L'approche biographique et ses possibilités pour l'analyse des systèmes de genre

This text focuses above all on methodology. It aims to demonstrate a number of possibilities offered by a biographical analysis of gender-related issues. Based on biographical data relating the sequence of events concerning matrimony, professional activity and housing in several African cities (Dakar, Yaoundé and Antananarivo in particular), the paper studies the various changes that have an impact on the lives of men and women in a dynamic framework. The situation of women and their role in society does not follow a single pattern, even in Africa. Men and women enter adult life in different ways: whereas men begin their working lives before marriage, each of the three cities proposes a different scenario for women. In Dakar, women appear to be mainly limited to reproduction. In Yaoundé, the most common practice is for women to marry before they begin to work, and to give birth to their first child at a later date. In the third case, Antananarivo, work precedes any of the other events. The great majority of women work before marrying or having children, although this work is often relatively insecure. The research carried out in Antananarivo, a city in which women have a much higher level of activity, highlighted that the current social changes have a far greater impact on women than on men. In the other two cities, women remain more dependent on men, particularly as far as marriage is concerned, and above all for their economic survival in the years immediately after their marriage.