Ronicka Mudaly

Dangerous alliance: Constructing marriage on the fault-line of gender

abstract This paper reflects on three womens experiences of intimate partner violence, which was enacted by their husbands within the institution of marriage. It does this by drawing on theoretical resources from feminism and theories of violence to inform the understanding of the social causation of husband-on-wife violence. Through narrative methodology, ways in which the “fault-line” of gender socialisation contribute to married womens vulnerability are explored. This perspective article discusses socio-politico-cultural factors in South African society which result in acquiescence to the use of violence by men on women as one way of restoring gender power disparity in heterosexual relationships. Gendered dynamics within marriage are revealed by exploring social inequalities and the role of coherence, which compromises womens psychological and physical safety. The findings shed light on the three womens feelings of guilt and shame, parental pressure to be loyal to their husbands, and the resultant surrender of womens power to their husbands, within the context of a type of intimate partner violence which is conceptualised as intimate terrorism. The exercise of power and control as a feature of hegemonic masculinity, which legitimates subordination of wives by their husbands, is discussed. The article goes further to explore transformation of these womens perspectives about the primacy of marriage in the life of a woman, by detailing development of these womens insight into their oppression, and their decisions to refuse to accept violence as a normal and inevitable part of married life.

The what, who and where of female students’ fear of sexual assault on a South African University campus

abstract Sexual assault is a serious and urgent concern at university campuses. The fear of sexual assault is widespread and expressed almost exclusively by women. This briefing explores female students’ fears about sexual violence and the spaces within which they feel vulnerable while at university, with a view to planning effective interventions to address their fears. This was done by working with them towards understanding the nature and extent of sexual violence, how to deal with it when it occurs and, most importantly, how to prevent it. The analysis draws on the responses of 133 female students at a university in KwaZulu-Natal, who participated in an online survey titled ‘Safer learning environments’, which comprised of closed- and open-ended questions. The findings reveal that the fear of sexual assault is widespread, especially amongst women living in university residences. The people most feared are outsiders and male students. Given the powerful ways in which female students’ activities on campus are shaped and constrained by their fear of sexual violence, it is important to gain their perspectives on how sexual violence is understood, how it is reported, and how it can be addressed. Comprehensive interventions that include and move beyond strengthening security measures and punishment are critical. These have to actively engage students in reflecting on and challenging social and cultural norms that normalise violence against women.

Risking it : entering uneven socio-scientific spaces in a Life Sciences classroom

Abstract This article advances the rationale for the re-thinking of science education, which is characterized by a shift away from the view of science as being disconnected from social issues, to a view of science as a human activity, which is embedded in social, cultural and political issues. It goes on to detail how a Life Sciences teacher engaged learners to conduct research about HIV and AIDS, a socio-scientific issue, using the contentious construct of gender as a central theme. Ten self appointed learners volunteered to serve as co-researchers, and they were trained to generate and analyze data. This participatory methodology enabled young people to conduct research about other young people, and reduced the power differences between the researcher and the research participants. The learners used visual methodologies and interviews to research HIV and AIDS. The reflexive and dialogical processes, which dominated the research activities, served as the basis for a transformation of praxis. The findings reveal how this participatory methodology enabled learners to encode and decode their worlds, and to understand how the complexity of real human contexts fuels the HIV and AIDS pandemic. A transformation of Life Sciences learners who challenge traditional constructions of gender and develop a sense of activist purpose reveals how learners may become empowered to contribute towards a sustained response to socio-scientific challenges.

The power of love: Young South Africans re-conceptualising love and sexual relationships

abstract The degradation of African sexuality, through the construction of African bodies as objects of symbolic and substantial violence and crime, and African people as sexually permissive and sexually immoral, has been a persistent feature of numerous scholarly works. The era of HIV and AIDS has strengthened the bleak African sexuality discourse, by underscoring the danger of sex in Africa. This Article seeks to de-legitimise the subjugation of African sexuality by exploring the sexual realities of young South Africans. Theoretical and conceptual constructs from feminism, and romantic and confluent love, were engaged with to generate insights about youthful love, desire and sex. An innovative, qualitative methodology, whereby young people were enabled to generate interview data from other young people, thereby reducing the power differentials between the researchers and the research participants, was employed. The findings revealed that young South Africans who participated in this study transcended hetero-patriarchal boundaries by demanding sexual autonomy. They disrupted traditional patterns of gender imbalances, which are inherent in the notion of romantic love. These young South Africans in love did not give primacy to the permanence of relationships and did not pursue the idea of a partner who would transform “me” into “we” (Giddens, 2006: 62). Instead, they actively embraced the liberating quality of passionate love, by engaging in confluent love, as a route towards sexual freedom, and consequently, constructed their sexuality autonomously.