ABSTRACT
The notion of cultural politics captures the way that men and women, the young and the old, the gay and the straight, contest everyday cultural beliefs, ones that have real material consequences. The expansion of women's work opportunities in the last fifty years has also disrupted men's position as the sole provider, although many women face harsh poverty particularly as unemployment has increased since the 1990s. A greater number of women too began to build livelihoods in urban areas, often as domestic workers or engaging in informal activities such as the brewing of beer. Transformations are most evident in premarital sexuality where, in contrast to the nineteenth century, all informants are adamant that umthetho only allowed women to have a single lover; multiple partners were the prerogative of isoka alone. The apparent new tradition that limited women, particularly the unmarried, to only one boyfriend seemed to have emerged out of the subtle blend of Zulu and Christian values.
