We are a far way from realising our lofty ideals of gender equality, but we must keep working towards them
patriarchy
Posted inGeneral
African feminism and its project of decolonisation
African feminism is engaged in the project to recoup indigenous knowledge systems and to salvage identities that were destabilised by foreign incursions
Posted inGeneral
The parable of the lost Afrikaner son
I am a white, Afrikaans-speaking queer, the antithesis of what my family and church stood for. My identity crisis led to my identity formation
Posted inEquality
Government does not have the right to ignore rural citizens
Proposed changes to the Traditional Courts Bill to remove the possibility to “opt out” and use magistrate’s courts instead are probably unconstitutional, and definitely play into the hands of traditional leaders instead of their communities
Posted inGender violence
Why we don’t say ‘most’ men are trash
A rebuttal against the #MostMenAreTrash, #NotAllMen and basically any other alteration of the #MenAreTrash movement
Posted inEquality, Gender violence
Gender-based violence in a slave economy
The stereotyping of women as caring, soft-hearted mothers is a dangerous ideological construct
Posted inMedia
Black is not king, queen or peasant — black is complex
Although Beyoncé’s visuals are spectacularly beautiful, we are allowed to criticise ‘Black is King’ as reducing Africa for the gaze of the capitalist West
Posted inEquality, Gender violence, Health
Working with men towards ending violence and promoting positive masculinities
By Refiloe Makama & Sipho Dlamini Violence has remained a longstanding characteristic of the country. Gender-based violence (or more accurately: violence perpetuated by men against women and children and other male persons) appears to be on the rise, xenophobic attacks spring up all around the country, and other contact crimes saw an increase in the […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence, General, Health, Media, News/Politics
Why women suffer in our society
I have written about the position of women in our patriarchal society from various perspectives on this site several times before – in the context of guns and violence against them, on a fundamental level on the link between patriarchy, writing and images, on why one should respect women for their extraordinary qualities, and on […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence, Health, Media
Reattributing shame as an act of social justice
By Rebecca Helman I remember the first time I gave a talk to a group of strangers about that fact that I had been raped. The shame of it felt like a weight, trying to crush me into the floor as I attempted to stand up tall and look unblinkingly out into the room. In […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence
Women are patriarchal – and this needs to end
Dr Shahieda Jansen and Neziswa Titi Women are patriarchal. We know this from various sources and interpersonal engagements where we had been corrected by women to “remember our place” or understand that when a man violates a woman she should accept that is how men are. But what about women who work against other women’s […]
Posted inEquality, General, Media
The biggest cover-up of all time?
After seeing the film based on Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, and not having read the novel, I was somewhat prejudiced against his work as being just another kind of thriller, spruced up with a high-art context in which the action unfolds. Until I read his novel, Inferno, named after the first part of […]