“Why Should a Married Man Fetch Water?” Masculinities, gender relations, and the embodied political ecology of urban water insecurity in Malawi

Abstract

In sub-Saharan Africa, water insecurity is intertwined with gender and sociocultural norms. While extensive scholarship exists on gender-water relations in the region, it predominantly focuses on women’s roles and responsibilities, seldom considering the role of masculinities. This paper examines masculinities, gender relations, and women’s embodied experiences of water insecurity. It situates women’s embodied experiences of water insecurity within household and community masculinities. The study was conducted in Lilongwe, Malawi, and data were drawn from interviews, focus groups, observations, and household surveys. The findings advance the gender-water literature in at least three significant ways. First, they demonstrate how gendered labour underpins women’s embodied experiences of water insecurity. Second, they show that women’s decisions and strategies for coping with water insecurity are themselves an embodied consequence of water insecurity. Finally, they illuminate how men’s perceptions and constructions of masculinity, expressed through marital expectations of femininity, shape women’s embodied experiences of water insecurity. Together, the findings reveal intricate intersections between masculinities, gender relations, and women’s everyday embodied experiences of water insecurity, validating the body as a significant site of geographic inquiry.