The plight of women in our society

Our tradition needs to go back to what the status of women really is, as opposed to what oppressive men make everyone believe it is, writes Sifundo KaZolile Ndzube.

An organisation called Saferspaces properly introduces gender-based violence (GBV) as a profound and widespread problem in South Africa. This social ill disproportionately affects women and children, almost in all spaces of their livelihood, which makes me share the same sentiments as those who hold that it is entrenched and systematic.

I am in concurrence with sentiments that suggests GBV occurs because of normative role expectations and limitations relating to power relations between genders in a society. Our society is primarily influenced and characterised by politics and religion. Secondary would be varied cultures and norms.

On politics

I am of the view that it is befitting to refer to politicians as lawmakers or legislators, amongst the vast scope of functions that such a sphere administers. I am mentioning this so to first indicate the role that one would expect out of the said sector, and will then examine how the political sector currently functions, and hopefully extend to what bars them from uprooting GBV.

As opposed to the expected role of politics in our society, which is to be the implementing instrument of change and betterment of the lives of the people, the current-day politics are largely about sloganeering and podium-based sentiments, which never gets to be implemented. While the people would wait and hope that political sentiments shall one day materialise as reality, politicians continue to indicate right and turn left.

On 9 August 2020 South Africa once again commemorated Women’s Day. This has come to be yet again another day for leaders of various political formations to come out and speak against social ills that are daily faced by women and undoubtedly perpetrated by men, which predominantly leaders of our country’s political formations actually are.

It is worth voicing the fact that there are even suspicions that the political spectrum uses GBV crimes such as rape to tilt political dynamics, and women are central to this. In some cases it has been alleged that some women who would go public with rape allegations are part of plots to topple some political figures from positions of power, and behind all these are suspected to be men operating with women who participate willingly. This, I believe, also contributes in weakening any voice that seeks to address the need for harsh approach to GBV allegations, because there is also scepticism on the realness and truthfulness of allegations.

It seems that the political fraternity, led by men and of course also elected by women, acknowledges the difficulties that women are subjected to by men in the society. We have, as a society, heard them calling on the judiciary to act a certain way towards perpetrators of GBV crimes. However, one longs to see them promulgating laws that speaks to their utterances. It is rather worth giving concern to the fact that, either women are downplaying themselves as it relates to escalating each other to positions of political power and influence, or they just believe so much that the same men who are oppressing them could one day wake up to free them; perhaps that’s left for the reader to answer.

I am raising this concern because if politics are about revolution and redressing injustices, it wouldn’t be today still the case that women issues are addressed by men and women programmes such as August 9^th feature keynote addresses by men, as if women are properties of men or their subordinates. However, a share of responsibility in as far as women leadership is concerned must be employed on women. They themselves in large numbers defend and advance men, against their own gender candidates.

On religion

Religion is one of the greatest influencers of human behaviour in any community, and South Africa is no exception. A host of people in our society subscribe to one or another religion, and it can be argued that those who believe in a certain religion, uphold its values; believes strongly in the convictions held by these religious formations.

Our country is said to be a Christian state, or that Christianity dominates our country, and it is with that reason that I would focus on the contributions of Christianity to GBV or in combating it. I must mention that I am not learned on Christianity and would therefore only deal with convictions that are in public domain, as held by its followers. At least the IsiXhosa version of the Christian bible suggests that in the creation of human, in the Genesis Chapter, God created a man and when he realised Adam was lonely, from his rib, a woman, Eve was created.

I think from this very point, one can argue that a suggestion is made that this religion easily makes one to perceive women as subordinates of men, or their property. As much as I can confess to have never really studied the Christian bible, I am comfortable to challenge the reader to refer me to any verse in any chapter where women are recognised as able and capable, outside the wings of men. I argue still that if that is the case, the Christian bible reduces women and their capabilities to make the world great.

Professor Simphiwe Sesanti of Unisa’s Institute for African Renaissance Studies, speaking at the Western Cape Regional SRC Men’s Conference, under the topic African Feminism Context,  suggested that the undermining of women in the African society is foreign and as a result of people being uncultured. In his input, he makes comparison between Christianity and the various African religions. Sesanti brought the attention of the conference attendants to a number of IsiXhosa rituals where women are actually given a leading role, which he holds is because of their stronger connection with the gods, as he suggests women are actually the creators, secondary to the Creator of all things. Sesanti went further to indicate the limitations that women confront within the cultures and went on to teach the audience that these are not unfair discriminations but respect to rituals and separation of roles.

In his closing remarks, Sesanti took the conference through different roles which one woman can be entrusted with under different statuses in the tradition. While a woman may be a bride in one household and be perceived as limited and enslaved, as some suggests, she could equally be uMafungwashe at her home of birth, and those who would understand this culture will know the role of respect and authority this comes with. This esteemed guest speaker concluded by arguing that in the African culture there is no feminism context because there is no contestation of roles.

However, the fact that the migration from traditional culture of living to a modern or western way, as some refer to it, was as a result of the brutality that women in general and blacks in particular suffered at the hands of traditions and customs and this fact cannot be ignored.

I hold the view that men manipulated traditional norms and customs in many adverse ways in so far as women interests and voices were concerned. Somehow the tradition became about making women secondary and doormats for men.

If I could refer to just two traditional practices as examples, it would be isithembu and ukuthwala. Having listened to many prominent scholars of the African traditions studies, one is able to say, the customary marriage form of isithembu, had over the years been manipulated by men who wanted to advance their selfish and greedy desires, and as a result have practiced this custom incorrectly. It is held that customarily it was a decision of a first wife to decide whether the husband could and should take a second wife. This, we are taught, had nothing to do with whether the husband had an interest to take another wife, but was based on whether the old wife felt that she needed someone to help her carryout the household duties, hence she would even be the one who make a recommendation of who the second wife should be. This traditional practice suddenly took a turn when men opted to be selective and manipulative towards the tradition, and as such this custom began to be exercised in a way that resulted as emotional oppression against women.

Ukuthwala again became one of many other customary practices that got hijacked by paedophiles to advance their evil interests and as such a great pain to young girls, who are voiceless.

On culture and customs

The society and mostly its youth are influenced by cultures, which later become norms. Culture could be defined as an adopted way of living and forms of expression.

There exists what came to be known as hip hop culture, and I choose this culture because a lot of its aspects speaks to gender unequal roles, which the writing is all about. One almost sees it in all its clips, that women are either reduced or reduce themselves to leisure and entertainment for men. From many music videos of this genre and its culture, women are constantly seen in rather risqué appearances and are largely seen only assuming a role of dancing or entertaining men.

Perhaps one in this aspect could also speak to prostitution or sex work, whichever is the suitable way to refer to it. Although men are participating in this form of trade, as some regard it, women remain large portions of this culture. It is argued that prostitution or sex work should rather be legalised, as currently it neither legalised nor regulated. Those who advocate that this culture be regulated and legalised argue that this is work and those who opt to do it must be protected. I am unable to cease asking myself whether or not this is indeed a practice within the morality we inherited from our forebears and whether or not those who do it are left with any other choice beside it.

The one question I would like for us to ponder on, though, remains whether if we agree and support prostitution, we do so because we believe this is really right or because we understand and are sympathetic to the circumstances of those who do it.

The afflict of  GBV necessitated a move in which women and the broader society to stand together in a culture that seeks to confront this plague in the same way it affects them and the wellbeing of our society, and this came to be known as feminism. Some men argue though that this is not necessarily meant to overcome gender inequalities but to replace patriarchy with matriarchy, with some convinced that this concept is foreign – hence reluctance.

One can safely conclude that the political fraternity, and the men and women driving it, is not ready to address GBV in a way that is really required. This requires action rather than talk because it continues to cause anguish to women and girls.

The religious beliefs that characterises the wellbeing of our society needs to also be looked at as one of the factors than in one way or another contributes to GBV.

There remains a dire need for the tradition to be relooked to speak to the desires of a constitutional society. If the sentiments of those who study tradition in depth is anything to go by, a need for our tradition to go back to what it really is, as opposed to what oppressive men make everyone believe it is, is required as tool to fix the perception of men towards women.

African tradition respected women, honoured women and submitted to their leadership. Many kingdoms thrived because of women, many kingdoms were led by women and any tradition that may easily be to the advantage of women was regulated and approved by women.

With the cultures contributing and advancing the current status quo, I am convinced that a new culture which speaks to our being as a historically traditional community ought to be born and replace the current, because I believe that the problems that we have, such as GBV, are foreign and are as a result of adoption of what and who we are not.

I am opposed to seeking foreign solutions to our problems. We find ourselves where we are largely because we drifted from our principles and, as such, our solutions should be based on restoring our being and culture of living.

* By Sifundo KaZolile Ndzube, Western Cape Unisa RSRC chairperson