Week 7

       This week I read three different articles that were posted by my fellow Cape Town study abroad peers. I read "The Backlash Against African Women" that Joanna shared, "Here's how South Africans students talk about race and gender," suggested by Maria, and a youtube video titled "South Africa's Post Apartheid Generation," recommended by Connie. "The Backlash Against African Women" posted in the New York Times was an interesting, yet disheartening article. This articles speaks of the threat of assault non-traditional African women face on the streets. It claims that women's education programs in the 1980's are evident in the changing gender roles of Africans. African women are rising as leaders and African men don't know how to handle it. They have responded to the rise of women's power with public strippings, verbal abuse, and political attempts to keep African women in the shadows. Public strippings are "a cultural war against women's advancements in traditionally conservative but rapidly urbanizing societies." Backlash the women's uprising includes "decency bills", bullying and verbal abuse of successful women, and a bill that would have made women in rural areas subject to the chief's rule. This article compares political representation of women in America, South Africa, and Rwanda. American women represent 20% of Congress, South African women represent 40% of the National Assembly, and 64% of Rwanda's Parliament are women. I found it very interesting that Rwanda is the "only country in the world where women outnumber men in the legislature." While the successes of other women, and especially the successes of African women, are a very positive note, the challenges and backlash from society and men is rather disturbing to me. Where women in America are frequently catcalled, women in Africa who are dressed in non-traditional dress are stripped and mortified in public. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/11/opinion/sunday/the-backlash-against-african-women.html?_r=1&module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=Opinion&action=keypress&region=FixedLeft&pgtype=article>
        "Here's How South African Students Talk about Race and Gender" was a good read because it gave me perspectives about how South Africans at my age view current race and gender relations in South Africa. What I learned most from this article was how much race and gender are both emphasized in South Africa. Obviously race is in the microscope only twenty years out of apartheid, but the idea of women, colored or not, also being considered a marginalized group in South Africa is wild. After reading this I feel like, South Africa is almost too focused on putting everyone in "boxes" and each different "box" a South African is classified as, ties to a different form of discrimination. "South Africa is a very partriarchal setting.We usually talk about white privilege and then we find that black women are at the bottom that whole hierarchy. We find black men being oppressed by white men and at the same time they come home and oppress their black wives."
<http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-01-16/heres-how-south-african-students-talk-about-race-and-gender>
        In "South Africa's Post Apartheid Generation" I learned that Nelson Mandela's party, the ANC, has been in power since Mandela's election and although the party is not most popular today, no other party has been able to politically challenge them. Not with my surprise, I also learned that the past history of Apartheid is held with just as much importance to the generation our age, as well as their parents who were directly involved in the transition. Overall I am really impressed by the "Post Apartheid Generation's" optimism and determination towards success, despite all the misfortunes they have grown up through. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elrWczhTZBk>