There’s a widely used quote by Martin Niemöller that I love: “First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for […]
Gcobani Qambela
Senior Anthropologist at the University of Johannesburg and Researcher at The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH), Oxford University.
Co-author of the "Anti-Racist Teaching Practices and Learning Strategies Workbook" with Warren Chalklen, PhD.
Available: https://bit.ly/3huUEMP
Posted inEquality, Gender violence
How not to pick up women in SA
Written with Rethabile Mashale* City Press ran a story on December 22 by Charl du Plessis titled “The art of picking up women in SA”. The article on Pick Up Artist SA’s boot camp on picking up women is about “the secret psychological techniques that will help [men and lesbian women] get lucky with South […]
Posted inEquality, Media
Beyoncé: A feminist in her own terms
Beyoncé is undoubtedly one of my generations’ most iconic and influential global figures and sheroes. Titans such as Oprah Winfrey, Barack and Michelle Obama, and our very own Nelson Mandela have hailed and expressed awe at her extraordinary talent, groundedness and the humble personality she oozes. At just 32 years she has a net worth […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence, News/Politics
Shallow rhetoric, Mandela and personal responsibility
I still vaguely remember the first time I found out who Nelson Mandela was. My parents had an ANC sticker in their bedroom wardrobe that carried Mandela’s face. I did not know anything about him at the time, but it wasn’t until my mother caught me trying to remove the sticker that I would first […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence
The role of men during #16Days
*Trigger warning I was shocked to see a tweet by controversial South African blogger Sentletse Diakanyo on the first day of 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence in South Africa. In the tweet Diakanyo says that: “We must not ignore the slaughter of unborn babies during this 16 Days of Activism.” He went on […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
‘Side-guys’ and ‘side-chicks’ in the time of Aids
I just read a very troubling article by Mail & Guardian columnist Khaya Dlanga titled “Why do side-chicks happen?” In this article Dlanga claims to investigate in the South African context the reasons why (American-focused) research suggests that multiple lovers have come to “become even more popular in the modern age”. He cites a study […]
Posted inGeneral
The politics of the white male penis
I recently watched Lawrence Barraclough’s two interesting documentaries on white men and penis size. The first one “My Penis and I” chronicles Barraclough and his personal struggle with a tiny three inch (erect) penis and follows his journey as he considers having penis enlargement surgery. The second documentary, “My Penis and Everyone Else’s”, follows up […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence
Why Trevor Noah’s Semenya tweet matters
By Gcobani Qambela The former secretary-general of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, says: “All the cruel and brutal things, even genocide, starts with the humiliation of one individual.” I was reminded of this quote this past Friday when I logged into my Twitter feed to find the mixed reactions to South African comedian Trevor Noah’s […]