Jacques Rousseau’s article in the Mail & Guardian (March 22-27 2013) titled “The naked truth about porn on television” cannot go unchallenged. Rousseau is the chairperson of the Free Society Institute and defends the viewing of pornography on television. His intervention in the recent debate about whether we should allow pornography on television is clearly […]
Equality
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
There are many Oranias in SA
By Athambile Masola As a product of a Eurocentric, former white educational institution, I was once very quick to embrace non-racialism (that race should no longer be used as a marker to understand our experiences). I’ve been living in Cape Town for over a year and have come face to face with the politics of […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Why all Afrikaners should go to Europe
By Mark John Burke Europe is a great place, it really is. You step off your plane onto a train that takes you to your destination and once there trams and buses stand ready to take you to wherever you want. Europeans have perfected recycling and they go to great lengths to ensure everybody’s safety. […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence, News/Politics
Behind the shock and awe, the violence is ‘normal’
The murders of miners at Marikana by brutal state apparatus, the rape and murder of Anene Booysen by a group of men, and the killing of Reeva Steenkamp by her male lover have common threads. All three reflect a confluence of systems of violence that span centuries. Each is a product of past and prevailing […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Should we boycott Andile Mngxitama?
By Kameel Premhid and Thorne Godinho “I’m robespierre (sic) I understand my fate … ” Andile Mngxitama, the controversial writer behind the New Frank Talk journal, recently tweeted this. This reference to the executed French revolutionary Maximilien de Robespierre followed the public outrage expressed by individuals when Mngxitama called on ”true Bikoists” to physically assault […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
The new M&G website: Putting women in their place?
So the Mail & Guardian is launching a women’s website. A website I presume that is written, curated and read by women. A website that speaks to the various concerns of “professional women, working and stay-at-home mothers”, I am told. And while this seems like a fairly benign prospect, the beginnings of what sounds like […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
How far is South Africa from a female president?
The road to Mangaung is paved with good intentions, but none of these intentions include advancing women to the position of president or deputy president. This year’s race is patriarchal to the core — just have a look at the effort that’s been put into pushing the Traditional Courts Bill through the system despite the […]
Posted inEquality
What does it mean to be a feminist in Women’s Month?
Many people spend a lot of their time making straw-women arguments about what it means to be feminist. Feminists, they assume, are all unshaven, definitely don’t wear make-up or do their hair, and perhaps are a bit overweight. Feminists, they think, are all militant and anti-men. Feminists do not have a sense of humour, and […]
Posted inEquality
We need to change the gendered value system
Are men and women different? If so, are those differences significant today? Recently I’ve had two discussions with men about the differences between men and women. Each time, after a long drawn out debate, it has come down to this: “But men and women are different. If they’re not, how come men and women don’t […]
Posted inEquality
Why unequal gender relations are bad for everyone
Bathing in the warm, fuzzy glow of pay day, my boyfriend and I decided to head out for a drink this past Friday evening. We had set out later than planned, and it was a dark but warm night. The roads were busy, and we made our way from Illovo towards Melville via Parkhurst. The […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Can men lead the women’s movement?
As many of you have heard, there was further violence against women at the Noord Street Taxi rank earlier this month. Two young women were assaulted by a mob of violent men, justified by the premise that they shouldn’t have been wearing revealing clothing. We have been here before, and this violence is evidence that […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence, News/Politics
Durex cocks it up on the eve of 16 Days
I received a forwarded horrific tweet moments ago. The tweet in question came from Durex SA, and went as follows: @DurexSA: Why did God give men penises? So they’d have at least one way to shut a woman up. #DurexJoke When I pointed out to them that this endorsed violence against women, their response was: […]