“Part of what makes Simphiwe Dana so compelling for me, part of why I had to write this book, is that she is almost impossible to govern,” writes Professor Pumla Dineo Gqola in her latest book, A renegade called Simphiwe. This book is a “creative-intellectual portrait” of the public (and private) life of the musician. […]
Equality
Posted inEnvironment, Equality, Gender violence, General, Health, Lifestyle, Media, News/Politics
Living in constant fear
ON Thursday 19 September, South Africans heard why this remains a country where its people are still living in constant fear. Two decades of African National Congress self-interest and bungling have failed to curb crime, despite the asinine claptrap with which SA’s minister of police Nathi Mthethwa insulted the country. Millions of ordinary South Africans […]
Posted inEquality, Tech
Another feminist review of GTA V
My grubby little paws got their hands on Grand Theft Auto V yesterday and I cannot wait until Friday when I can start playing the hell out of it. Having it sitting at home without being able to play it because of late work nights is akin to a new form of torture. To tide […]
Posted inEnvironment, Equality, News/Politics
Peeking under the line
By Aragorn Eloff Earlier this week I received a Facebook invite for an event that, noble as it seems, left me feeling more than a little uncomfortable. Here’s the invitation for “Live Under the Line“, an initiative by the religious organisation Common Good Foundation: “Did you know that there are currently 13 million South Africans […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence, Lifestyle
Abuse of the sacred
A campaign called “Abused Goddesses” is drawing massive engagement and attention around the world. Initiated by a women’s empowerment organisation in India, called Save our Sisters, which helps prevent the trafficking of women and children, it makes use of a series of images of Hindu goddesses, Saraswathi, Lakshmi, Durga with bruises and cuts in an […]
Posted inEquality
The black double agents among us
By Tshepo Mogotsi “You speak English so well, where did you go to school?” That could easily rank in the top five annoying questions asked to products of the “Model C” system. And when I answer “Hillview High” (a name that has never and will never feature in any Easter Rugby tournament) a dense cloud […]
Posted inEquality
Black to white migration: Why black South Africans are moving away from black
Sometimes I wish my skin were lighter, my nose more narrow, hair that would allow a pencil to fall freely when slid into it, with my forehead slopping back a bit, a pair of ocean blue eyes and cap it all off with the white man’s accent. At least that would make my shopping experience […]
Posted inEquality
The flipside of feminism gevaar
I recently stumbled upon a video clip about the book The Flipside of Feminism: What Conservative Women Know — and Men Can’t Say (2011) written by two American women, Phyllis Schlafly and Suzanne Venker. The fact that they are white, privileged and conservative is important. If there was any furore about the book I missed […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
M&G Women: Ixhanti in our political isibaya?
Recently the Mail & Guardian held a Google Hangout revisiting the decision by the newspaper to establish a section dedicated to women. This is out of a concern that despite the good intentions of the section, it could have the effect of negatively contributing to the further ghettoization of “women’s issues”. I was invited to […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence, News/Politics
Why are (black) men silent on the war on queer bodies?
By Gcobani Qambela and Thoko Sipungu Toni Morrison says “evil has a blockbuster audience, goodness lurks backstage. Evil has vivid speech, goodness bites its tongue”. It is not difficult to remember these words when looking at the peculiar silence from heterosexual black men when it comes to issues of LGBTI and queer individuals. Writing for […]
Posted inEquality, General, News/Politics
Keeping shtum*
When I was a young woman just out of school and during a state of emergency, while on a visit to my beautiful Boba, we were talking politics and I told her I was in despair and hoping for the Messiah. She said I could put out my cigarette for starters. Let me say this […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Why the poor vote for the ANC and will do so for a long time
The question of why the poor who are always complaining about the ANC continue to vote for the organisation has always preoccupied my mind. I could never really comprehend how it is possible for multitudes of people who are being abused by the ruling party would vote it into power. I tried to rationalise it […]