Negotiating 'Plainness' and Gender

Dancing and Apparel at Christian Weddings in Matabeleland, Zimbabwe, 1913-1944

Bibliographic Data

ID3933359
AuthorsWendy Urban-Mead (Bard College), Wendy Urban‐mead (Bard College, corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume38
Issue2
Pages209-246
Publication date2008-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Religion in Africa (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-4200 • E-ISSN: 1570-0666
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1163/157006608x289684
OpenAlexW1998129096
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited10

This article analyzes the phenomena of dancing and wedding apparel in weddings of rural members of an unusual Protestant denomination of Anabaptist origins in Matabeleland, colonial Zimbabwe. The focus is on gendered aspects of African Christian adaptation of mission teaching amongst Ndebele members of the Brethren in Christ Church. The church in North America was firm at home on the matter of dancing (it was forbidden), and internally conflicted regarding men's garb. In the decades preceding World War II, African members of the church embraced fashionable dress for grooms and dancing at wedding feasts as common practice at BICC weddings. However, in a gendered pattern reflecting Ndebele, colonial and mission ideas of women's subjection, African women's bridal wear adhered to church teaching on Plainness, while African men's did not

Archaeology · Christian Church · Christianity · Clothing · Colonialism · Negotiation · Political science · Protestantism · Social science · Sociology · African history and culture studies · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Gender Studies · History · Law · Philosophy · Religious studies