This study contributes to the limited academic knowledge (particularly anthropological knowledge) available on the working behaviour of black women workers. The study focuses on how black women workers perceive and experience certain western work values within a western workplace. A problem that constantly arises in South African industry is the correlation between work values and working behaviour. Hence, the study focuses on the African-oriented value judgements and life- and world-views of black women workers manifested in a South African factory and the perceptions of these women regarding selected western work values. The working behaviour of the black women workers, as employed at Automotive Mouldings cc (AMM) and their culturally determined value judgements and life¬and world-views concerning certain requirements and elements within the western labour system in general, and specifically at AMM, are examined. The empirical study provides an ethnographic description of the perceptions of black women workers at AMM of western work values and their working behaviour in the workplace. The culturally determined attitudes of these black women towards "work" are discussed. These selected western work values include career awareness, individualism, thoroughness and alertness, time concepts, discipline, communication, motivation to achieve, diligence, responsibility and accountability as well as work status. These western-oriented characteristics (criteria), however, are not necessarily present in the work value systems of black women workers. This creates conflict and reduces productivity within the workplace, as the working behaviour of the black women workers, in many instances, contrasts with western-oriented organisational values in general. Thus, it is difficult to predict the working behaviour of black women workers or to judge it from within western employers' own cultural frameworks. In order to prevent or reduce conflict in the workplace, and to enhance productivity, it is essential that employers are aware of the perceptions of western work values and working behaviour of traditional Africans in general, but specifically the working behaviour of black women workers. / Dissertation (MA (Anthropology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Anthropology and Archaeology / unrestricted

Intersectional analyses have made clear that Black women as a group fare far worse in employment outcomes than their race and gender counterparts. However, there is little research that examines differences among Black women. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine how Black women are perceived intra-intersectionally, or within the intersection of race and gender. Black women are not monolithic and it is important to illuminate how they are perceived differently from one another. This dissertation explores the effects of differences in skin tone and hair texture among Black women seeking a management position. It was hypothesized that Black women with lighter skin and/or straight hair would be characterized more positively than Black women with darker skin and/or kinky hair; this hypothesis was not supported. However, for negative characteristics, the hypothesis that Black women with darker skin would be characterized more negatively than Black women with lighter skin was confirmed. Further, it was found that hair texture significantly interacts with skin tone such that darker-skinned Black women with kinky hair were characterized more negatively than light-skinned women with kinky hair. There were no significant differences found between the skin tone and hair texture of Black women on salary offers, but there was a marginally significant skin tone effect for perceptions of success in that lighter-skinned Black women are perceived to be more successful than darker-skinned Black women. This study sheds light on the need to look at the intersection of both skin tone and hair texture in order to fully understand how negative stereotypes apply to Black women.

Problem to be addressed: Stillbirth is a major public health problem. The stillbirth burden is on a par with newborn deaths. The stillbirth rate measures not only a substantial portion of the global and national burden of mortality, but also equity and quality of care for women’s and children’s health. Reducing the numbers of these deaths requires an understanding of why they occur, yet approximately one-third of stillbirths are unexplained, even in settings with high-quality autopsy and placental examination, while deaths considered to be explained are usually ascribed to single, proximal causes. An important limiting factor for efforts to reduce the large and inequitable stillbirth burden has been insufficient research into conditions that could inform prevention strategies and reduce inequity.1 2 Substantial evidence exists for associations between structural racism, maternal stress, and adverse pregnancy outcomes, yet research focusing on stillbirth is sparse, particularly at the ends of the causal spectrum—macro-level structural conditions and mechanisms. Several studies have called for research on possible biological mechanisms by which racism, racism-related stress, and stillbirth may be associated, including epigenetic mechanisms.3-6 The most recent review of causes of racial disparities in stillbirth rates in the U.S. recommended that researchers take a multi-domain approach, considering not just individual-level risk factors, which have been relatively well-studied, but also upstream factors such as institutional racism, and biological mechanisms such as epigenetic modification. The objective of this dissertation was to explore evidence that could help to explain persistent racial disparities in stillbirth. The specific aims were: 1. To review the literature on racial disparity in stillbirth rates; 2. To assess whether structural racism can help to explain racial disparity in stillbirth rates in New York City; and 3. To assess whether maternal stress is associated with stillbirth, whether stress is associated with methylation of stress-related genes, whether methylation is associated with stillbirth, and whether there is evidence that methylation of stress-related genes mediates associations between stress and stillbirth. Materials and methods used: For Aim 1, we carried out a scoping review of the literature in five databases (PubMed, Scopus, Cinahl, Embase, PsycInfo) to identify all reports including stillbirth rates stratified by race in the U.S., mapping exposures and effect modifiers (“domains of analysis”) and authors’ comments on racial disparity in stillbirths (“domains of explanation”) into one of eight domains (race, genetic, fetal, maternal, family, community, healthcare system, and structural). We defined Stillbirth Disparity Ratios (SDRs) as the ratio of the stillbirth rate in a racial/ethnic minority group to the stillbirth rate in white individuals. Selected SDRs were extracted from each report, as were all SDRs for Black/white comparisons. For Aim 2, we modelled associations between four measures of structural racism and stillbirth in all non-Hispanic (NH) Black and white singleton births in New York City between 2009 and 2018. Exposures were four Public Use Microdata Area (PUMA)-level measures of structural racism (Indices of Dissimilarity, Isolation, and Concentration at the Extremes (ICE), and an Educational Inequity Ratio) constructed from U.S. Census American Community Survey data. Using multilevel logistic regression, we first tested for interaction between race and structural racism in relation to stillbirth. For structural racism measures that interacted with race, we estimated odds ratios for stillbirth separately in 221,925 NH Black and 325,058 NH white births. Race-specific models were further stratified by maternal age. For Aim 3, we assessed associations between maternal stressors and stillbirth in 183 non-anomalous full-term singleton births (63 stillbirths and 120 livebirths) from the U.S. Stillbirth Collaborative Research Network. Measuring maternal stress with two hypothesized stressors, an Index of Significant Life Events and an Index of Disadvantage, we assessed associations between maternal stressors and stillbirth in our sample, and then whether maternal stressors and stillbirth were associated with differential methylation of 1,191 CpGs on five stress-related genes (BDNF, FKBP5, HSD11B2, IGF2, and NR3C1). Finally, we assessed whether methylation mediates associations between stressors and stillbirth. Conclusions reached: For Aim 1, we found 95 reports presenting stillbirth rates stratified by race/ethnicity in the U.S. We found evidence of increased risk of stillbirth in Black as compared to white births in the majority of the 83 reports with the necessary data. Among the 1143 Black-white SDRs that we extracted, the median SDR was 1.67, with 74% of SDRs showing evidence of disparity. Family and community factors, healthcare system factors, and structural factors were commonly used as domains of explanation (20-38% of reports), but rarely (family/community, structural, 4-5%) or never (healthcare system) used in analysis. The most commonly used domains of analysis—fetal and maternal factors including gestational age, maternal age, education, and prenatal care—do not appear able to explain the observed racial disparities. Gaps in the literature include a paucity of studies examining the possible role of health system, community, and structural factors in Black-white disparity in stillbirth rates, and limited data on other types of racial disparities in stillbirth rates, including Hispanic and Native American births. For Aim 2, we found that structural racism as measured by ICE and Isolation was associated with stillbirth in NH Black but not NH white mothers. This would seem consistent with our hypothesis that structural racism may help to explain racial disparity in stillbirth rates; however, the associations we observed were not in the expected direction. Specifically, NH Black mothers living in PUMAs with a high concentration of privilege had 90% greater odds of stillbirth in comparison to those living in PUMAs with a high concentration of disadvantage (ICE quintile 5 vs 1), and NH Black mothers living in PUMAs that were the most isolated had 40% lower odds of stillbirth in comparison to those living in PUMAs that were the least isolated (Isolation tertile 3 vs 1). We suggest that while the measures we used (ICE and Isolation) do help to explain the Black-white disparity in stillbirth rates, our results raise questions about the way these measures operationalize structural racism, meriting further investigation. For Aim 3, we found that having two or more vs no items in the Index of Disadvantage (“Disadvantage”) was associated with more than fourfold greater odds of stillbirth (95% CI 1.58, 12.93). We found no association between the Index of Significant Life Events and stillbirth. We found that 32 out of 1,191 CpGs on five stress-related genes were differentially methylated with respect to stillbirth, and six CpGs were differentially methylated with respect to Disadvantage. Methylation at two CpGs on IGF2 and one on HSD11B2 (cg02097792, cg12283393, and cg19413291, respectively) mediated the association between Disadvantage and stillbirth. Research on causes is a critical component of stillbirth prevention and reducing the inequitable distribution of this public health burden. Limited understanding of causes at both “ends of the spectrum”, from upstream distal factors to mechanisms, has likely contributed to slow progress on prevention.7 8 This dissertation contributes to science and public health by providing researchers with data to support new lines of inquiry, e.g., into associations between structural racism and stillbirth, and for methylation as a mechanism of effect, that should help to improve our understanding of causes. Our research may also support health policy makers who now have additional data to illustrate the adverse health outcomes of structural racism in the U.S. Finally, it may help the parents and other family members of stillborn babies who continually seek to understand “why”.

The purpose of this study was to understand whether strength is a prescriptive stereotype for Black women professionals in organizations. This study investigated whether a woman’s race (White or Black) affected how her level of work (overwork, not overworking, or control) was evaluated and rewarded by others (performance evaluation ratings, likelihood of promotion, and monetary rewards.) In particular, the study sought to understand whether Black women would not reap benefits for overworking, and whether they would be penalized for not overworking. In addition, the study examined whether race moderated the relationship between level of work and employee characterizations (strength, competence, laziness). This study built on previous prescriptive stereotype research that found that men, but not women, benefitted from performing organizational citizenship behaviors at work, and that women, but not men, face negative consequences when they withhold those behaviors (Allen & Rush, 2001; Heilman & Chen, 2005). This study collected responses from 235 MTurk workers to better understand how expectations of strength at work influence the career outcomes and perceptions of Black women. Results indicated that neither Black nor White women received a boost in outcomes when engaging in overwork; however, Black women, but not White women, were penalized for declining to engage in overwork. Black women received lower performance ratings, had a lower likelihood of promotion, and received lower monetary rewards when they did not overwork, while there was no difference for White women. Furthermore, Black women were perceived as less competent and lazier when they were not overworking. These findings imply a unique type of double bind for Black women, who may face burnout before reaping the benefits of overworking, and yet are also penalized if they set boundaries around how much they work.

This research, by focusing on the Isithebe industrial estate in KwaZulu Natal, analyses the process of industrial change within one location and the resulting impact on the gender relations within the surrounding communities. Rather than adopting the rather simplistic approach utilised by Women in Development advocates, is suggested that the identification, location and particular experience of power between men and women provides for a more informed position from which gender relations can be understood. Using Social Relations Analysis as a departure point, it is argued that a range of variables and impact on the construction and experience of gender, and thus the relation between men and women. In South Africa, the particular economic and social discourse initiated by apartheid resulted in the formulation of a particular understanding of gender. Various economic and industrial and social shifts over the past decade have served to challenge this conceptualisation and experience, and have resulted in a range of new dynamics between men and women. It is argued that many of the businesses located in Isithebe have been slow to follow the trends and processes of restructuring identified nationally. However, there has been some change in the gendered division of labour on the estate, as men gradually move into sectors previously reliant on female labour. Women are concurrently trapped in low skilled, low paid employment. While the increasing engagement by women in multiple livelihood strategies, within an environment of high male unemployment, is increasing the dependence of households on (he ability of women to earn an income, there is little change in the location of power at a household level. The increased autonomy and decision-making power anticipated by many theorists is not evidenced in the Isithebe community. However, as men seek for alternative sources of security as their traditional role as breadwinner is eroded, women are increasingly aware of the discrepancies and dichotomies within the household, and are beginning to reassess the relations between men and women, and the location of power. Concomitantly both men and women are in a position to reconceptualise the gender component of identity. These processes provide the basis from which unequal relations between men and women can be challenged in the future. / Thesis (M.Sc.U.R.P.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1999.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

In the 1950s, apartheid policies in the Natal countryside served to oppress the majority of African women more than they had ever been before. Yet ironically, it was their being 'left behind' by the system of migrant labour that goaded them into taking overt action against their condition in 1959. The aim of this mini-dissertation is to trace and explain their struggle against "grand apartheid". These women were a force to be reckoned with, and the government of the day felt temporarily threatened by their actions. This study vehemently rejects the misconception that the African women of the rural areas of Natal were docile, slave-like individuals, who placidly accepted their position. The protest marches in the 1950's, more especially 1959, proved African women to be strong-willed and determined to succeed against all odds. These women emerge as anything but placid and docile. History has shown us that women's oppression is not simply a matter of equal rights or discrimination under the law. African women struggled to be recognised as human beings, no different from any other race. In the early 1950's African women, in most parts of South Africa, became more politically active. They played a significant role in the 1952 Defiance Campaign. Shortly after that a "Women's Charter" was adopted. It sought the liberation of all people, the common society of men and women. It took women like Lilian Ngoyi, who made history in 1956 by leading 20 000 women to the Union Buildings in Pretoria in protest against passes for women, to ignite rolling mass action in the various Provinces. This thesis tells of the contemporary struggle of African women in the 1950's, more especially 1959, in Natal. This is a tribute to the countless African women who have made courageous sacrifices in order for change. It is through their radical and somewhat aggressive stance that we have a lot to be thankful for today. We must be mindful of the fact that in the Apartheid era the law itself was used to oppress people. In our new-found democracy it is pleasing to note that the law is somewhat gender sensitive, so that it does not discriminate against men or women in its application. Many of us who research African women are mere observers, who digest what we read, hear and see. Many of us do not understand the complex African way of life. We tend to employ Eurocentric theories and assumptions, which instead serve as a handicap. Thus the African woman is seen as a victim of the African male, and of traditional customs and practices. We fail to see that African women did from the outset, have varying degrees of economic independence, and that colonialism was responsible for depriving African women of their political as well as economic status. These women can claim a degree of triumph in that in the wake of the mass protest action, it took the government years to implement its policy of passes for women. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1999.

No abstract available.

In this study, the sex-role identities adopted by young, middle-aged, and older working females South African were compared. The rationale of the study is based on changes which occurred within South Africa with regards to gender, race, education, as well as work place participation for women. Two hundred females from two South African organisations participated in the study. Two self-report questionnaires were utilised: a demographic questionnaire and Bem’s Sex-Role Inventory. Data was interpreted statistically, by means of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and frequencies. Results revealed that younger women have adopted more masculine characteristics than middle-aged and older females. Results further indicated that black women are more likely to reflect sex-role identity changes on age than white women, given that changes in the South African society many have been more impactful on them. Results on the levels of masculinity amongst the younger group of females are consistent with a study done on working females in India.

The purpose of this research was to investigate contemporary conceptions of beauty and bodily modificatory behaviour of young, Black, South African women. In a society where a lot of emphasis has been placed on a woman’s physical appearance, it was important to determine how these young women feel about their bodily appearance and if whether this is influenced by their social milieu. Constructions of beauty are largely constructed around White womanhood, thus Black women might feel marginalised by the White majority’s Western beauty standards. Data for this research report was collected by conducting semi-structured interviews with six female, Black South African, first year psychology students at the University of the Witwatersrand. The participants received a 1% incentive for their participation which contributed to their end of semester mark. The findings of the study show that conformity to Western standards of beauty has a negative bearing on the participants perceptions of how they feel about their bodies. The media has also become influential in changing perceptions of beauty within Black South African contemporary culture. Salient features of beauty, such as hair and skin colour seem to be embedded in the historical processes of oppression.