Genderising the Social Media: Analysing Chihera’s Antics in the Zimbabwean Context

Abstract

The study takes an in-depth look at the portrayal of the fictional character, Chihera, on social media in Zimbabwe. Chihera belongs to the Shava totem; hence, the chapter discusses the Shava totem and the supposed inherent characteristics of people who belong to that totem. A qualitative research methodology was utilized to gather data, eliciting responses telephonically and also through the internet. It was not possible to personally interview the study participants due to COVID-19 restrictions during the study period. The research population constituted all contacts on the researcher’s mobile phone. Purposive sampling was used as participants were chosen due to their perceived maturity and also propensity towards being academics. The findings were that most people felt that the Chihera character was born out of a need for women to level the uneven playing field between/amongst genders, where the female gender was disadvantaged. The Beijing Conference was mentioned as one of the venues where this issue was discussed. Amongst the many characteristics of the modern independent woman was the need to work hard and juggle tasks, making inroads into jobs such as morticians and cross-border truck drivers, previously reserved for the male domain. Chihera is also presented as one who stands her ground on financial matters, in her daughter’s marriage; she is outspoken and she can physically fight to defend her stance. She dresses in any way appealing to her, scoffing at any remarks in her wake. Recommendations were that social media is an avenue that provides psychological relief but it should be used responsibly. It was suggested that the society should not be too prescriptive of women’s dress, and it should not stereotype women according to dress or even according to their career choices.