Previous research shows that women are more likely to vote Democrat than men. Using the 2000 Middletown Area Survey this paper tests the Feminist Consciousness Theory as a possible explanation for the gender gap in voting. Results indicate that women in the study voted more Democrat than men. Those who scored higher on the NonTraditional Gender Role Ideology scale, the Support for Gender Equality Scale and who said that they were a feminist were more likely to vote Democrat. Women were more likely to support gender equality and identify as being a feminist than were men. This means that because women are more likely to have a feminist conscious they are more likely to vote Democrat. / Department of Sociology

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Developmental initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa emphasise participatory citizenship as the means through which poor women can assert and claim their citizenship rights. Although citizenship and agency are crucial elements in this narrative, little is known about the citizenship process for African women. Furthermore, there is no analytic framework to guide an empirical analysis of agency. This dissertation aims to address these gaps by examining how marginalised Black African women understand themselves as citizens, navigate their structural barriers and develop strategies to negotiate their membership in and relationship with their states. This dissertation uses a deviant case analysis of women living in Zimbabwean and South African townships, who identify as members of the isiNdebele and isiZulu ethnic groups respectively, to Western theories of agency. Data was collected through the use of in-depth interviews and analysed using content and relational analysis. Results indicate that the women use a range of everyday resistance strategies to negotiate their relationship with their states. These strategies are mapped onto an innovative analytic framework that synthesizes feminist, androcentric and subaltern theories of citizenship agency, in order to highlight the non-conventional ways that marginalised African women exercise their agency as citizens. Interestingly, both sets of women emphasise the obligation to vote, work and support oneself without recourse to the state, rather than a reciprocal and participatory relationship. The internalisation of citizenship as an obligation without a corollary emphasis on rights and participation is problematic given that both governments suffer from legitimacy, corruption and governance issues. The main policy implication arising from the study is that there is a need for civic education in schools as well as a feature of women‟s empowerment and community development programs so that marginalised African women are encouraged to expand their participatory skills to collectively challenge, contest and improve the substance of existing citizenship rights. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Ontwikkelinginisiatiewe in Afrika beklemtoon deelnemende burgerskap as ʼn manier hoe arm vroue hul regte kan eis. Hoewel burgerskap en die agentskap (agency) belangrik in hierdie verhaal is, weet ons baie min oor hoe swart vroue burgerskap ervaar. Verder is daar geen analitiese raamwerk om 'n empiriese ontleding van hul agentskap te lei nie. Die proefskrif spreek hierdie gapings aan deur ʼn ondersoek oor hoe arm swart vroue in Afrika hulself as burgers verstaan, hoe hul strukturele hindernisse navigeer en strategieë ontwikkel om hul lidmaatskap van en verhouding tot die staat te onderhandel. Hierdie proefskrif gebruik ʼn vergelykende gevallestudie benadering wat vroue wat in Zimbabwe en Suid-Afrika in “townships” woon en wat hulself as isiNdebele en isiZulu identifiseer na te vors. Data is verkry deur die gebruik van in-diepte onderhoude, inhouds- en verwantskapsanalise. Die resultate dui aan dat vroue ʼn reeks strategieë gebruik vir “daaglikse weerstand” om hul verhouding met die staat te onderhandel. Hierdie strategieë word gekarteer op die innoverende analitiese raamwerk, wat ʼn sintese is van feministiese, androsentriese en subalterne teorieë van burgerskap, om sodoende die nie-konvensionele maniere waarop swart vroue hul agentskap uitoefen te beklemtoon. Beide groepe vroue beklemtoon die verpligting om te stem, werk en om jouself te onderhou sonder hulp van die staat, eerder as om ʼn wederkerige en deelnemende verhouding met die staat te beoefen. Die internalisering van burgerskap as ʼn verpligting sonder die wederkerige nadruk op regte en deelname is problematies. Dit kan gekoppel word aan die feit dat albei regerings gebuk gaan onder legitimiteitsprobleme, korrupsie en probleme rondom regeerkunde, wat vrae genereer oor hoe om hierdie regerings verantwoordbaar te hou. Die hoof beleidsimplikasie van hierdie studie is die daarstelling van burgerlike onderwys in skole, sowel as vroue se bemagtiging in ontwikkelingsprogramme. Dit sal bydra daartoe dat gemarginaliseerde swart vroue aangemoedig word om hul vaardighede rondom deelname te ontwikkel en die substansie van hul bestaande burgerskap kollektief uit te daag en te verbeter.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1985 R69 / Master of Science

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Although there has been a shift from state security to human security, feminist scholars pointed out the missing gender dynamic of a human security approach. The inclusion of a gendered lens has allowed for peacekeeping to come under scrutiny on how it affects the human security of the host society. Due to increased allegations of sexual exploitation of locals by male peacekeepers, the UN and scholars alike have advocated the increasing recruitment of women in peacekeeping operations, claiming that they have a number of unique contributions which improve the operational effectiveness of a peacekeeping unit and the human security of vulnerable populations. Broadly, the unique contributions women make to peacekeeping is: 1. They have a calming effect on men which decreases violence by peacekeepers; 2. Women are more inclined to interact with locals; 3. They are better respondents to victims of sexual violence; and 4. Women are inspirational to local women. However, women have faced a number of challenges which inhibit them from fulfilling these unique contributions. This project contributes to this line of inquiry and, by conducting focus group discussions with women soldiers in the 9 South Africa Infantry (9 SAI) base, this study provides further understanding on the challenges women peacekeepers face in realizing their value to peacekeeping missions. The evidence presented in this article suggests that even though women can have a positive impact on the operational effectiveness of a unit, the broadly advocated unique contributions of women peacekeepers presents a false holism of women in the military. In the South African case, patriarchal beliefs define gender perceptions and create a self-perception amongst women which inhibit them from realizing their contributions to peacekeeping missions beyond patriarchal lines. Furthermore, the South African National Defence Force’s (SANDF) liberal feminist approach to recruiting women in the military is based on gender equality, which has come at the expense of valuing gender difference. Considering the South African case, and more broadly, the hegemonic masculine culture of military institutions allows for the creation of a soldier identity which only features masculine qualities. Therefore, both men and women do not value feminine qualities which are useful and needed in peacekeeping operations. In the end, women dilute their femininity to fit into this male domain, defeating the point of adding more women to peacekeeping operations for their feminine qualities. This study shows that, ultimately, the correlation between recruiting more women and improving the human security of vulnerable citizens is hazy. Depending on the context in which peacekeepers are deployed, women peacekeepers may exacerbate the insecurity of the locals, the unit, and themselves. To overcome these challenges, this paper advocates the creation of a new soldier identity which should be championed by the SANDF. Furthermore, gender training should be done on a regular basis. In addition, recruitment processes should especially target women and emphasize the value they may add to the military and peacekeeping operations. Finally, ongoing challenges difficult to overcome are the deeply entrenched patriarchal beliefs in the South African society, and the hegemonic masculine culture of the SANDF. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Alhoewel daar ʼn verskuiwing in fokus vanaf staatsveiligheid na menslike veiligheid plaasgevind het, lewer feministiese teorie steeds kritiek op menslike veiligheid omdat dit faal om ʼn geslagsaspek in ag te neem. Die insluiting van ʼn geslagsaspek het veroorsaak dat navorsing oor die maniere waarop ʼn vredesoperasie die menslikesekuriteit van die plaaslike bevolking beïnvloed gedoen word. As gevolg van toenemende bewerings van seksuele uitbuiting van plaaslike inwoners deur manlike vredebewaarders het beide die VN en ander geleerdes aanbeveel dat meer vroue gewerf moet word vir deelname aan vredesoperasies. Hul beweer dat vroulike vredesmagsoldate ʼn aantal unieke bydraes kan maak tot die effektiwiteit van vredesmageenhede, asook die menslike sekuriteit van kwesbare bevolkings. Die unieke bydrae wat vroue kan maak tot vredesendings sluit die volgende in: 1. Hulle het ʼn kalmerende effek op mans wat dus lei tot minder geweld deur manlike vredesmagsoldate; 2. Groter kommunikasie met die plaaslike bevolking; 3. Groter bevoegdheid om vroulike slagoffers van seksuele geweld te ondersteun; en 4. Inspirasie vir die plaaslike vroue. Alhoewel vroue hierdie unieke bydra kan maak, is daar ʼn aantal uitdagings wat hul in die gesig staar en dus verhoed om hierdie unieke bydrae te kan maak. Hierdie studie maak ʼn bydrae tot hierdie rigting van ondersoek, deur gebruik te maak van fokusgroepbesprekings met vroulike soldate van die Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag om verdere begrip vir die uitdagings wat vroue vredesmagsoldate ondervind te kweek. Die studie dui aan dat alhoewel vroue ʼn bydrae kan maak tot die operasionele doeltreffendheid van vredesoperasies, kan hierdie unieke bydrae nie aan alle vroue toegeskryf word nie. Hierdie studie toon dat patriargie in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks ʼn groot uitdaging vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Nasionale Weermag (SANW) is omdat dit persepsies van geslag skep wat vroue verhinder om hul unieke bydrae tot vredesoperasies te realiseer. Verder, het die SANW se liberale feministiese benadering tot die werwing van vroue in die weermag gebaseer op geslagsgelykheid, gerealiseer ten koste van geslagsverskille wat waardeer moet word. In die geval van Suid-Afrika, asook militêre instellings in die algemeen, is daar ʼn hegemoniese manlike kultuur wat voorsiening maak vir die skepping van 'n soldaatsidentiteit wat net manlike eienskappe reflekteer. Dit is dus die rede waarom manlike en vroulike soldate nie waarde heg aan vroulike eienskappe nie, alhoewel hierdie eienskappe nuttig is in vredesoperasies. Op die ou einde is die toevoeging van vroue tot die weermag as gevolg van hul vroulike eienskappe onnuttig, aangesien hul hierdie eienskappe ‘opgee‘ om in te pas by die manlike kultuur van die SANW. Hierdie studie trek die stelling dat meer vroue in vredesoperasies tot die verbetering van menslikeveiligheid lei in twyfel. In teendeel, afhangende van die konteks waarin vredesmagte ontplooi word, kan vroulike vredesmagsoldate die menslike sekuriteit van die plaaslike bevolking, die vredeseenheid, en hulself in gedrang plaas. Om hierdie uitdagings die hoof te bied, stel hierdie studie voor dat die SANW ʼn nuwe soldaatsidentiteit wat manlike en vroulike eienskappe insluit, skep en bevorder. Geslagsopleiding moet ook op 'n gereelde basis plaasvind. Daarbenewens moet die werwingsproses veral op vroue gemik word en die waarde wat hulle toevoeg tot beide die weermag en vredesoperasies beklemtoon word. Ten slotte, voortdurende uitdagings wat moeilik is om die hoof te bied sluit in: die patriargale oortuigings in die Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing asook die hegemoniese manlike kultuur van die SANW.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This paper attempts to provide a broad theoretical background of the ways in which gender has informed the making of foreign policy. It examines the various types of feminism in the zo" century and how they complement each other, criticize each other and have contributed to critical political debate. Realism as the dominant political paradigm of the zo" century comes under scrutiny and it is shown how it abets and supports male domination by cloaking it in neutral language and institutions that appear neutral. Foreign policy objectives are often linked to the national interest, which in itself is a problematic and contested concept. Foreign policy makers face new challenges today as the political landscape changes, often driven by multinational corporations who dictate the rules of political engagement. Not only has the international political arena changed drastically in the zo" century, but so has the domestic arena. Studies in foreign policy attitudes show marked differences along gender lines. Most studies focus on the pacifist attitudes of women, but this paper goes on to show how gendered theories of security, globalization, the environment and human rights could inform foreign policy makers and others who shape foreign policy agendas. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis poog om 'n bree teoretiese agtergrond te skep van die wyses waarin gender (geslag as 'n konstruksie) die skep van buitelandse beleid beinvloed. Dit bestudeer die verskeie tipes feminisme in die 20ste eeu en hoe hulle mekaar komplimenteer, mekaar kritiseer en bygedra het tot kritiese politieke debat. Realisme as die dominante paradigma van die 20ste eeu word noukeurig bestudeer en daar word gewys hoe hierdie paradigma manlike dominasie ondersteun deur dit te vermom in neutrale taal en instellings wat neutraal voorkom. Buitelandse beleid word dikwels gekoppel aan die nasionale belang wat op sigself 'n problematiese konsep is. Weens die veranderende internasionale politieke arena staar makers van buitelandse beleid nuwe uitdagings in die gesig, veral omdat multinasionale maatskappye dikwels die die reels van die spel bepaal. Studies toon dat gevoelens en houdings oor spesifieke buitelandse beleidskwessies dikwels verskillend vir mans en vrouens manifesteer. Meeste studies fokus op die ondersteuning van vrouens van vrede in kontras met geweld en oorlog. Hierdie tesis gaan verder deur te wys hoe 'gendered' teoriee van sekuriteit, globalisering, die omgewing en menseregte moontlik die skeppers van buitelandse beleid kan beinvloed.

Thesis (DPhil (History)—University of Stellenbosch, 2004. / Toe die onderhandeling vir ‘n nuwe demokratiese bestel in Suid-Afrika na 1990 begin is, het dit ‘n tydperk ingelei waar talle kwessies oor menseregte na vore gekom het. Ook vroue het die geleentheid aangegryp om vrouesake en gender-verhoudings op die nasionale agenda te plaas in ‘n poging om die onregverdighede van die verlede aan te spreek. Die Women’s National Coalition (WNC) is in 1992 amptelik gestig uit vrees dat vroue van die belangrike politieke prosesse wat die toekoms van Suid-Afrika sou bepaal, uitgesluit sou word. Die doelwitte van die WNC was om inligting oor vroue se behoeftes en aspirasies in te samel en dit in ‘n Vrouehandves saam te vat wat uiteindelik ‘n integrale deel van die nuwe grondwet van Suid-Afrika sou word. Die WNC was ‘n inisiatief van die African National Congress Women’s League (ANCWL). Die swart vrou in Suid-Afrika se onderdrukking was drieledig: sy was onderdruk as vrou, deur patriargie en deur apartheid. Sy het polities aktief geraak toe haar familiestrukture bedreig is en het teen paswette, swak behuising, en uitsetttingsaksies van die regering, geprotesteer. Tydens die 1980’s het swart vroue wat aan die noodtoestand blootgestel is, se politieke betrokkenheid verander en sy het ‘n rewolusionêre vryheidsvegter geword. In die buiteland het die swart vrou wat in die bevrydingstryd betrokke was geleidelik erkenning in die ANC gekry. Hierdie vroue was ná 1990 gedetermineerd dat hul verwagtinge vir totale gelykberegtiging in die demokratiese Suid-Afrika sal realiseer. In hierdie proefskrif val die soeklig veral op die Afrikanervrou en -vroueorganisasies wat by die WNC aangesluit het. As Afrikanernasionalis was haar politieke betrokkenheid in die verloop van die geskiedenis marginaal. Met geïsoleerde aktivistiese optrede soos die vroue-optogte van 1915 en 1940, asook die militantheid van die vakbondvroue, het Afrikanervroue hoofsaaklik die veilige ruimte van die liefdadigheidsterrein gebruik om hul politieke voorkeure uit te leef. Afrikanervroue se betrokkenheid in die stemregbeweging was op aandrang van die mans en by insinuasie ook die optogte van 1915 en 1940. Met die magsoorname van die Nasionale Party het die Afrikanervrou polities onbetrokke geraak. Haar funksie was hoofsaaklik die van moeder en vrou en ondersteunend van die heersende ideologie. Met die aftakeling van apartheid is talle tradisionele Afrikanersimbole bevraagteken. Meer as 40% van die Afrikaner het by die meer regse partye aangesluit. Hierdie gebeure het die Afrikanervrou aan die begin van die 1990’s sonder ‘n spesifieke identiteit gelaat. Met die onderhandelings vir die toekomstige demokratiese bestel ‘n werklikheid, was die Afrikanervrou in ‘n onbenydenswaardige identiteitskrisis gedompel. Sy wou apolities bly, maar is deur Afrikanerintelligentsia en politici aangesê om die politieke wêreld te betree. Aan die anderkant wou Afrikanerkultuurorganisasies die Afrikanerkultuur inklusief beveilig. Die Afrikanervroue het moeilik by die WNC aangepas. Daar was talle praktiese probleme, maar dit was veral haar gebrek aan politieke vernuf, en die vyandigheid van swart vroue wat die vergaderings van die WNC domineer het, wat haar betrokkenheid in die wiele gery het. Die gedagte het ook by feitlik al die Afrikanervroue ontstaan dat die WNC ‘n politieke rookskerm was vir die ANC om sy magsbasis te versterk. Die spanninge van die Veelparty-onderhandelinge het ook na die WNC oorgespoel en vertragings en opskorting van lidmaatskap tot gevolg gehad. Daar was Afrikanervroue wat hul belewenis van die WNC as volkome positief ervaar het, wat dit as geleentheid gesien het om by vrouebemagtiging en politieke onderhandelinge betrokke te raak. Die meerderheid van vroue wat by hierdie ondersoek betrek is, was egter onseker en het die negatiewe aspekte van hul belewenis hulle die ondervinding laat bevraagteken. Daar was selfs vroue wat slegs die vyandigheid onthou het. Uiteindelik het Afrikanervrou nie heeltmal aangepas by die WNC nie en was ook nie werklik betrokke nie.

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences. / Department of Government and Public Administration

This study examined gender differences in vote choice, made consequential by the recent emergence of a gender gap in support for Republican candidates. Explanations of the gender gap have included the following: 1)Self-interest explanations emphasizing women's greater dependence on social services and women's support of women's issues. 2)Socialization explanations emphasizing women's more pacifist attitudes.Data for the study came from a random sample of "Middletown." Variables in the analysis included Feminism, Social Traditionalism, the Ethic of Care, support for Child Care and support for Dukakis. In order to explore gender differences in voting behavior, analyses for vote choice were done for women and men, seperately. Path analyses of women's and men's support for Social Traditionalism, child care, and Dukakis are presented in the paper. / Department of Sociology

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 82-86). / xi, 86 leaves, bound ill., maps 29 cm

The 1984-85 miners’ strike dramatically changed the face of the South Wales Valleys. This dissertation will show that the women’s groups that played such a crucial supportive role in it were not the homogenous entity that has often been portrayed. They shared some comparable features with similar groups in English pit villages but there were also qualitative differences between the South Wales groups and their English counterparts and between the different Welsh groups themselves. There is evidence of tensions between the Welsh groups and disputes with the communities they were trying to assist, as well as clashes with local miners’ lodges and the South Wales NUM. At the same time women’s support groups, various in structure and purpose but united in the aim of supporting the miners, challenged and shifted the balance of established gender roles The miners’ strike evokes warm memories of communities bonding together to fight for their survival. This thesis investigates in detail the women involved in support groups to discover what impact their involvement made on their lives afterwards. Their role is contextualised by the long-standing tradition of Welsh women’s involvement in popular politics and industrial disputes; however, not all women discovered a new confidence arising from their involvement. But others did and for them this self-belief survived the strike and, in some cases, permanently altered their own lives. The activities of the women’s support groups confirmed changes in the social role of women that had been occurring since the 1960s in the coalfield communities of South Wales, and thereby contributed to a revision of the traditional notion of ‘communities’ which were changed by the very process of being defended.