Customary structures in place are at odds with individual autonomy and play a role in rein-forcing certain gender inequalities. Both men and women are constraints related to age, by which they have to undergo ritual and stage change of their status. Marriage and related ritu-als attached are what enables change from childhood into adulthood. Parenthood enables yet another passage. But women, marry into husbands’ communities and move away from their own kin. Even if the rituals work in a way that extended and continuous contact is maintained, their kin support group is considerably weakened. Co-wives would benefit from supporting each other, but as isolate individuals that support would also be too weak. Rather an alle-giance with the husband’s kin is more valuable. With this, women have fewer incentives to work out conflictive interests amongst themselves. They rather invest in the relationship with her husband’s kin, in order not to lose their support in time of need. Marital conflicts are more commonly mediated by kin folk anyway. Only in case of irreconcilable differences are out-siders called in to intervene. That applies to state institutions too, naturally.
Women have to find alternative means to counter their vulnerability. Mr. C’s senior wife, for instance uses culturally based rituals to guaranty her rights. She is commoditising access to the husband and making a conservative interpretation of the rituals and their meaning. Rituals are important to inform of statuses, and the meanings conveyed can also inform on changes in statuses (Rappaport 1999: 107). By controlling access to her husband Maria is both asserting her status as senior wife and legitimising the junior wife’s right to be with him.
The husband and the junior wife, however rely on a more flexible interpretation of the same practices. They are being considered husband and wife even before Juvenalda moves in with
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her husband. The young bride also considered the father of her first child as her husband. The terms husband and wife do not necessarily relate to marriage. In this case, differently from Family S, these categories are not attributed to mere sexual rapports; they refer to shared par-enthood. This challenges the idea that amantismo is not to be considered a form of polygamy.
Many situations which would qualify as amantismo, like the case of Mr. C and Juvenalda, evolve into marital bonds and responsibilities; particularly if children are born from the rela-tionship. It is in women’s interest to be recognised as wives. And it is in the father’s interest to claim the children as his. They will not only if they cannot afford to. However, getting a wife – i.e. having children with a woman and/or offering plates for her – is less costly than getting married – i.e. going through all the ceremonies and comply with monetary demands.
The distinction in the terms used is not innocent. To be considered a spouse, particularly for women creates material changes in their lives. In this case it guarantees access to a house and plots, but also a provider.
People are affected differently by external events depending on what stage of life they are in.
Women use different strategies and logics depending on what stages they passed through and statuses they were able to access. The outcome of becoming pregnant is more uncertain than marriage, or even the in between status of unmarried spouse. The next family history will show more in-depth how personal chronology may affect decisions and revert undesirable outcomes.
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Chapter 4 - Segregated Polygyny
Family N lives in Pemba, the capital of the northern province of Cabo Delgado bordering Tanzania. I found the family with the help of a local Sheik, referred to me by the Islamic Council in Maputo. The Islamic Council is an NGO aimed at promoting Islam. Currently they are also engaged in development initiatives, such as ‘fighting absolute poverty’ or ‘protection of gender rights’. They were actively involved in the discussion of the family law. Because Islamic law states that men are allowed to marry up to four wives, they were one of the few organisations that defended the legalisation of polygamy.
I was able to conduct the interviews in Portuguese, though none of the family members’
mother-tongue is Portuguese. As I have mentioned before, and contrary to the other two fami-lies, the spouses in this marriage are not part of the same socio-linguistic group. This creates diversified and far encompassing networks, increased by – if not caused by – affiliation to Islam. It also creates potential for conflict. Through the Islamic religion this family is inserted into a vaster set of networks and affiliations (Bang 2003, Bowen 1998) than the other two families. Affiliation to the ‘imaginary Muslim community’ is linked to historic relations that have connected northern Mozambique to the Muslim world, but also due to new waves of Muslim communities that are making their way to Mozambique. It follows that the transna-tional relations in this context are of a different nature that those examples presented from Southern and Central Mozambique.
Mr. N has two wives. His wives live in different bairros (neighbourhoods) in the same city.
The women in this context, similarly to Family C do not seem interested in strengthening their bonds. First because production is not based on agriculture; and second because in Northern Mozambique matrilineal practices provide women with support and protection from their own kin network (Arnfred 2001, Bonate 2005).
Senhor N
Senhor (Mr.) N started the interview by saying that he was African and Mozambican. This illustrates how he constructs his identity around several ‘imagined communities’. He was born in Ibo Island, in the Quirimbas Archipelago. His father was sent there from Lichinga in Niassa Province, by PIDE (Polícia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado) – the Portuguese secret po-lice. His father had studied in Malawi where he converted to Protestantism. Upon his return to
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Mozambique he started a church that had strong adherence. The colonial government accused him of conspiracy. In the 1960s FRELIMO had already started its actions against the colonial regime. Action in northern Mozambique was stronger than anywhere else, both because PIDE managed to prevent action in other areas of the country, but also because Tanzania was the
‘rear-base’ for FRELIMO political and military action. Political action included popular mo-bilisation, which made the Portuguese suspicious of any native gathering. Additionally, Por-tugal had become under attack by the international community for holding colonies, when most African countries had already gained independence. Protestant missionaries were in-strumental in describing the atrocities committed by the Portuguese, and thus their churches too were under surveillance of the Catholic Portuguese State (Hall and Young 1997: 14-15) Mr. N’s parents married in 1964 and he was born in 1966. When he was one and a half year old he contracted poliomyelitis, which paralysed his lower limbs. Today he gets around with the help of a motorised vehicle for the physically impaired (see Picture 10). When he was ten years old his father returned to Niassa where he had another wife and child, because this child was ill. He never returned to Ibo, and died in Niassa.