The Potential of the Negative: A gender critique of men and HIV and AIDS in Johanne Masowe weChishanu among the Shona of Zimbabwe

Abstract

This article makes a gender critical analysis of the Johanne Masowe weChishanu (JMwC) beliefs and practices in the context of HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe. In current times in sub Saharan Africa, poverty is both a direct and an indirect effect of HIV that feeds on skewed gender relations. Efforts at forestalling the HIV and AIDS pandemic have often concentrated on empowering women through giving them a voice in negotiating for safer sex with their male counterparts. The approach has not lived up to expectation because it focuses on the powerless partner in sexual interactions to lead prevention initiatives against the transmission of HIV and AIDS. Men have resisted such women led initiatives feeling that their authority is threatened. There is a paradigm shift where focus is now on men in African indigenous religions or men in general. However, focus on the potential of men in African Independent Churches (AICs) in dealing with HIV and AIDS has been limited. Focus has been on men in traditional religions or men in general. Can men in AICs transform or revalue their cultural, moral, and spiritual obligation of dealing with threats to health and well-being in the current crisis of HIV & AIDS? This is a critical question since managing HIV and AIDS through transforming gender relations goes a long way in fighting poverty. This article argues that beliefs held about real manhood among JMwC are vital sites for the much-needed revaluing of religious traditions in combating HIV and AIDS that has critical effect on managing poverty levels in households.