Posted inEqualityLifestyle

‘Ubuhle bendoda, izinkomozakhe’ and the trouble with paying lobolo

By Refiloe Makama “Men are never ugly”. Nnu Ego makes this statement in Buchi Emecheta’s novel, The Joys of Motherhood, set during the colonial period in Nigeria. In a scene between two friends, the protagonist Nnu Ego had recently lost her first child, and Ato, her childhood friend comes to comfort her. In a memorable moment, […]

Posted inEqualityGender violenceGeneralHealthLifestyle

For black women, marriage is not a happily ever after

By Refiloe Makama On the 19th of May 2018 the world watched the wedding ceremony of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. With over 29 million people watching, the wedding was filled with every detail that marks a ‘true fairy-tale‘. Right here at home, every Sunday on the popular channel Mzanzi […]

Posted inEquality

Who died and made you a marriage expert?

By Mpho Buntse The rainbow nation, as South Africa is affectionately known, was abuzz with praise from international Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) pressure groups, the shallow voices of the same sex marriage critics mattered less, and media organisations, even those that are known to be ridiculously conservative towards LGBTI affairs, flaunted on […]

Posted inLifestyle

When a boy becomes a man

I am proud to have met and known a youth who has consciously chosen to become a man, a son who, in his own right, has become a father and a head of a family. I feel that becoming a man, a father, a husband and a head of the family at the age of […]

Posted inEqualityNews/Politics

What will King Zwelithini make of the Zulu gay wedding?

KwaZulu-Natal broke new ground recently. Two men, draped in traditional apparel, stood before family, friends and well-wishers. There was music, there was love and I imagine the good-old wedding jitters. They said “I do” and shared a kiss. The newlyweds are Tshepo Cameron Sithole-Modisane and Thoba Calvin Sithole-Modisane. The Sithole-Modisanes are not your “ordinary” young, […]

Posted inLifestyle

The twilight of testosterone

Something truly extraordinary is happening in the US labour market. At the beginning of 2010, it was revealed, that for the first time in the country’s history, women held a majority of the nation’s jobs. The dramatic rise of women within the ranks of the gainfully employed shouldn’t be seen as solely an American phenomenon. […]