Dancing double binds : feminine virtue and women’s work in Kinshasa
While women in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo have historically participated in commerce at the local level, with an increase in higher education levels, and with dire economic circumstances putting additional pressure on already limited family incomes, women are increasingly entering new professions. In so doing, and as they become more visible in political and economic spheres, women are subjected new forms of moral suspicion. It is within this context that notions of femininity and female virtue in Kinshasa continue to be redefined. Historically, as Congolese women migrated to the city of Léopoldville, they were confronted with new demands to become “modern” and “civilized” they were also expected to remain “traditional” by staying home and tending to their families. I suggest that these binaries continue to inform conceptions of female virtue in Kinshasa today, namely in the form a distinction between “virtuous” and “non-virtuous” women, and this dissertation explores the ways in which women actively negotiate new gender roles and expectations influenced by such binaries.  Rather than of falling into the trap of the local dichotomy drawn between “virtuous” and “non-virtuous” women, I focus on the underlying causes and the unexpected outcomes of these local categories. I discuss how notions of female virtue have been shaped and influenced by what can be referred to as a “triple patriarchy,” consisting of “traditional” values, colonial and post-colonial state-led initiatives, and Christian Pentecostal discourse. I also examine how these factors have engendered new perceptions of female virtue that put women in a position of double bind, having to carefully manage impressions of themselves in public. Further, I show how this kind of impression management fuels problems of trust between and across the genders, ultimately impacting perceptions of women in the workplace and in society more generally through the performance of popular culture.   Because it is one of the most visible occupations among women in Kinshasa, the role of the popular concert danseuse is useful in illuminating the new challenges faced by women in Kinshasa. As such, this dissertation provides an ethnographic account of danseuses, their particular status as public objects of desire, and how this visibility comes to bear on local notions of freedom, power and femininity.
women virtue work popular culture dance gender dynamics public sphere Kinshasa visibility danse