The HIV/AIDS pandemic is a crisis for the South African government, society and Church. About sixty percent of the HIV population are in Sub Saharan Africa with women being three times more likely to be infected with HIV than their male counterparts. Governmental, societal and Church responses seem to have had little effect in reducing the pandemic as can be seen from the rising prevalence rates. Responses to the HIV/AIDS pandemic lack a gender focus. Some churches have not responded to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Other Church-based responses have been isolated and simplistic in that they have concentrated on one aspect of the HIV illness. The HIV/AIDS pandemic is a growing crisis to which the Church should respond. The hermeneutical point of departure in this thesis is to express a preferential option for the poor by standing in solidarity with a group of women living on the margins of society. To this end the perspectives of black people, who are materially poor, HIV positive and part of support groups are articulated in the study. The research project suggests that the preferential option for the poor has the potential to contribute to the personal and social transformation of society. Focussing on the deep-seated longing many desire for fullness of life, this thesis explores and describes a gendered Christian response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic that could contribute to the full humanity of people. Full humanity is understood as transformation to wholeness and incorporates unity with God, others, creation and within oneself. A multifaceted, integrated and gendered response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic is suggested by way of a model of full humanity. The South African context of HIV/AIDS, patriarchy and poverty pose a challenge to the way that Christians develop their spirituality. This thesis aims to explore and describe aspects of a fully human spirituality emerging from the South African situation. The study suggests that a clearly integrative and holistic approach that embodies the gender perspective is necessary for churches to adopt in responding to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th.(Christian Spirituality)

In this thesis, I focus on the gender analysis of a book called Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pincola Estes. In my opinion, this book can be used both as study material and in one's personal life since it's a interpretative essayist which is in between a scientific text and fiction. In my thesis, I expand theories of Annis Pratt, Pam Morris, and Judith Fetterley. Since Estes puts a lot of focus onto the importance of archetypes I interpret them in the theoretical part and afterward, I put my full focus onto them in the analytical part of the thesis. Estes is strongly influenced by the analytical psychology of Carl Gustav Jung, because of this I focus on the subject, about which Jung's classical texts are about and which concepts can be taken subversive. At the same time, I am trying to point out in what sense was the Estés approach similar or vice versa is different from the other authors dealing with the archetypal issue. While working on the other topics mentioned above I am working on identifying other concepts, mainly feminist based theories, which influenced the discourse of the text. The main goal of this thesis is not a literary analysis of every single story, but a critical evaluation of how the author interprets the stories and what is the meaning of each archetype. While...