In this thesis I attempt to examine the way that rural women in Natal, from the early 1950s to the 1980s, were relegated to the periphery of both white society and black traditional society. Lauretta Ngcobo's second novel And They Didn't Die is therefore a very useful resource as it takes a look at the interplay of traditional black patriarchy, white patriarchy, and the way rural women were affected by these oppressive institutions. And They Didn't Die examines the way that apartheid affected rural communities and the individual. It investigates the various struggles faced by rural women; how women have to negotiate their own identities within different systems. And They Didn't Die focuses on the political, economic, and traditional struggles of rural women in Natal at the end of the 1950s, but unlike other novels, And They Didn't Die also focuses on the sexual identities of rural women, and how they mobilised themselves through political activities such as the struggle against the dreaded pass laws, and the protests against the beer halls. And They Didn't Die is a novel which explores political, traditional, economic, sexual, and communal aspects of rural life. Ngcobo foregrounds the communal, political, economic, and traditional problems that the women in the novel have to face. Ngcobo recreates the various political protests that were happening at this time, to demonstrate the construction of the black woman as political subject. She carefully demonstrates how agency has to be negotiated with both the white authorities and black patriarchy. Black South African women were forced to fight double political battles on the domestic and national fronts. The split structure of the political and traditional struggle is at the center of Ngcobo's work. And They Didn't Die shows that the struggle for female subjectivity is a dynamic process. In South Africa, rural black women had to negotiate numerous subject positions. Forging a sense of selfhood was difficult, especially when confronted with dual patriarchies, apartheid, and the constant negotiation with tradition. Ngcobo's novel is an interesting fictional account that draws on various historical events that offers the reader a sense of what women had to go through in order to survive the atrocities of apartheid. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1999.

This dissertation explores the texture of women's lives in an urban informal area, with the particular aim of highlighting their use of domestic energies in the absence of their access to electricity. The investigation into domestic fuel usage is situated within the context of other basic needs: shelter, water and food and the acquisition of these. Each is separately explored. The domestic fuel sources used by the women were primarily paraffin and candles. The dissertation argues that there is no simple equation between household income and fuel purchase but that the acquisition of food and fuel are mutually dependent and contingent upon a complex set of variables which include the perceived physical and emotional well-being of the woman and her household. Furthermore the dissertation argues that given the extent of informal settlements and poverty nationally, candles and paraffin are likely to continue to be extensively used in the future. despite their disadvantages and the desirability of electricity. The dissertation submits that the reasons for this pertain to the accessibility and relative affordability of paraffin to households whose buying power is constrained as much by the form in which their income is derived as by its inadequacy. These arguments are elucidated through case studies of ten women who live in non-electrified homes in Canaan. The women concerned monitored their consumption of and expenditure on water, food, and fuel for a month, and met once a week as a group while they were doing so. Finally the dissertation suggests that national energy planners should take into account the manner in which women perceive and manage their housekeeping roles, particularly cooking, as well as the form in which household income is derived in order to determine strategies and energy policies which would would be women-friendly and support the needs of the extensive numbers of impoverished households in South Africa. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1992.

The purpose of this thesis is two-fold: it attempts to develop a feminist theory of health and health care of women and moves beyond the political economy theory of health and health care grounded in Marxist principles. Secondly, it attempts to apply these feminist theoretical principles, incorporating the methodology of historical materialism, to a specific historical situation - that of African women in Natal/Zululand in the nineteenth century. The thesis is divided into three parts. The first provides an overview of the political economy of health and the Marxist theory on which it is based. The second section deals specifically with feminist theoretical concerns: particularly the need to incorporate the concept of gender and the sexual division of labour into analysis of the position of women in society. In addition, it focusses on women's particular health needs and attempts to incorporate these into a feminist theory of health and health care. The third part examines the health and health care of African women in pre-colonial Natal/Zululand by focussing on their role in procreation and production, and changing health patterns and health care under colonial rule. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1990.

In order to understand black women's socio-political role in the construction of, and participation in resistance culture, it is essential to look at the historic developments as a whole. To define women's social and political role in resistance as inherently separate would infact marginalize women from the broader overview, and therefore discredit their contribution to resistance politics. Women should be seen as part of public society. If to be separate is, inherently, to be unequal, then it is only by integrating the study of women into the study of society that "women's studies", by ceasing to exist, will, paradoxically, have had the impact on academic fields that it deserves. l Information collected for this thesis, was based on information given by and taped at . African National Congress (ANC), United Democratic Front (UDF) and Pan African Congress (PAC) resistance rallies, meetings and conferences. The women and men I interviewed were affiliated to one of the above mentioned political organizations. I do not wish to speak on behalf of these or any black women, nor do I claim to understand what they had to endure during the eighties. My aim, however, is to document the toyi-toyi as it pertained to black women, and the history surrounding its creation, and the symbolic meaning inherent in its performance, as accurately as possible. I believe the toyi-toyi spoke and still speaks about important political and social issues. Ignoring this voice, and letting it go unnoticed would be an intellectual crime and socially irresponsible. History speaks through the actions of people. A very powerful performance and vehicle of communication will be lost if the toyi-toyi is left undocumented. We as researchers must not only document the words of leaders, we must let the voices of the people be heard. I know many white South Africans are afraid of the toyi-toyi performance. They associate it with unruliness, violence and crime. The SABC news media has done a good job of documenting it as such. News flashes of the toyi-toyi was and is still shown in relation to burning tyres, stone throwing and the "violent, chanting black crowd." The aim of my research and the reason behind writing this thesis, is to let the voices of black people, but especially black women be heard - let the toyi-toyi speak to those who hide from its performance. Endnotes. M.Z. Rosaldo Women, Culture and Society, (Stanford 1874), 128. / Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1994.

This research study aimed at investigating the acceptability, knowledge and perceptions ofpregnant women towards IDV testing in pregnancy in Ilembe District. An exploratory research design guided the study. A systematic random sampling was used to select fourty pregnant women who were attending clinic for the first time in their current pregnancy. Self-administered questionnaires with close-ended questions were used in the collection ofdata. The questions included the women's demographic details, their views towards IDV testing, knowledge and acceptability ofIDV testing. Forty questionnaires were distributed and they were all returned. Quantitative method was used to analyse data. The fmdings ofthe study revealed that women in the sample were relatively young (18-25) with the percentage of45% and most ofthem were unmarried (90%). The majority ofwomen (92.5%) said testing was a good idea and 85% said it is necessary. However only 52.5% said they will opt for HIV testing. Uptake ofHIV testing was found to be low. Eighty-seven and a half percent (87.5%) women were ofthe opinion that IDV testing in pregnancy was ofbenefit to the mother and her baby. Women in the study were found to have good understanding and good perceptions towards IDV testing in pregnancy, but thus was not consistent with their behaviour. Meaning that in spite of their good understanding and good perceptions towards IDV testing in pregnancy, only a small percentage (52%) of respondents said they will opt for the IDV test. The researcher's expectations were one hundred percent response. / Thesis (M.N.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

Background: Leptin is a new adipose-derived hormone discovered in 1994. It is vital in energy balance and weight regulation in humans. During pregnancy the placenta is an extra source of leptin. The role of leptin in pregnancy is not established. This has generated a lot of interest in leptin research in pregnancy. Leptin is being examined in pathological states that may have origin in adipose tissue and the placenta such as pre-eclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction and obesity. Aim and Method: This study measured concentrations of serum leptin in Black African women during late pregnancy in 68 women with pre-eclampsia, 92 healthy normotensive pregnant women and in 32 healthy non-pregnant women. In each group leptin levels were compared between obese (body mass index, BMI = or > than 30 kgm-2) and lean women. Serum leptin concentrations were measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA) technique. Results: Serum leptin levels were higher in pregnancy compared to non-pregnant women (26.66+/-16.13 ng/ml, 25.89+/-15.83 ng/ml vs 17.97+/-11.98 ng/ml, p=0.02). This is due to firstly, the extra fat accumulated as part of the maternal adaptation to pregnancy and secondlv, to the placenta-derived leptin. Other pregnancy hormones such as insulin, hcG, prolactin and oestrogen may modulate the serum levels of leptin in pregnancy. Simple anthropometric parameters (weight, BMI, circumferences of the mid upper arm (MAC), waist (WC), hip (HC), and thigh (TC) and waist-hip ratio (WHR)) were used to explore the relationship between leptin concentrations and obesity. All the parameters showed a positive correlation with serum leptin concentration in all the groups with the exception of WHR. Weight and BMI showed the greatest correlation both in pregnant (r=0.61 and r=0.58, respectively, p<0.001) and non-pregnant (r=0.74 and 0.79, respectively, p<0.001) women. However we did not find a significant difference in the concentrations of leptin between women with and those without pre-eclampsia (26.66 ng/ml vs 25.89 ng/ml, p=0.95). This probably means that adiposity is the predominant factor influencing levels of leptin in pregnancy. The other factors mentioned above play only a minor role. Indeed the mean serum leptin levels were higher in obese compared to lean women in both pregnant and non-pregnant women. Conclusion: Pregnancy is a hyperleptinaemic state. There is no difference in serum leptin levels between women with pre-eclampsia and healthy normotensive pregnant women. Serum leptin concentration is largely determined by the degree of adiposity both in and outside pregnancy. / Thesis (M.Med.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

The large-scale entrance of women into the workforce over the past two decades has fundamentally changed the nature of work and family life. This trend has been associated with a constellation of emerging challenges and conflicts in balancing work and family spheres. Gutek, Searle, and Klepa (1991) developed two models for explaining work-family conflict. The Rational Model proposed that workfamily conflict is directly proportionate to the amount of time one spends in work and family activities. The Gender Role Model proposed that work-family conflict is moderated by gender role socialization, in that men are predicted to experience greater work-family conflict when family responsibilities interfere with their career, whereas women are predicted to experience greater conflict when their career interferes with their family responsibilities. To date, models of work-family conflict have been largely derived from White samples, and it has not been established that our models can be generalized across culture. Distinct cultural histories between Black and White women suggest potential differences in how work-family conflict is experienced across ethnicity.The purpose of this study was to test a measure of work-family conflict for invariance across ethnicity. Participants were 111 Black and 119 White, married, middle-income mothers with dependent children who worked outside of the home on a full-time basis. It was hypothesized that Gutek et al.'s (1991) measure of work-family conflict would demonstrate variance across ethnicity. The study further extended Gutek's research by hypothesizing that White women would experience greater work-family conflict when work interfered with family responsibilities than the reverse, and that Black women would be equally sensitive to interference with either domain. Results of a multi-sample confirmatory factor analysis failed to confirm the hypothesis of construct bias or the prediction that White women would be more sensitive to work interference with family life than the reverse. The results of this study supported the prediction that among Black women, there would be no differences in the relationship between family interference with work and work interference with family on total work-family conflict. Limitations of the present study and implications for future research were discussed. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Career counselling with women is not the same as with men because women’s career development is highly intertwined with their roles as mothers and wives (Sharf, 2002). The current study argues that career counselling with black South African women cannot be the same as that of men nor that of all women because their career development is intertwined with an Afrocentric and a relational view of the self. Career counselling with black South African single mothers is unique because their career development is intertwined with their roles as single parents coupled with their relational view of themselves. It argues that modernist approaches to career counselling are inappropriate and irrelevant when working with black South African single mothers. To support this argument the study explored the unique career development experiences of Black South African single mothers using a postmodernist framework. The narrative inquiry framework was used to explore the career experiences of nine black South African single mothers. The narratives were analysed using Doucet and Mauthner’s (2008) voice-centred relational method. It was found that the unique experiences of black South African single mothers include the need for flexible working hours, social support and the need to play the role of both parents to their children. Modernist approaches to career counselling are unable to take these relational and socio-economic dilemmas into account when working with black South African single mothers. A Post-modern approach such as the Relational Cultural Approach is recommended as an appropriate career counselling tool when working with black South African single mothers. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2014.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Photocopy. Supervisor: Helena Woodard. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (P. 156-160).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 236-247).