Thoughts on "Gender-Week" - 10th-17th April

Got my chance to have a say about my opinions on gender-relations in the Varsity Newspaper and here it is online. So I am satisfied about that not for the stimulation of my ego but rather to offer university students a better clarification of feminism so that the stereotypes of angry, under-sexed, done-wrong, hard, butch, man-hating and power-hungry "bitches" will dissolve somewhat.

I attended a panel discussion during last week on the topic of "Masculinity in South Africa". I was glad to hear strong mention of a deeply entrenched white-supremacist (imperialist) patriarchal masculinity by all three of the panelists with one even making mention of the notion that "masculinity is made" i.e. socially constructed and a result of condition. The kind of masculinity she was making reference to of course that which feeds off of conquest, power and domination. The final panelist was also profound in conveying how this same white-supremacist patriarchal masculinity has embedded itself in our history. How we are made to admire the European colonial style of seizing power of weak natives and that this is the model we naturally wish to follow in order to gain a feeling of satisfaction with ourselves. This reminds me of a quote from Nineteen Eighty-Four in which O'Brein tells Winston, "If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — forever". That's it..."Power is not a means, it is an end" which is also another quote from the book. It's all its about, that's all it's ever been about. One does not gain power for any other purpose than to satisfy themselves with a sick feeling a contentment. In closing, the panelist left us with the thought that we should continue to think critically about our history and not let history ride over us. If we never question how whites came to dominate the way they do, we'll never understand our the power-structure, economic-system and social-heirarchies. Why some people have it easier than others. History can not be divorced from the present. History has shaped our present and trying to forget about it will not make it's influence on today disappear.

But I still find this one interesting. The Deputy Editor of Varsity in the usual Editor's Comment section writes this:

If someone is against abortion, homosexuality and disagrees with feminism then that is their right and they should not be adversely judged or treated for believing it. The world, indeed liberals need more people who adhere to the bible saying that says “let those who are without sin cast the first stone”.

Which can be read in full here

Now although I agree with the notion of letting people be and not interfering with their personal right for individual expression, I have got to say that underneath Tatenda's self-righteous veil, he is practicing a very common habit patriarchal males struggle with and that is defending male privilege. Anyone who disagrees with feminism is simply defending male privilege and chauvinistic ideas.

Enough about that, during gender week three large boards were placed up at the Jammie Plaza one with the words gender week, another with a female figure and another with a male figure. With this, people were asked to write about their thoughts about gender and as you would expect the boards were cluttered with obscene, sexist, misogynistic, homophobic remarks aplenty. No surprise, are young people expected to have any morsel of maturity in a discussion of this nature. As consumers of highly sexist forms of entertainment what more would you expect aside from the usual sexualized trash when it comes to the topic of the gender-binary.

Big Brother Africa: Yardstick for Africa's Progression Away from Tradition

As Big Brother draws to a long-awaited close tonight, I seek to take a moment of reflection. Of the incorrect grammar and spelling on the 24/7 channel's strap (text message board) and the interactive part of the website, I am hardly surprised. Just take a sample of YouTube comments, most of which it takes some time to decipher into standard English and you will understand. It was interesting to see comments made about each individual housemate. The public's opinions about specific behaviours and events. How most of these were similar throughout the continent and what they say of Africa's general approach to certain aspects. I shall discuss gender and class here since all housemates except one were Black.

It was clear from the beginning that all the women were, as is always done, judged according to looks. The darkskinned, skinny haute couture model types were taken out first after week 1 when the show was still streamlined according to gender. They were not labelled as one of the "hot girls" in the house and were eliminated despite Maggie's spunky personality. Well. The game continued with viewers using the same standard of comparison for the remaining women. Fast forward to the latter weeks where fewer housemates are present in the house. Scrutiny is placed on the unladylike behaviour of Mzamo from Malawi and Nkenna from Nigeria. The former is chronic drinker, chain smoker, punk-inspired and unabashed about her libidinous boy-chasing ways. While I would say "Mo power to you" in response. The majority of Africa criticised her for not representing a "true African woman". Especiall after her window punching stint which took place after Itai from Zim found it necessary to exclaim that Mzamo does not take pride in her appearance or act like a woman should. This is a clear representation of what I've come to know of traditional African beliefs. They are centred in chauvinism. Because Mzamo displayed behaviour unbecoming of a "woman", she was insulted constantly. Well what then is an African woman? A docile, submissive little dove that cooks, cleans, does not seek to have a career of her own outside the demands of housewivery, never speaks above a whisper and takes abuse from men withouts question.

So it's the virgin-whore dichotomy defining standards of female behaviour. Not suprising. But the amount of contempt shown for Nkenna introduces another form of disdain. For those that occupy of lower status of class in society. For the entire duration of the show, she was referred to as the "village girl". So that left only one female housemate to appreciate, Emma. The closest thing, the public had for an ideal African woman. Pretty (in their opinion), always taking care to look good, "sweet" and involved in a nonsexual relationship with one guy. See how predictable. We dislike the women who don't care and just do themselves. We choose to like the one who takes pride in her looks, is vain and perhaps cares too much what others think to the point of fakeness - which she did display later on. It's a common practice in the assessment of women. Be vain or get out.

We've Got Pigs Too

Yesterday, I was taken aback by the lack of concern taken to the traumatic experience that racialicious' Fiqah endured at the hands of an officer. I was not able to watch Carte Blanche last night due to my family's deep obsession with Big Brother Africa 4, but I just read through the transcript and am horrified to say the least. Two unreported rape offenses by police officers here in South Africa . In the same month that a little boy was brutally murdered for no reason at all among others. Police brutality seems only to be escalating and not a single one of these officers despite the brutal and heinous nature of these offenses. Sad state of affairs. One does not know whether the police can be trusted to be called upon for safety. When they commit the same crimes as the men they arrest but are protected by their so called "badge of honour".

I can't help but try and find some relation between these events and the fact that South Africa has such a broken history. Living through apartheid South Africa left many blacks with a strong sense of futility and meaninglessness similar to what Du Bois posited about the problem of the black American underclass. I've seen this most potently displayed by black men of the lower class. I'm afraid to say that they are the demographic most expected to these commit offense both within their communities and beyond. Apartheid has left behind a frightening legacy of cold-spirited black men with a nihilistic killer mentality. Now that these same individuals occupy the police force and are given free roam with the illusion of safety and protection, they've simply taken to abusing their power for their own infantile gains. They feed their egos through the induction of unease. What these imbeciles don't see is that their actions benefit little in the long run. If South Africa gains a reputation for being a crime-rampant nation where police themselves exert the same kind of brutality that offenders do, not only will a massive brain drain begin to occur. Revenue from tourism will most easily be affected. Resulting in declining GDP. These utterly stupid, animalistic idiots are too dumb to see how their impulsive and foolish actions are causing or may lead to the overall decline of this nation's standard. What a useless goverment we have! What significant measures have they put in place?? What are they even doing aside from singing lame tribal songs and complaining about trivial matters.


So, it's true we've got pigs too. Only that ours are not a white male majority.

A Real Shocker: Anti-Feminists in the Christian Body

I've been getting quite a few of those lately but this oh this is something else. A group of avid Christian film-makers who have compiled a documentary exposing the many ills and misguided mindsets that the feminist movement has supposedly spilled over the fabric of modern-day society. The shocker itself

Now I have a problem with Christians using the Bible to propagate anti-feminist messages. A big problem. This is no different to using the Bible to justify the racial superiority of the white race. What kind of insanity is this?
I have not seen the documentary in full but from the preview available on the website as well as images of women that have dominated politics and transcended to positions of power chiefly held by men posted against the torrid title of the project: The Monstrous Regime (obviously alluding to the Feminist Movement/Women's Lib).

I of course completely dismiss traditional gender roles as much as a refrain (for obvious reasons) from accepting the notion that members of each ethnic group must be limited to play their historically-defined role in a society. Racial parity is as of much significance as gender parity. The idea of "extolling feminity; blasting feminism" is nothing more than preposterous. What makes me even more suspicious is that the film-makers who aptly identify themselves as the Gunn Brothers are men. How surprising! That a group of men (the knowledge that they are Christians should be seen as completely independent of their motivation to issue such a ludicrous piece of work) have gone all out to create a documentary-film that uses the Bible to bash feminists and portray them as being malicious and vile in their intentions.

Gloria Steinem would roll her eyes at this dismissively. It is plain to see how a couple of men, frustrated at the turn of events that have unfolded over the last half-century which has seen women liberated from silence and subservience, with the Bible at the ready scouring its holy pages for evidence to proclaim that women should have never been liberated in the first place. Using the Good Word to find further evidence of why women are apparently inferior knowing full well that even though they may not be able to reach those feminists who have abandoned organized religion for its emphasis on female subservience, weakness and inferiorty, they will certainly have the ears of all those women who remain loyal to God out of reverence for the Creator. How heinous, how sly, how repulsive. Can I wonder now why Christians are having a hard time winning souls when they stand strong for these kind of mindsets. Misconstrued scripture used to justify the violation of Human Rights.

I love God don't get me wrong. But there is something I love just as much: an inalienable right to be identified as an equal on the basis of just being human, damn it! C'mon!

A blog entry on defending privileg which is entirely pertinent to the above. The Gunn Brothers are simply defending their white male privilege and using the Bible in that. True sleaze.

Black Female Celibacy...an Oxymoron?? Beg to Differ!

Reading this article from the 'New Black Magazine' brought to light and quantified in a concise format some thoughts I often have on the topic of why the stereotypical view of blacks maintains that we are sexually deviant, promiscuous and simply out-of-control in a kind of animalistic way. Also the sense of entitlement and claiming that seems to be made when it comes to women's bodies in general. If this were not the case why would sexual harassment in public be such a common place thing. I just wonder what gives a complete stranger the right to try and meddle with private parts of your body, in public for that matter so here comes a misogynistic aspect of this kind of behaviour - a need to humiliate a woman for no valid reason. It's a shame, a complete and utter shame yet when the complaints erupt, they are seldom taken seriously. In fact they are laughed upon, further perpetuation of the humiliation.

The treatment and portrayal of the female form in mainstream media seems to always boil down to this irrational notion that women do not have claim to their own bodies and what happens to them thereafter. That we see so many numerous cases of rape victims becoming the accused while their perpetrators are viewed with sympathy as the poor guy who got seduced by a women dressed raunchily who sought to use her sex to take a wealthy or powerful or publicly well-known figure down such as the case of Crystal Mangum. Now nobody seems to know what went down the night of the alleged incident but one cannot turn their eyes away from the fact that if she was raped, there is no way she would be able to have her attackers punished for their crimes. They bask in the glory of male privilege, the general public is completely favourable to sportsmen in most cases and as a figure that is commonly viewed in society as completely lascivious and sexually immoral, it is no wonder she is the one to take the blame for the assault.

Now perhaps one can understand why a complaint about the sexualization of the female form in mainstream media is not just a bunch of old tannies and oupas with overly traditionalist values and world-views frowning upon any kind of indecency or even perhaps overly religious members of the public who dismiss sexual immorality in fear of God's condemnation. Rather the problem lies in the fact that these images infiltrate the unconscious mind's of our young men and feed them with the notion that they are entitled to do as they will with women's bodies, that the female form exists to gratify the sexual hunger of the species and this in turn leads to an outward expression of these underlying beliefs: sexual harassments, rape and other sex-crimes.

Why Chauvinists Should Take Rape Seriously (will the poor things ever)

I could not have said it any better myself. The light-hearted way in which chauvinists treat the issue of rape. If I could write a constitution for the world it would entail a law that sends men who laugh at, mock or even blame rape victims to jail for a little experience of their own. See how they'll like that. Either way here's the post that struck my interest.

Tell me after reading this that women should just "sit back and enjoy the ride" when being forced to endure an event that will leave them emotional scarred for an immensely long time thereafter. It's not even about sex, it's about a heinous theft of power. But when "you're just a boy" how can you understand anything remotely close that level of insight and below-the-surface thinking.

Zapiro...my man!

Whilst this nation is slowly being sucked into a gravitational vortex of increased inflation, endless power cuts, stadiums that aren't going to be ready in time to host the world's biggest football event, there is even more to be anxious about. If all goes according to plan, this already ailing country is going to be served with a God-only-knows-how-long jail sentence which will be Zuma's term(s) in office. Tragedy! An alleged rapist, a man who advises civilians residing in a country with the highest HIV/AIDS infection rate on the planet to take a shower after having sex with a possible carrier in order to avoid personal infection, the bloody arm's deal man! On top of that we have idiot Malema proclaiming that his comrades and him will be more than zealous to kill for Zuma, already bad enough considering the never-ending 'Umshini Wami' chant we're forceably subjected to every night on the news.

Where is this country going? Sometimes it seems the best thing you can do for yourself is switch off to it all and try, I mean just try and act as though really it's all good back at base camp but that's a hard thing to do man because the governance of the nation will affect you in the long run anyway no matter how hard you try to alienate yourself from current affairs.

But all the praise to this iconic cartoonist we have come to know for his shameless way of sucking some humour out of the disturbing and difficult-to-digest truths about our tragic nation. Zapiro is the man (for lack of a better way of expressing the gratitude and admiration tantamount in many of those that get a read of the Sunday Times Canvas every week). This was nothing more than genius at work. Raping the justice system - his corrupt manipulation and disregard for the consitution of a country he wishes to lead in a year's time; then of course we have the commentary on what we saw as a absolute chauvinism in his approach during the rape trial in 2006. Now, chauvinism and patriarchy are undeniable traits of African tradition no doubt about that but what strikes me as even more tragic is the internalized chauvinism prevalent in the mindsets of Africa women. During the rape trial instead of witnessing outrage from the female majority at the fact that such a prominent leader in ANC politics would be involved in such a crude exploitation of women's rights (especially considering that the affected was an African female herself), we saw a support and oh my goodness, even a defense and sympathy for Zuma's judicial plight. Have these men got these women's brains manipulated so bad that they have gotten to the point of viewing the rapist (as many times is the case) as a victim of some woman's cruelty in dismissal. How truly sickening!

Then you have the camp of so-called feminists round here accusing Zapiro of being insensitive towards the many rape victims in the country by portraying a cartoon in which the theme of rape is manifest. This is silly logic and I'll say this with assertion because if anything, the cartoon's central focus was villifying Zuma's credibility as a political leader and not a form of portraying women in a chauvinistic light once more. Zuma is the misogynist not Zapiro. Zzz zzz. Haha. Know what, Zapiro is kind of suffering racism right now. Black people are now looking for a way of averting our scornful attention from the perpetrator of the moment. Let me tell ya, it sure aint Zapiro. If anything this man is doing good deed for us by exposing this sham of a leader we have been forced to embrace as the new ANC president and a very plausible future president for our country.