This study explores the operations of Sesotho masculinity: its dominant ideas and practices and
their effects on Basotho women and men and this latter‟s resistance to a gender-ethical
consciousness gaining momentum in Lesotho. It challenges a deep running belief among the
Basotho that being born male necessarily means being born into a superior social position and
status that is naturally and divinely sanctioned. It investigates how the dominant postcolonial
discourse called sekoele (a return to the traditions of the ancestors) and the Christian churches‟
discourses of the “true”/“authentic” Christian life, framed by the classical biblical and
confessional dogmatic traditions, actually support and sustain this belief and so reinforce the
imbalance of power in favour of men in the order of gender relations in Lesotho. On the
contrary, through the principles of the contextual theologies of liberating praxis, social
construction theory, a narrative approach to therapy, gender-ethical consciousness and
participatory approach, the study argues that masculinity and ways of being and thinking about
men are socially constructed through historical and cultural processes and practices. It is in these
processes and practices that Basotho men have been and continue to be advantaged and
privileged over women.
This study has challenged this situation by tracing the existence of alternative, more ethical ways
of being and thinking about men in those historical and cultural processes and practices; ways
which are more open to women and children and their wellbeing in the everyday life interactions.
In this way, the study argues for a gender-ethical consciousness, which, in particular, invites
Basotho men to engage in a reflection on their participation in a culture and practices which
oppress the other, especially women and children. It invites Basotho men to accountability and
responsibility. In this sense a gender-ethical consciousness is understood as watershed of
masculinity in Lesotho. The participation of a group of Basotho men who offered to reflect on
their relationship with the dominant masculinities, demonstrates how Basotho men are struggling
to transform yet they fill us with the hope that change is possible. / Humanities Social Sciences and Theology / D. Th. (Practical Theology with specialisation in Pastoral Therapy)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/4880 |
| Date | 02 1900 |
| Creators | Phohlo, Tlali Abel |
| Contributors | Kotzé, D. J. (Dr.), Phillips, A. P. (Prof.) |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (xiii, 308 leaves) |
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