OP-ED: The value of Leadership while conforming to Gendered narratives; An exploratory view of Leadership and Gender

2026-03-19 - 12:44

By Natukunda Fazirah Magezi Leadership in the mainstream perspective takes direction of politics and this in most cases gives birth to rulers and not leaders. This is because anyone who enters leadership using a conventional political Lense, they do so by prioritizing the art of manipulation to convince electorates to vote them into spaces of power and decision making at all costs, such individuals always have well written manifestos but without realistic tangible values. Take for instance a Leader who promises infrastructural development to electorate while knowing that they have limited influence in the budget processes. Such individuals always take advantage of the Nativity and innocence of the voters and the end goal is poor representation or misrepresentation. On the contrary, servant leadership is the one that prioritizes service above self and this kind of approach usually runs on honest, achievable, relatable and issue based lived experiences of electorates or voters. It looks beyond exotic manifestos that do not speak to the deep-rooted issues and concerns on the ground. The manifesto guiding such a perspective therefore lies at the interaction of continuity, Competence and Co-existence. For continuity, an aspiring candidate shouldn’t posture themselves as the savior of the electorate but rather as the voice that amplifies the unfinished or perhaps the less prioritized issues faced by their voters. This means the candidates manifesto is shaped by the realities on ground hence is key for competence-based leadership. Why Leadership and Gender are Intertwined and what Matters? Gender is a social construction of differences between men and Women. It places men and Women in distinct boxes of Masculinity and Feminity and it does this through role allocation (often times conceptualized as Gender division of labour), social expectations, career aspirations, geographical positioning or placement etc. This whole system is mediated by the process of socialization which starts from birth where when children are born, and one is female by sex they are brought clothes or gifts in pink colour while boys receive gifts usually in blue and toys such as guns for boys and household dolls for girls to nurture them into care givers as boys are nurtured to be providers and protectors. This process carries on through our life time until death. Men and women, boys and girls are highly policed to ensure conformity to their socially ascribed roles, responsibilities, aspirations, social positioning etc. Cases of conformity are rewarded with remarks like “Good girl” while cases of deviation are highly punished with phrases like “Which sort of man or woman are you” This kind of Gender policing thrives on social institutions like family, religion, academia which all play a significant role in ensuring that this gender asymmetry keeps afloat. This kind of system impacts human beings to the extent that gender takes precedence over humanity. This has affected how societies are arranged, how jobs are given, how students are taught, how careers are prescribed and the broader social relations. As agender specialist, perspectives that runs on the concept of “Ubuntu” which simply states “I am because you are, if you are therefore, I am”. It is this concept that treasures humanity over any other identity hence such would help us dismantle the gendered asymmetry that has caused historical oppression, discrimination and inequality of distinct social categories of people in the society.