Aine the feminist visits a safari office

3/8/2013

[After asking all the normal safari questions...]

Me: Are all of the guides men?
Arnold the manager: Yes
Me: Why haven’t you hired any women as guides?
Arnold: [Laughing, looking at male guides] Ah, well, guiding a safari is hard work.
Me: Driving and talking about wildlife? Women can’t do that?
Arnold: Ah, but they have to change tires.
Me: I can change a tire [Slight exaggeration.]
Arnold: Ah well, some there are some guides who are women, but they are very few in all of Tanzania.
Me: But you haven’t hired those guides?
Arnold:[Laughing] Ah, no, not yet
Me: This is serious. I’m doing economic research here in Tanzania and if you leave women out of the formal labor market, and don’t let them have good jobs like guiding safari, this will be very bad for the Tanzanian economy. Very bad. [Slight exaggeration, mostly in regards to my qualification for that statement]
Arnold: [Contrived seriousness] I understand.
Me: Well, I have to do some research about other companies and compare prices. But if you hire a woman guide, I will definitely hire your company for the safari [Slight exaggeration].

3 Comments

Jason Kerwin link

3/8/2013 07:58:25

Sexism in hiring has got to be an issue here, but I wonder what the supply of potential female safari guides looks like, and why? If none are trained then none can be hired.

On a related note, how hard has it been for you to find female staff for your project? In Southern Malawi, there was definitely a much larger supply of men who were interested in working on my last project, although I eventually did find (excellent) female staff. I suspect that in part that comes down to differing rates in completing secondary school, which was the basic requirement I used.

In a different project in Northern Uganda, I was less closely involved in the hiring process but it seemed like there was much less of a skew. I wonder where TZ lies.

Aine link

3/8/2013 16:57:05

Yes, of course there is limited supply in female guides. My point is much more from Aine-the-feminist side of life than Aine-the-economist. Trying to generate dialogue about the socialized notion that jobs are gendered and the respectable guiding ones are only for men. Maybe I should learn how to change a tire first...

Adrienne Testa

3/19/2013 02:09:51

I can teach you how to change a tire! :)

Aine the feminist visits a safari office

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