Magister Artium - MA (Women and Gender Studies)

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/10566/10215

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 32

"Access to tertiary education": Exploring the experiences of women with physical disabilities in Kamwala, Zambia
(University of the Western Cape, 2017) Matambo, Luyeye Hope; Ngabaza, Sisa
Women with disabilities are marginalised in many aspects of societal participation. The majority of women with disabilities in Zambia do not have access to education and this has placed them amongst the poorest of people in the country. The study focuses on the experiences of women with physical disabilities and investigates the challenges they encounter in accessing education at tertiary level. The study comes at a time when the fight for gender equality has gained momentum and aims at promoting economic participation for all members of society without discrimination on the basis of sex or disability. The study engaged ten participants from a tertiary institution in Kamwala, Lusaka. I conducted a feminist qualitative research, which focused on the experiences of 19-30 year old female students with physical disabilities. I used semi-structured interviews in order to collect the data and drew on a qualitative thematic analysis to analyse the data. All standard ethical procedures were adhered to, including anonymity and confidentiality with respect to participants. The results of the study revealed that women with disabilities were often �othered� due to myths and misconceptions that surrounded disability especially in the African- traditional context. The study also revealed that families played a very important role in ensuring that women and young girls with disabilities had a strong self-image, strong self-esteem and a strong sense of self and ensuring that they felt included within the homes and especially when accessing education. The study further revealed that where family support was lacking, participants faced challenges in accessing education compared to participants who received such support. More so, that educational opportunities in Zambia are generally gendered with more males than females in the education system, across the multiple levels. Access to the tertiary level for this group of women is compromised because challenges in accessing education start at the lower levels and have spill over effects in to the higher levels of education. Financial challenges experienced by women with disabilities and their families also led to fewer women with disabilities being able to participate in schooling. This is because where there were limited resources within the family, women, and girls with disabilities getting an education was not an option.
"Access to tertiary education": Exploring the experiences of women with physical disabilities in Kamwala, Zambia
(University of the Western Cape, 2017) Matambo, Luyeye Hope; Ngabaza, Sisa
Women with disabilities are marginalised in many aspects of societal participation. The majority of women with disabilities in Zambia do not have access to education and this has placed them amongst the poorest of people in the country. The study focuses on the experiences of women with physical disabilities and investigates the challenges they encounter in accessing education at tertiary level. The study comes at a time when the fight for gender equality has gained momentum and aims at promoting economic participation for all members of society without discrimination on the basis of sex or disability. The study engaged ten participants from a tertiary institution in Kamwala, Lusaka. I conducted a feminist qualitative research, which focused on the experiences of 19-30 year old female students with physical disabilities. I used semi-structured interviews in order to collect the data and drew on a qualitative thematic analysis to analyse the data. All standard ethical procedures were adhered to, including anonymity and confidentiality with respect to participants. The results of the study revealed that women with disabilities were often 'othered' due to myths and misconceptions that surrounded disability especially in the African- traditional context. The study also revealed that families played a very important role in ensuring that women and young girls with disabilities had a strong self-image, strong self-esteem and a strong sense of self and ensuring that they felt included within the homes and especially when accessing education. The study further revealed that where family support was lacking, participants faced challenges in accessing education compared to participants who received such support. More so, that educational opportunities in Zambia are generally gendered with more males than females in the education system, across the multiple levels. Access to the tertiary level for this group of women is compromised because challenges in accessing education start at the lower levels and have spill over effects in to the higher levels of education. Financial challenges experienced by women with disabilities and their families also led to fewer women with disabilities being able to participate in schooling. This is because where there were limited resources within the family, women, and girls with disabilities getting an education was not an option.
Art as accessible knowledge for challenging intersectional gender binarisms
(University of the Western Cape, 2022) Msebenzi, Thandiwe T.; Shefer, Tamara
Arts-based research struggles to find validation within the norms of rigid Eurocentric and androcentric academic norms. The Rhodes Must Fall movement, that started at the University of Cape Town in 2015, and the creative demonstrations/interventions that have occurred since then, as a tool for mass mobilisation and knowledge dissemination, were crucial in illustrating that art is an accessible form of pedagogy and scholarship in engaging with social issues. In this study, I centre creative practice to lead the research on an enquiry into alternative forms of gender, what I term �soft masculinities� and �tough femininities,� through memories of my experience, community and family, which I capture as nuanced expressions through photography. For the study, I use the visual body of artwork I created to formulate my research question.
An assessment of the perceptions of parental practices which place children at-risk for abuse and neglect
(University of the Western Cape, 2012) Cottee, Gail Janine; Roman, Nicolette
The aim of the study was to assess the perceptions of parental practices, which could place children at risk for abuse and neglect. This study used the quantitative method with a cross-sectional comparative design to examine and compare parental practices of parents, whose children were victims of abuse or neglect across gender, marital status and socio economic status. A sample of 163 participants (87 mothers and 76 fathers), who were either single or married and their socio economic status varied from the lower to the higher income group participated in the study. The participants completed the questionnaire, which was based on the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) and the data was analyzed by means of the Statistical Package in the Science (SPSS version 20). The results suggest that there are no significant differences between parents based on socio-economic status and marital status. However, there were significant differences between mothers? and fathers? care and overprotection. Furthermore, mothers were identified as being affectionless controlling in their parenting practices (low care and high overprotection) and fathers as affectionately constraining in their parenting practices (high care and high protection). Recommendations are provided for this study
Body positive �healthy� women: Representations of health and femininities in women�s health magazine South Africa, 2013-2018
(University of the Western Cape, 2022) Samaai, Shirmeez; Clowes, Lindsay
This research explores how representations of healthy femininities are constructed through narratives of Body Positivity in the South African version of Women�s Health magazine from 2013 to 2018. In my thesis, I examine how the magazine romanticises certain bodies and subtly pathologises others. By conducting a thematic analysis, I focus on the magazine�s presentation of women�s bodies and how these representations are linked to femininities, health, and sexuality. From a Body Positive lens, I argue that the magazine represents certain bodies as normative and �healthy� and other bodies as unhealthy and undesirable.
Call centres: Anonymous �safe spaces� for women�s experiences of abortion stigma
(University of Western Cape, 2021) Xaba, Nonkosi; Ngabaza, Sisa
In South Africa, abortion became a right in 1996 in terms of the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act, 92 of 1996 (CTOP). However, despite this legal dispensation, debates between pro-life (those against abortion) and pro-choice (those supportive of the law) have continued unabated in liberal South Africa. These debates have resulted in severe stigma for women who choose to terminate their pregnancies. The discourse is shaped by an array of personal, religious, cultural and other social beliefs that differ from community to community. Research shows that access to free post-abortion services is further complicated for women, especially young women, by privacy concerns, the negative attitudes of institutional service providers, and stigma.
Complicating �tradition� and �modernity�: Young South African Women?s Perceptions of Lobola
(University of the Western Cape, 2021) Nduna, Nyaradzo; Lewis, Desiree
An indigenous cultural practice among the many ethnic groups of South Africa, lobola has changed immensely, especially in highly urbanised towns. It has also been the subject of several interpretations in academia, the media, and popular opinion. These have included ethnographic scholarship that focuses on its cultural significance and its centrality to reciprocal relationships between groups. Other academic and activist views criticize how lobola, as a form of bride wealth, instrumentalises women in patriarchal society. In addition, other interpretive strand acknowledges lobola's patriarchal impacts while also recognizing the agencies and choices of women who embrace it. The work demonstrates that women are neither consistent agents nor constant victims of lobola, but that they experience it in different ways. As a result, the study explores how young women�s situated knowledge helps us understand lobola�s complex and ambiguous meanings that might assist in comprehending the current connotations of lobola, which are presently complicated and confusing. The current study is concerned with mapping out and analysing the complexities of standpoint knowledge-making that is typically side-lined in the numerous scholarly and activist studies of lobola by selecting a diverse range of young women respondents as well as commentators in the public sphere.
Constructions of identity among young students living with visual or physical disabilities at a university in Cape Town
(University of the Western Cape, 2019) Steyn, Inga Dale; Ngabaza, Sisa
Not all disabilities are the same and the way that society may respond to people with disabilities depends on their �disability� and how their body deviates from the appearance norms of society. People with disabilities constitute a significant portion of the South African population. A body of research and physical evidence shows that people with disabilities may face certain obstacles or limitations in fulfilling a normal life. Obstacles include perceptions of disabilities, negative stigma and attitudes, barriers to an environment which is accessible for people with disabilities, and constructions of ableism. In a way, these obstacles influence the way people with disabilities construct their identity. Beyond this, the voices of people with disabilities are not always heard and their personal experiences are not always given political recognition. This research aimed to explore how a group of students living with a physical or visual disability constructed their identities in their environment or society. A feminist qualitative method was conducted. The study focused on the experiences and perceptions of nineteen to twenty-seven year old female and male students with disabilities. Out of the six participants, two were coloured, three were black and one participant is classified as coloured, but identifies as biracial. A semi-structured interview was used for data collection and a Qualitative Thematic Analysis was used to analyse the data. Social constructionism and intersectionality were useful theoretical approaches adopted in exploring the lived experiences of students with disabilities. The results of this study revealed that students with disabilities find living with a disability as not being a barrier to living a fulfilling life. Students with disabilities construct their identities in a way that frees them from ideologies which shape the experience of disability in a negative way. However, the study revealed that negative barriers to identity construction still exist. These barriers come in the form of negative perceptions and stigma of disability, ableism and the medical model. The study further revealed that when the lived experiences of students with disabilities are understood through the lens of gender, race and class, these social divisions overlap and are cumulative on the effects of student�s experiences. The one major barrier in identity construction that the study revealed is the negative social perceptions of disability. The way in which students feel that they belong in their society is representative of how they respond to negative social constructions of disability.
Constructions of identity among young students living with visual or physical disabilities at a university in Cape Town
(University of the Western Cape, 2018) Steyn, Inga Dale; Ngabaza, Sisa
Not all disabilities are the same and the way that society may respond to people with disabilities depends on their �disability� and how their body deviates from the appearance norms of society. People with disabilities constitute a significant portion of the South African population. A body of research and physical evidence shows that people with disabilities may face certain obstacles or limitations in fulfilling a normal life. Obstacles include perceptions of disabilities, negative stigma and attitudes, barriers to an environment which is accessible for people with disabilities, and constructions of ableism. In a way, these obstacles influence the way people with disabilities construct their identity. Beyond this, the voices of people with disabilities are not always heard and their personal experiences are not always given political recognition. This research aimed to explore how a group of students living with a physical or visual disability constructed their identities in their environment or society. A feminist qualitative method was conducted. The study focused on the experiences and perceptions of nineteen to twenty-seven year old female and male students with disabilities. Out of the six participants, two were coloured, three were black and one participant is classified as coloured, but identifies as biracial. A semi-structured interview was used for data collection and a Qualitative Thematic Analysis was used to analyse the data. Social constructionism and intersectionality were useful theoretical approaches adopted in exploring the lived experiences of students with disabilities. The results of this study revealed that students with disabilities find living with a disability as not being a barrier to living a fulfilling life. Students with disabilities construct their identities in a way that frees them from ideologies which shape the experience of disability in a negative way. However, the study revealed that negative barriers to identity construction still exist. These barriers come in the form of negative perceptions and stigma of disability, ableism and the medical model. The study further revealed that when the lived experiences of students with disabilities are understood through the lens of gender, race and class, these social divisions overlap and are cumulative on the effects of student�s experiences. The one major barrier in identity construction that the study revealed is the negative social perceptions of disability. The way in which students feel that they belong in their society is representative of how they respond to negative social constructions of disability.
The contemporary construction of the causality of HIV/AIDS :a discourse analysis and its implications for understanding national policy statements on the epidemic in South Africa
(University of the Western Cape, 2005) Judge, Melanie; Shefer, Tamara; Institute for Social Development; Faculty of Arts
This study was concerned with the social construction of HIV/AIDS at the policy level in contemporary South Africa, and how such constructions shape the manner in which the epidemic is understood in popular discourse.
Experiences of gender and power relations among a group of black women holding leadership positions: a case study of six government departments in the Western Cape
(University of the Western Cape, 2013) Mgcotyelwa, Nwabisa Bernice; Shefer, Tamara; Women and Gender Studies
In this study, I explored the experiences of gender and power relations among a group of black women holding leadership positions in six government departments in the Western Cape. South Africa is in a process of transition and, to create a departure from the past, key objectives focus around the transformation of gender disparities and the eradication of racism and other forms of inequality and discrimination in all spheres of this society. There are many methods utilized to increase the number of women in leadership positions in the private and public sectors. However, there is a lack of research regarding the social environment for women once they have entered into these structures (Angevine, 2006). This study made use of a feminist qualitative methodology which guided the research. Six semi-structured, open-ended interviews were conducted in order to carry out an in-depth exploration of participants� experiences. After the participants had given consent, the interviews were audio-recorded, then transcribed verbatim. Data was analyzed in accordance with qualitative thematic analysis. All standard ethical considerations to protect the participants and the researcher were taken into account and practised throughout the research. The findings show evidence that black African women leaders in government departments have internalized learnt subservient characteristics; and that this serves to undermine their authority as leaders. Specifically, larger social power relations and traditional forms of authority undermine their capacity to express authority in work environments. They also experience both subtle and blatant racist and sexist prejudice in the form of stereotypes and hostility in the workplace. A minority of women managers actively oppose the gendered notions that undermine their leadership. Ultimately, black African women managers are not accepted or supported as legitimate leaders in the workplace. Women leaders are perceived to be incapable of performing effectively as leaders because of gender and racial stereotypes that serve as hindrances to their expression of leadership. The study found that some participants conform to the socially constructed notion of maintaining a work-life balance and this poses a challenge for such leaders. Those who are married attempt to balance career and life by maximizing on their management of their time. A number of women had made the personal decision to remain single in order to focus explicitly on their careers.
Experiences of rural girls in a historically dominated organisation: scouts in Mpumalanga, Western Cape and Eastern Cape
(University of the Western Cape, 2006) Van Staden, Maria; Clowes, Lindsay; Women and Gender Studies; Faculty of Arts
This study explores the experiences of young rural girls in scouting practices, who reside in the rural areas of Mpumalanga, Western and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. This exploratory study draws special reference to their participation in Scout programmes in what in observed as a predominantly male-dominated organisational alignment. This exploratory study uses a qualitative feminist investigation, through focus groups and semi structured interviews to investigate the impact of these organisational change initiatives on the experiences of girls in scouting. Although the aim of the study was to explore the experiences of rural girls, boys were included in the study to explore gender dynamics and to problematise how gender inequalities can be understood and addressed in scouting.
An exploration of the gendered constructions of �stoner� identity on a Western Cape campus
(University of the Western Cape, 2019) Brown, Natasha Carmen; Clowes, Lindsay
This study employed a social constructionist understanding of �identity� to identify key markers of gendered �stoner� identity and to consider how gendered �stoner� identity is performed on a Western Cape campus. The aim was not simply to consider how they see themselves, but also how they are considered through the lenses and perception of non-smoking students at campus. In trying to understand the gendered experiences of �stoners�, this research was grounded in a feminist theoretical perspective and feminist methodological approaches to explore gendered constructions of �stoner� identity at this Western Cape campus. The data for this study was collected through conducting two focus group discussions, and six semi structured, in-depth interviews with six male and six female students from a range of locations across campus. The participants in this study who smoke marijuana/weed did not reject the term �stoner�, rather, they claimed this identity, labelling themselves �stoners�. My research shows that �stoner� identities both transgress and reinforce normative femininities and masculinities.
An exploration of the perceptions of non-admitting sex offenders of their family environment
(University of the Western Cape, 2014) Davids, Olivia Davene; Londt, M
This study aims to explore the family environment of non-admitting sex offenders in order to gain insight into the family characteristics that could be contributing factors towards the behaviour of denial. However, the focus will not be on the families of the sex offenders, but rather on the non-admitting sex offenders� views of their family environment. The theoretical framework used is the Social Learning Theory, because it supports the fact that most behaviour is learned through modelling the behaviour of others. The researcher used a qualitative approach and the aim of the study was to generate information that would describe the family environment of non-admitting sex offenders. The population of this study was incarcerated, sentenced sex offenders with specific focus on the non-admitting sex offender as the unit of analysis. Ten (10) participants were purposively selected for the study and semi-structured interviews were conducted with each one in order to generate the needed information for the study
An exploration of the stigma experienced by women who are living with HIV/AIDS
(University of the Western Cape, 2006) Roman, Gail Sandra; Shefer, Tamara; Women and Gender Studies; Faculty of Arts
The effects of the spread of HIV/AIDS place a great burden on women and children, who will probably suffer most in terms of social and economic deprivation. Since HIV/AIDS is linked to social taboos such as sexuality, drug use and death, there are enormous levels of ignorance, denial, fear and intolerance in most communities. These prejudices lead to the stigmatisation and discrimination of people who are living with HIV/AIDS. Moreover the illness, as it is sexually transmitted, has been conflated with sexual excess, lack of morals, and those already stigmatised such as sex workers with associated discourses of blame, shame and guilt. Generally, responses to HIV and those living with HIV have served to reflect, legitimise and reproduce broader social inequalities on the basis of sexual orientation, gender, race and class. Stigma is the reason why many people who are living with HIV/AIDS, choose not to disclose their status and seek apposite assistance. This study explored the stigma experienced by a group of women who are living with HIV/AIDS and to develop a deeper understanding of whether these experiences are complicated by social responses.
An exploratory study of the representation of lesbian subjectivities in the contemporary Kenyan film Rafiki
(University of the Western Cape, 2022) Awori, Nancy Judith; Shefer, Tamara
This research analyzes the depiction of black Kenyan lesbians in contemporary Kenyan films. In order to do so, I focus on the film Rafiki by Wanuri Kahiu, a 2018 Kenyan drama film that documents the story of romance that grows between two young women amidst family and political pressure around lesbian gay bisexual trans intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) rights in Kenya. The film speaks to issues of intersectional subjectivity and diverse ways of what it is to identify across different social categories, a woman, a lesbian, a Kenyan and specifically black Kenyan.
Exploring the dualisms of 'belonging': Young women's performances of citizenship in Cape Town
(University of the Western Cape, 2016) Van Vuuren, Monique; Lewis, Desiree
My research involves a nuanced exploration of 'citizenship', through examining the liberatory potential of young women's use of social media and performance of embodied subjectivities in the post-Apartheid imaginary. By tracing expressions of self, specifically women�s highly imaginative efforts to represent what selfhood means to them and how it shapes their realities, I question conventional understandings of civic participation. The forms of communication and self-expression that many young women in Cape Town pursue are often considered apolitical, frivolous or trivial. By comprehensively exploring self-expression as a participant, I show that it is often richly but complicatedly politicized. My analysis is based on four women�s narratives and meaning-making processes, although my methodological approach involves detailed attention to my own location and interactions with participants. Guided by feminist explorations of the relevance of standpoint theorizing, I seek to understand the various visual and textual ways in which a small group of young women in Cape Town is currently making sense of their social identities, understandings of freedom and potential as social actors. I also draw on methodological work that questions the tendency, even among many feminist researchers, to reduce the knowledge of their participants to manageable data. In so doing, my aim is to try to make sense of the content and forms of young women's knowledge making on their own terms.
Gendered dynamics in South African astrophysics: A case study of the South African Astronomical Observatory
(University of the Western Cape, 2016) Bongwana, Thembelihle; Lewis, Desiree; Holbrook, Jarita
This study explores the nuances around gendered dynamics, attitudes, ideologies, values and knowledge that exist within astronomy and astrophysics institutions paying specific attention to the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) as study site. This study investigated implicit and explicit ways in which SAAO spaces and practices are gendered and hierarchized, and the extent to which 'astronomy as a specific discipline within science' remains highly masculinized. By focusing on studies on power, feminist critiques of science and institutional culture in other South African sectors, especially higher education, the study deconstructs a field that has been relatively neglected in South African feminist studies of gendered institutional culture. This thesis makes use of feminist qualitative methodological approaches and fuses mixed methods to collect data. The use of participant observation enabled a broader understanding of the context and to gain an understanding of how gendered, classed and raced subjects construct and navigate social meanings in the hierarchized and symbolically marked space of the SAAO.
Human trafficking across a border in Nigeria: Experiences of young women who have survived trafficking
(University of the Western Cape, 2017) Oyebanji, Kemi Fisayo; Ngabaza, Sisa
Human trafficking is a global issue that most countries have battled to control and combat in recent times. It is exploitative, abusive and violates human rights. Research showing the prevalence of human trafficking in mostly underdeveloped and developing countries with slack border controls and ineffective immigration activities seem to foreground women as victims in most cases. Although men, women and children are all prone to trafficking, young women and girls are more vulnerable due to political, economic and social factors. This study focuses on the experiences of young women who survived trafficking. Working within a qualitat ive feminist framework, this study explores the lived experiences of trafficked young women across a border in Nigeria. Five participants aged twenty to twenty-five were selected through convenience and snowballing sampling. Narrative thematic analysis was used as a methodology for data analysis. Findings from this study clearly show multiple factors which contribute to young women's vulnerability to trafficking. Some of the factors included family instability, feminization of poverty and gender inequality, which saw male children preferred over their female counterparts. Low levels of education and lack of care and support from the family further emerged as a source of vulnerability to trafficking for young women due to their low level of education. Gender and sexuality played a role in the reason for trafficking in this case, because all of the survivors were trafficked for the purpose of commercial sex work.
Lesbians and the right to equality: Perceptions of people in a local Western Cape community
(University of the Western Cape, 2001) Sanger, Nadia; Clowes, Lindsay; Women and Gender Studies; Faculty of Arts
When lesbians, as women divert from social norms and reject the compulsory heterosexual norm, they are either punished through legal systems for transgressing patriarchial structures or not recognised at all. As women, lesbians suffer at the hands of a homophobic society which believs that women have stepped out of line through challenging the hegemonic discourses stipulating that they have specific and distinct roles to play - that of wives, mothers, homemakers and sexual partners to men. Because lesbians do not fit into this construct, their behaviour is socially and legally condemned for diverting from the "natural order". This study aimed to identify and explore the various ways people construct and perceive lesbians and to reveal how sexuality, as a product of history and culture, determines the ways lesbians are treated in their own communities. This study attempted to explore how, despite the democratic stance of the new constitution, South African lesbians still experience discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation.

Browse

Browsing by Title

Results Per Page

Sort Options