Postcolonial Feminism in South Africa in Relation to the Case of Bhe V Magistrate Khayelitsha

Awa Thiam speaks on the topic of the daughters of black Africa trying to find themselves. She also states the comparison of the black women struggle with the European women. Thiam is arguing the point that the European feminist imposed the false argument “Rape is to women what lynching is to Blacks” (Thiam 114). Women in the text suffered from double domination and double enslavement by the colonial phallocratic. Thiam explains the false consciousness of the black women as well. The goal for the women is to achieve total independence, to call man bluff and all alienating influences.

The case law regarding members of designated groups who were denied access despite affirmative action measures is plentiful. Accordingly, Motala v University of Natal illustrates this. This case involved an Indian student who had been denied admission to the university in question. The issue under scrutiny was essentially whether this constituted unfair discrimination. Consequently, the court acknowledges that the Indian population group was indeed one that suffered under apartheid, however, it goes on to state that the struggle of African children in relation to education was far greater. And so, the court concluded that the student’s rejection from the university did not constitute unfair discrimination. This case intricately displays the operation of degrees of disadvantage and offers rich justification as to why such distinction must be made. The case of Minister of Finance v Van Heerden develops this notion further, thereby ensuring thorough and justified application. Respectively, Sachs J infers that within these designated groups

She is known as a prominent, persistent, and impassioned woman in her role as an African feminist. This text is presented durng the period of third-wave feminism, where modern feminists believe in the need for further changes to stereotypes, media portrayals, and expectations of women. As a reaction to the institutional rights given by second-wave feminism, there

Hassim, S (2003) contrasts a “transformational” feminist approach with an “inclusionary” feminist approach, in order to extract a set of criteria by which to evaluate the challenges of the South African women's movement. In defining the transformational approach, he draws on Maxine Molyneux's conceptual distinction between “strategic gender interests” and “practical gender needs”. She defined “practical gender needs” as those which arise from the everyday responsibilities of women based on a gendered division of labour, while “strategic gender interests” are those interests that women share in overthrowing power inequalities based on gender. While Molyneux acknowledges that these distinctions might be difficult to pin down in practice (1998),

All throughout the centuries, there have been many distinctive differences between men and women between the roles in society and their behaviors. Today, gender roles have been shifted and are making a durable impact on society. However, the issue regarding women’s rights are not just one but many. During this class, we have analyzed many different essays, books,

However, feminist anthropology does provide a unique perspective from which to study gender. For example, ‘the primacy of gender’ is an interesting interpretation of gender, premising that your gender could be seen as a master status and that other identifiers are secondary. Although gender is a primary aspect of a person, feminist perspective would want to consider the intersectional aspects of a person, including their race, class and age etc (Moore, 1988). This illustrates how even though the feminist perspective of anthropology is highly invested in the study of gender, it is possible to study gender from outside of this perspective. Moreover, this evidences the fact that feminist anthropology advocates for a much more diverse and inclusive perspective of

With the demise of the apartheid in 1994 and the implementation of the Constitution in 1996, it brought with it the concept of access to justice for all citizens of South Africa. The notion itself has developed and evolved beyond the preconceived idea of access to courts but encompasses one’s access to legal and state services, social, economic and environmental justice as well.

In African villages around the continent and even in other countries around the world women 's roles were always subpar to men. Whether it was in Niger like in the Chinua Achebe’s book Things Fall Apart or America in the 20th century women’s role was always below men’s. In fact in some cultures being called feminine or female was an insult. In Things Fall Apart it is difficult to compare the roles of man and woman. It is deeper than just women serve their husbands and cook. The word “female” itself was a symbol for being weak or being inferior to another person. In the ibo culture almost everything is segregated by gender from the plants to the crimes. Women in Umuofia did not have an important role in the eyes of men around the village but yet they affected the lives of people all around.

"We are the ones who first ploughed the earth when Modise (God) made it," ran an old Setswana poem. "We were the ones who made the food. We are the ones who look after the men when they are little boys, when they are young men, and when they are old and about to die. We are always there. But we are just women, and nobody sees us." This Setwannan poem informs the readers of the culture 's past gender roles. Men were laborers and providers, they were the head of their household, and leaders of their community. In contrast, women were in the background raising the boys to become great strong men. It was the women low in regard and statute that they worked diligently in their homes and their fields. Nevertheless, many of times have their deeds gone unnoticed and unpraised. These gender roles were not limited to the men and women of Setswana, even in the United States were these gender roles also applied. In the 1960s ', The Feminine Mystique caused women all over the nation to fulfill their desire for more, likewise in South Africa and bordering countries. Along with the rise of feminism in the 1960s, misandristic feelings, behaviors, works, and statements has manifested and have been indoctrinating the masses. “I believe that women have a capacity for understanding and compassion which man structurally does not have, does not have it because he cannot have it. He 's just incapable of it- Barbara Jordan.” This statement by former congresswoman and Civil Rights activist Barbara

Feminism is derived from the word “femina” which means woman. It is primarily focused on issues affecting women and their resistance to tyranny from patriarchy. Feminism seeks to free women from their traditional chains of oppression, subjugation, and exploitation. African writer’s however chooses to subvert from the term Feminism because of its Western origin. Also Nigerian women writer’s believe that using the term Feminism Nigerian men would believe they are forming an alliance with the Westerner’s and their ideal of Feminism. Nigerian women writer prefer using terms such as “Womanism, Motherism, and STIWANISM” because of its peaceful movement and committed to survival and wholesomeness of entire people but who loves herself regardless. It does not seek to separate but to form meaningful union between black men and women and black children and determined to see that men begin to change from their sexist stance. Unlike the Radical feminist in Feminism African women prefers to challenge patriarchy through negotiation and compromise, a foundation of shared values and principles in many African culture. Adichie use of feminism and womanism is prevalent in Purple Hibiscus through its female

barred by law from homesteading and on the death of a homesteader, his widow lost all

The identity of African women juxtaposed to the Western women’s identity is a hard concept for one to grasp. The word feminism is merely looked at from one perspective, the western perspective. The reality of feminism is that everywhere in the world has a different idea of what feminism is defined as and what it should look like. However there is one central theme that applies to feminists around the world, which is a feminist is someone who goes against traditional roles of a woman in their society to better their gender as a whole.

Women realized during the times of apartheid that change for them did not mean common mistreatment and oppression of men, however they saw it as an opportunity to liberate in race, regardless of gender, and fight against the system of apartheid instead of just fighting for “women’s rights”.

Moreover, it is now vital to gain a specific understanding of why the contemporary radical feminists approach to the rule of law is more preferable to that of Aristotle’s because of its relevance and broad understanding of gender based discrimination in today’s society. Women for example, have experienced the brunt of gender discrimination because it is often that sexist attitudes are frequently based on beliefs in traditional stereotypes of gender roles, and is

Gender-based violence refers to the act of causing harm to a woman in the form of sexual harassment, female genital mutilation or rape (Boonzaier, 2006). It is a major problem that is present in our day-to-day lives and it is this violence that affects everyone and can occur in almost any and/or every situation we come across. However, this violence against women is not a recent development as it has occurred as early as the eighteenth century (if not earlier) and it is a problem that has and still is being ignored or neglected. Thus, the aim of this paper is to discuss the relationship between violence, masculinity and femicide within South Africa. The concept of gender will also be discussed while also explaining the