.

Lidya (18) interview (2013:04)

Lidya prefers the way media platforms Femina Hip being among them approach young people;

They understand that we are grown up people. In media platforms there a number of

experts; for example counseling experts, HIV/AIDS diagnosis, reproductive

contraceptives and other advocates for entrepreneurship, they are ready to tackle

questions of identity which often causes conflicts in young women lives.

Lidya(18) interview (2013:11)

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She is certain that the access to communication on platforms resolves a number of young women

identity problems, on platforms young women fees secured, involved and it builds their

confidence. Lidya thoughts coincides with Keller, (2000:12) explanation that adolescent feels

insecure and deeply anxious towards the question of identity, making them easy victim to

media’s glamorization of sex without consequences or violence without pain;

In media platforms, we get answers to complicated questions. I may be in a

relationship; at the same I have fear about HIV/AIDS, pregnancy, sexual

transmitted diseases, the use of condom and the use of other contraceptive

measures. I may not know whom to talk to.

Lidya (18) interview,( 2013: 11)

Media can directly affect the audience by altering perceptions of social norms. Adolescent use

variety of media with great rate, which further concurs with Borzekowsk&Bater (2005:297)

young people enjoy and use media than any other group. Although the primary reason of why

adolescent log on to the social media through e-mailing and instant messaging, approximately

two third access social media to get health information either for personal or for academic

reasons.

Most of the instant messages I send are romance, intimacy, gossip and also peer

group health questions and clarifications. We clarify the way we understand and

we are pleased.

Lydia (18), interview, (2013: 04)

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However young women’s background such as race, ethnicity, income and the level of parents

education position differences in household media availability, at least 85% of interviewed girls

in KCC homes have radio, television, mobile phone and can also access daily news paper at least

twice a week. Kim Schroder et al, (2003:5) refer media use as connection to the context of

everyday life in which people live their lives as members of partially overlapping large and small

groups, at the local level , national, regional and global levels. From the finding girls are active

consumer of media content and they make use of what they consume to develop identity outside

their family. Nevertheless from the consumption of media content they develop their own

lifestyle (Steven Miles, 2000:29), which in itself the primary indicator of lifestyles in a changing

world.

Regarding media consumption in this study young women were found active consumers of

health reproductive messages and they engaged in exchanging multiple texts through mobile

phones but they do not completely embrace or adopt the educative messages and lessons implicit

in the texts. Amina (19) views that access is not a problem among young women’s lives however

applications of what they consume from the media differ in unconstructively which in the end

results to HIV/AIDS, unwanted pregnancy, and school dropout.

You may not know, but the issue of media access and consumption is not a

problem to girls. Here we may even watch moves or soap or anything we like

from neighbors’ television or go to the public areas like café or bar they have TV

on. News papers and magazines are all around in KCC, at home and even in

schools. Many girls know to read. The dilemma is onhow to utilize or put in to

practice what they consume from media in their everyday lives.

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 Amina (19) interview, (2013: 08)

The impact of FEMINA Media products to Kigamboni young women, continue to raise

awareness, increased participatory spirit, and increase knowledge about health lifestyle,

reproductive health, business, change behavior and civic engagement. For exampleyoung

women came to the centre for the sake of knowledge attainment and entertainments ending

into volunteering in different sections at the community.

5:5 Representations of Women in Media

In exploring the role of FEMINA Hip media programme, the research also scrutinized the views

of young women on the approach used by media to represent young women. Nasra (17), Amina

(19) and Juliet (17) comments that media especially Yellow press portray women in an unfair

and inaccurate way.

Young women are portrayed half naked, beaten and modeled in

transparent clothes. In fact this makes us skeptical to media production

Nasra 17, Interview 2013:12

The approach is not fair. I don’t think so ...that young women have

nothing good to portray rather than their beautiful body and nakedness, on

bongo flavor Music.

Amina 19, Interview 2013:12

The depiction of women on media sometimes makes us worried

Lilian (18) Interview 2013:12

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Interviewed young women speak out that some women may be reluctant to respond to the media

or contribute in media discussions because of hesitation and worries of their voices or pictures

manipulation. This makes most of them observant of even issues that they were supposed to

participate and raise their voice out.

On the other hand few girls gave a different perspective of the representation of women in the

media. Lidya (18), Khadija (16), Asha (19) and Lulu (19) explain that the representation of

women on media depends on status, role, education and the location. To them personal behavior

and articulation of a person can lead to fair or unfair representation in the media. Economic

situation has led young women in to prostitution, easy going and illegal business which are

mostly covered in Yellow paper. However there women represented to be in power, traditional

working women and active citizen women who are participating in public activities, civic

engagement, public services, business and so on.

It depends who is your role model and what you want to consume in the media.

Consumers have different choices and media depict women depending to their

choices

Lidya (18) Interview 2013:13

To me the approach of media on young women is 50-50 sometimes fair and

sometimes not fair. You need to be conscious when approaching the media.

Khadija(16) Interview 2013:13

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 There superwomen depicted in the media. As a consumer you eat what you

choose.

Asha (19) Interview 2013:13

Our life has changed. My mother says recent media products are not like her time

media product. But I find it okay this is our time ...... though wise choice is

encouraged at a time.

Lulu (19) Interview 2013:13

In viewing the analysis of the findings that mass media has an impact on young women’s

daily lives and specifically the role of FEMINA Hip media programmes on promoting Girls

sexuality. I find that media has contribution to the empowerment of young women in the light of

the stronghold of social and cultural practices surrounding their everyday lives. However the

findings and the analysis shows that the contextual issues surrounding girls media use; like

education background, economic status, religion, and race of the family contributes positively or

negatively on young women sexuality.

According to the young women response media use has an impact on their daily decision making

and empowerment. For example about 90 percent of young women interviewed have more than

five years in the community centre (KCC). They have changed roles from time to time. Some of

them started as trainee, changed to leaders and now are volunteers in different activities at the

centre. This shows that they are empowered to take the role as leaders and decision making.

On young women’s perspective on the approach of FEMINA Hip media platforms contributes to

the impact on changing the sexuality and health lifestyle among youths. The programmes are

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participatory and influencing for health lifestyle, reproductive health and civic

engagement. However they are of the view that FEMINA Hip is not the only media

platform reflected in their communicative ecology because there other media organization

depicting reproductive health and civic engagement issues related to youths. Also young

women are of the view that they are not solely consuming reproductive health, health

lifestyle and civic engagement from the media; depending on individual’s interest one can

consume music, sports, moves and soap opera.

There is NO CONCLUSION! You must here provide an analytical wrap-up of key points, make

a synthesis.

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CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

6.0 Introduction

This chapter presents conclusions and recommendations for the whole thesis. The chapter is

composed of three sections. Section one presents the summary of major observations and

conclusion on the research questions. Section two is composed of recommendations and policy

implications while section three suggests future research areas

An Exploration of the Role of FEMINA HIP Media Programme in Promoting Girls’ Sexuality,

the case study of Kigamboni ward, Dar es Salaam Tanzania, and specifically at Kigamboni

community centre was an interesting study focusing on the exploration of the role of FEMINA

HIP media programmes on young women’s lives. The study also explored the issues surrounding

young women’s lives including civic engagement taking in to consideration that media is not the

only variable that is expected to empower any young woman. The communities surrounding their

daily lives are part and parcel of their empowerment. Moreover not only FEMINA HIP products

are expected to contribute to the young women sexuality empowerment because there a number

of media platforms working on the ground with the similar role.

On the other side, FEMINA HIP media products aims at improving young women knowledge

about sexuality, HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, createawareness on the value gender equality.

However FEMINA has no control on how young women navigate in and make a sense of what

they consume from its media products. Moreover media consumption habits have changed

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dramatically with the rise of mobile phones; as the result media is becoming multi channel, multi

dimensional and multi platform that enables the consumer to choose what to consume depending

on her/his access, interests and influence from the society.

6:01Summary of major observations and conclusion on the research questions

The exploration of the role of FEMINA HIP media program in promoting young women’s

sexuality had a broader examination of three potential research questions that aimed to add value

on the exploration of how media use contributes to the empowerment of young women aged 15-

19. The research narrowed to the in depth study focusing on 10 secondary girls Fema club

members and general was obtained through a mini survey of 100 in school and out of school

secondary girls who were not necessarily from the Femina hip club

The reflection of the findings shows that there several components that contributes to the

sexuality empowerment and civic engagement of young women rather than media consumption.

Among these components the study found that cultural practise and the family background

tradition and norms influences the young women sexuality empowerment and civic engagement.

Family and community economy, religion, and education also have special impact on one’s

sexuality empowerment and civic engagement. Therefore the background influences young

woman choices of lifestyle, shapes the identity, impacts on their communicative ecology and

affects their decision making pertaining to sexuality.

Media consumption habits are dynamic and responsive towards socio economic and political

factors surrounding the lives of young women. In line with technological development all young

women involved in the research has access to media outlets such as mobile phones, radio, and

TVs; and all these persuademedia use habits and trends altogether. For 15 years FEMINA HIP

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has expanded its agenda from sexual and reproductive health, economic empowerment and

citizen engagement. Femina Hip has made a landscape of producing youth products and brands

such as Fema and Si mchezo magazines, Fema and RukaJuu TV shows, and web portal. In

relation to the impact and the respondent overview Femina products continue to raise awareness,

increases knowledge and impacting in behavioural change.

Assessing young women’s media consumptions, the study explored the contextual issues

surrounding their daily lives and found that there socio economic issues which also influenced

their consumption of media. Family education, religion, and economic status background has

impact on young woman’s empowerment and sexual decision making. Their choices of what to

consume from the media is the result of the contextual issues surrounding their everyday lives.

6:02 Recommendations

 We suggest that civil society media platforms should increase its focus on the young

women’s involvement on empowerment and civic engagement programs to build their

economic and decision making capacity.

 Gender equality and participatory communication should be observed in all media

product production so as to raise the voices of women among active empowered men,

perhaps this can help to reduce negative aspect surrounding young women such as early

pregnancies, child marriage, and HIV/AIDS prevalence among young women than male

counterpart.

 Even though media platform like it happens to FEMINA has no control of how consumer

consumes their media products and what they do with what they consume, time to time

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 research audience research should be done to observe the change and the indicators of the

media output.

6:03 Policy Implications

 The national youth development policy in Tanzania advocates the right to equality;

everybody including youth is equal before the law and has the right without

discrimination, to be protected and to be treated equally. But due to weakness girls in

certain circumstances, religion and region have been inflicted with severe pain through

harmful tradition, faced forced marriage, raped and brutal beaten. The researcher suggests

that the implementation of the policy should be reviewed to make sure that youth girls

rights are not jeopardized by certain cultural, traditional and norms.

 Although the national youth development policy calls for youth right to privacy and

security. The right has been undermined to some youth girls especially those working in

domestic places, they face molestation and sexual harassment. Such treatment denies

them the right to privacy respect and security. Community advocacy and creation of

awareness on the rights of young women.

6:04 Research Implication

 Even though this study narrowed down to in-depth study, it was limited to only one Fema

club and one ward in poor urban setting of Dar es Salaam. It would be interesting to

understand the impact of media use on other environment setting. For example rural,

urban rich people setting area.

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  The fact that the young women media use empowerment contributes to their public

participatory and decision making it would be interesting see more audience research

done in Tanzania.

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