When two people decide to have a child, is it fair that one of those people gets more paid time away from work to bond with that child? Is it also fair that this situates parental responsibility firmly in the hands of the parent with more leave? In South Africa, women are given up to […]
Equality
Posted inBusiness, Equality, Lifestyle, Media
Why I’m boycotting the Foschini Group
T-shirts that are offensive towards women, ignorant of the HIV/Aids pandemic in South Africa, or are simply offensive are a reflection of a culture that says we shouldn’t care about these things, because misogyny, HIV/Aids and women’s rights are not something to be taken seriously. When a major brand like Foschini chooses to produce shirts […]
Posted inBusiness, Equality, News/Politics
#occupysouthafrica – for who and by who?
Last night I attended a planning meeting for #occupysandton the Johannesburg branch of the occupy movement that is spreading around the world. It began on Wall Street with a focus on the greed that has begun to characterise the economic order, and the inequality between the 99% and the 1%. They call themselves “a horizontally […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence, News/Politics
Metro police would rather police women’s sexuality than men’s violence
According to their Facebook Page “V-Girls is a global movement of girl activists inspired by I Am an Emotional Creature” — Eve Ensler’s latest collection of monologues for and about girls. The aim of the book, and of the movement is to inspire girls to take agency over their lives, and to encourage them to […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence
‘I’m too sexy to rape’
You may have read that DA MP Masizole Mnqasela was acquitted on rape charges in Cape Town a few weeks ago, and claimed that he was “too sexy to be a rapist”. You may also have read that Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba thought that the Slutwalk was an opportunity for him to “get lucky”. […]
Posted inEquality
Gay love is here to stay – hooray
This weekend in New York hundreds of couples got married. For the first time in their (sometimes very long) relationships, they were able to commit to one another in public and be legally married. If you need any more convincing of what a wonderful, happiness-inducing state of affairs this was, then check out these 60 incredible […]
Posted inEquality
Feminism is not a wave, it’s an ocean
Dear Jacques, Firstly, thanks for the links to FeministsSA — I appreciate them. The more interest in feminism, the better (even if it is misguided as in your case). A few points where I beg to differ: 1. Andrea Dworkin represents a particular segment of feminism — radical feminism. It’s not called radical for nothing, […]
Posted inEquality
Is genderless worse than gendered?
Most of us will remember lessons in how to be either female or male. We were told, no my girl, don’t play in the mud. That’s not for girls. Or no, my boy, fairy wings are only for girls. I was given an incredible poster by Andreas Spath about how so much of our gender […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Girls, boys lead different lives because of govt services
If the leading cause of death for girls under eleven is HIV and the leading cause of death for boys of the same age is road traffic accidents, what does this tell us about the way our lives are gendered?
Posted inEquality, Lifestyle
Gendercide
If you could, would you choose the sex of your unborn child? I was browsing my Blackberry App world on Sunday and found a scary little app. Some might think it’s cute, or useful or even a great thing to pass on. The app in question is called “Gender Predictor” and its message says: “This […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Feminism, man hating and power
Last week after a talk at Idasa on feminism, one of the audience members asked me “how do you reconcile the idea that feminism should engage with men, with your belief that they are still after us?” The reason she had got the idea that I believe that “they are still after us” was from […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Pandora’s box
Tick the appropriate box. White or black or other? Xhosa or Tswana or other? Jewish or Hindu or other? African, European or other? Male, Female or other? In Nepal they recently added a third box for you to tick in the area of gender on their voting registration forms and it’s time to start wondering […]