This study on “Some Gendered Practices in a Zulu Family: A Feminist Perspective” investigated gender bias, gender inequality, and gender stereotypes as seen in daily gendered practices happening within the Zulu family. The practises examined are confined to the domain of the Zulu culture, particularly the Zulu marriage. The four main research questions put surveillance on how married women are restricted to move freely on the premises of their own homes; how women can unhappily find themselves in a polygamous marriage; how a wife’s dignity can be denigrated due to a man’s lack of understanding of her body anatomy; how she can be denied equal status with her husband due to certain cultural beliefs and conceptions. In the face of inevitable change that influences human behaviour, this study sought to show that the Zulu nation, particularly men, find it difficult to easily and speedily accept that culture and tradition are subject to change. The study attempted to establish whether there is any improvement on gender transformation or not, especially within the context of the current endeavours by the South African government to ensure that there is no gender discrimination by having female representativeness in all spheres of government. Progress has been made with regard to fair representation of women in political and decision-making positions in all spheres of government. The country is currently rated 7th in the world in terms of representation of women in legislature. http://www.buanews.gov.za/rss/08/08120715451006-5/11/2012 Throughout the analysis and interpretation of both the statistical and qualitative data, I critiqued the data to establish whether the gender transformation ideal is being achieved in the Zulu family or not. Radical feminism, the theory through which this study was conducted, has helped to show that Zulu women are still disadvantaged and oppressed due to social machinations that are essentially invented by patriarchal men. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

This study examines representations of Southern African black women in the works' of two male and two female writers. A comparative approach is used to review the ways in which the writers characterise women who labour under intense restrictions in domestic situations, the workplace, and in political contexts. Some representations suggest that women have come to terms with social strictures and have learned to live fulfilled lives despite them. Other representations are contextualised in creative situations in which social roles are re-imagined. In the process, women are removed from conventional object-related gendered positions. These representations suggest that women have the capability to achieve personal transcendence rather than accept the immanence imposed by stereotyped gender relationships and repressive political structures. The suggestion is made that writers can change the image of women by centralising them as active subjects, challenging their exclusion and creating spaces for women to represent themselves / English Studies / M.A. (English)

Migration has always been part of South African history, both in the collective and as individuals. Under apartheid, children were separated from their fathers and sometimes mothers for long periods of time, and as a coping strategy, foster care was introduced. This trend is still noticeable as we continue to find both men and women moving from rural households in pursuit of employment. In countries where gender roles are still very inflexible and the mother’s main role is perceived as that of raising children and the father’s as providing for the family, migration of mothers is perceived as a much larger disruption in a child’s life than is the father’s absence. Drawing from critical feminist theory, which pays particular attention to issues of discrimination and oppression against women, my study aimed at exploring the perceptions Madelakufa community women have about migrant women labourers who leave their children. A qualitative approach was employed, and data were collected through conducting three focus groups. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology: Research Consultation)

The study aimed at investigating the role played by ABET programmes in the development of rural black women in the Omusati Region. The study was to determine whether the ABET programmes that are provided in the area are offering relevant education that helps the women of the area in their development. The research findings indicated that the ABET programmes offered are not providing the relevant skills needed to develop the women participants. The programmes that are offered concentrate on literacy and numeracy, and it seem not to be very effective in making a difference to the women's lives. Women needs skills that can help them generate income to improve their living conditions. The study, in summary, established that the programmes offered by the ABET centres would be more effective if skills training is included to uplift and improve the lives of the participants on a social, economical as well as educational level. / Agriculture, Animal Health and Human Ecology / M. Tech. (Human Resource Development)

The need to carry out an analysis of gender issues in development stems from a concern about the persistent inequalities surrounding African rural women. Women assume social and economic roles inside and outside the household but their contribution does not receive due recognition. Having being excluded from crucial decision making processes, their productive roles have been secondary to their reproductive responsibilities. The purpose of this study was to highlight the negative impact imposed by gender oppression on women's economic and social progress. This necessitated an in-depth review of literature that included journals, books, newspaper articles and general publications. The review reflected that women have undisputedly faced social, cultural, economic, political and educational barriers and that simple rhetoric has not done much to alleviate women's subordinate position and dependency on men. Finally a suggested plan- of action followed to provide an axis around which gender issues in development should revolve. / Development Studies / M. Admin. (Development Administration)

South Africa is a country of diversity, culture and various identities; and beneath this diversity, lays the complexity of defining and owning a space for oneself. This study was motivated with the intention to understand Black women’s representations in South Africa as well as the social interactions evident in the relationship between a Black woman and her hair. Literature elucidates on the historical richness of representation for Black people as well as the contemporary relevance of representation for Black women in particular. Furthermore, beauty discourse extends beyond the merely corporeal and finds meaning in historical, political, and circumstantial frames of thought. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with Black women. These interviews generated three discursive themes – hair and politics, hair and media and finally, circumstantial self-representation. Exploring these themes revealed that hair, as a projection of the self, is constantly redefining itself and its meaning in a progressive social culture. Furthermore, women assume agency and a degree of importance and identity from the hairstyles they choose to wear on a daily basis. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology-Research Consultation)

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-12-11T11:58:53Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Sulamita Jesus e Assunção.pdf: 2758582 bytes, checksum: 376d58f672780152ad929db1f666f317 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-12-11T11:58:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sulamita Jesus e Assunção.pdf: 2758582 bytes, checksum: 376d58f672780152ad929db1f666f317 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-10-29 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / The aim of this dissertation is to know the feminist-politic-artistic’s activities maden by black women and black lesbians, organized in feminist movements, that take place in the South suburb of São Paulo City. This research intends to present how such movements promote narratives that undermine sexist and racist speeches, helping new sense making to individual and group experiences. It can be noted that interventions and activities undertaken by women open possible paths against discrimination, stigma and submission given by gender, race, sexuality and class social markers. Research-Action-Participant in women activities, their production examination, personal interviews (3 women) and a focus group were conducted to keep track of women’s performance in this scenario, since their narratives and practices also emerge from the unregular critical space that I am in. Feminist epistemology were applied, supported by black feminists, women, lesbians and latin american perspectives, which were considered proper references because they reflect on different women oppression experiences, in many contexts / Esta dissertação pretende conhecer as ações, de cunho feminista-política-artística, desenvolvidas na periferia sul da cidade de São Paulo, pelas mulheres negras e lésbicas negras organizadas em coletivos. A pesquisa intenciona apresentar como esses encontros possibilitam narrativas que subvertem os discursos racistas e sexistas, para contribuir com novas produções de sentidos para as experiências individuais e coletivas. Observa-se que as atividades e intervenções empreendidas pelas mulheres oferecem caminhos possíveis de rompimento com a discriminação, estigma e submissão que são atribuídos pelos marcadores sociais de gênero, raça, sexualidade e classe. Para acompanhar a atuação das mulheres neste cenário, uma vez que suas narrativas e práticas também partem do plano crítico incomum em que estou inserida, foram realizadas observações a partir da pesquisa-ação participante nas atividades produzidas, análise dos materiais elaborados por elas, entrevistas individuais com três mulheres e um grupo focal. A epistemologia feminista é utilizada, apoiada nas perspectivas feministas negras, lésbicas e latino-americanas referenciais que se mostram apropriados, pois refletem sobre as experiências de opressão de diferentes mulheres em variados contextos

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-12-05T13:18:12Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria Elise G. B. M. Rivas.pdf: 3552936 bytes, checksum: f7b8bcdf7f4a70bdd8671da3133040c6 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-12-05T13:18:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria Elise G. B. M. Rivas.pdf: 3552936 bytes, checksum: f7b8bcdf7f4a70bdd8671da3133040c6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-11-17 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This paper adresses black women in the macumbas of Rio de Janeiro, in the newspapers of such city, from 1870 to 1930, aiming to analyse their presence or absence in the macumbas. There are two hypothesis here considered: to verify if the presence of black women found in the researched material (that is, the newspapers of Rio de Janeiro) equals their importance in the macumbas, and to verify how much do the papers performed by man and women in the terreiros influence or not the musical macumba regarding aesthetics. The research uses a feminist perspective, so the theoretical reference privileges gender. I recollect Fiorenza’s hermeneutics of suspicion (1992) in order to find women in the newspaper, a historical look that aims to find them as characters of day by day in Perrot (2005), and a anthropologic approach of black women in the Candomblés in Bernardo (2005-2005). Also, we refer to Pollak (1989) and the underground memory, and to Weber (2013) and the separation of the issues in order to understand better the division of macumba into religious and musical. The empirical field is formed by 19 newspapers that were active in the city of Rio de Janeiro through the chosen period. Such newspapers are available in the Hemeroteca Digital of Rio de Janeiro, so the analyzed material is a primary source. Methodology used to analyze the newspapers is the approach given by Zicman (1985). It is worth mentioning that too much effort has been needed so we could find black women in both macumbas: they were there / Esta pesquisa tem como objeto as mulheres negras nas macumbas cariocas, nos jornais do Rio de Janeiro, entre os anos de 1870 a 1930, tendo como objetivo analisar a presença ou ausência das mesmas nas macumbas. As duas hipóteses elencadas são as seguintes: verificar se a presença das mulheres negras no material encontrado (os jornais cariocas) corresponde à importância delas nas macumbas, e verificar em que medida a configuração dos papéis desempenhados por homens e mulheres nos terreiros influenciaram ou não a macumba musical na esfera estética. A pesquisa é realizada sob uma perspectiva feminista, de modo que o horizonte teórico privilegia as questões de gênero. Faço uso da hermenêutica da suspeita de Fiorenza (1992) para encontrar as mulheres nos jornais, um olhar histórico que busca encontrar as mulheres como personagens do cotidiano em Perrot (2005) e uma abordagem antropológica das mulheres negras nos candomblés em Bernardo (2003-2005). Mas, também trago Pollak (1989) com o referêncial memória subterrânea e Weber (2013) com a separação das esferas para melhor entender a “separação” da macumba em religiosa e musical. O campo empírico são 19 jornais que circularam na cidade carioca no período pesquisado disponibilizados na Hemeroteca Digital do Rio de Janeiro, ou seja, o material analisado é uma fonte primária. A metodologia utilizada para análise dos jornais é a abordagem dada por Zicman (1985). Vale ressaltar que foi necessário muito esforço para podermos encontrar as mulheres negras em ambas as macumbas, mas elas estavam lá

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The study was motivated by a concern for the high vulnerability of poor African women to HIV/AIDS in South Africa and an understanding of their role in the growing informal trade sector in Durban. As the institution responsible for managing informal trade development, this study examines the role of local government in addressing AIDS vulnerability and impact within this economic sector. Local government in South Africa is at the centre of potentially conflicting policy agendas: promoting citizen participation in social and economic development while creating an efficient and competitive local economy. The research outlines how the challenge of meeting these divergent goals has influenced policy approaches to informal trade and the extent to which these constrain or support women traders and their enterprises. The study examines how this in turn influences their economic vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. The study also explores the institutional attitudes and current approaches to addressing HIV/AIDS in the informal trade sector and explores the potential for a targeted and integrated response. In-depth interviews with local government staff and external stakeholders were used to investigate institutional perspectives on the significance of HIV/AIDS and the importance of creating appropriate local level interventions within informal trade settings. Interviews also assessed current management and support strategies for informal trade and examined whether these create an enabling environment for women to protect themselves and their enterprises against the threat and impact of HIV/AIDS. Interviews were supported by an extensive review of gender and HIV/AIDS literature and analysis of relevant policy regarding informal economy and SMME development in South Africa. The study found that the multiple pressures on local government, as well as institutional restructuring and staff changes have inhibited progress towards implementing an effective management strategy for informal trade. A lack of regulation threatens the security and livelihoods of survivalist women traders, and high barriers to obtaining permits to trade impact negatively on women due to their multiple constraints and responsibilities. The study revealed that priority in providing holistic business support, including skills development and financial services, is skewed towards more profitable enterprises which has excluded most women traders. This has restricted women's productive capacity and enterprise development and heightened their economic vulnerability to HIV infection and impact. This is compounded by a lack of functional, representative organisations to convey the concerns of marginalised female traders to local government. It is likely that the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in informal markets in Durban is high. However, stigma and discrimination has prevented widespread disclosure. The vulnerability of women and the impact of HIV/AIDS on their enterprises and local economic development is recognised by staff working at street level, but not by key decision makers. This, in conjunction with the marginalisation of the sector as a whole, has influenced the lack of progress in developing a co-ordinated multidisciplinary response to HIV/AIDS among informal workers. Few interventions which directly address HIV/AIDS have been put in place in the informal workplace, largely because of a lack of understanding of the crisis; its conceptualisation as a health issue only; and the fixed location of local government's response within the health department. Acknowledging the resource and capacity constraints within local government, the study concludes by outlining a series of realistic potential interventions which can be mainstreamed within the standard functions of local government. A shift in thinking is required to conceptualise AIDS as a workplace issue, and recognise the significance of its economic impact. Women traders need to be considered as valuable and vulnerable workers, as well as mothers and carers and therefore as an important group for targeted HIV/AIDS interventions. The study calls for gender-sensitive measures to be implemented, which recognise the specific needs and constraints of women in the informal trade sector. / Thesis (M.Dev.Studies.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.