Posted on by siphomabusela · 1 Comment

Celebrating women past women’s month…

National Women’s Day is a South African public holiday celebrated annually on the 9th of August. The day celebrates the 1956 march of approximately 20 000 women to the Union Buildings in Pretoria. This march for me optimises the courage, strength and determination that women possess; it also demonstrates the monumental role that women have played and continue to play in transforming South Africa to what it is today.

Such extraordinary beings need to be celebrated every day of every year and not on one special day and then forgotten.

Whether we like it or not, our parents lived in a patriarchal society that was previously lead to believe that men were more superior to women. However, we are slowly transitioning into a society that believes and treats men and women equally. But should it? In the past, women weren’t afforded a lot of opportunities i.e. education, corporate work, etc. As a matter of fact, an argument can be laid that it is still the case in some countries, including South Africa.

This reminds me of a Sotho friend of mine who asked an interesting question, one that I couldn’t answer with much conviction. He asked if “we” as Xhosa people still practise the custom of “Ukuthwala”. This is when a young girl is taken or abducted by a man and he takes her to his home. He then sends message to the girl’s family that he would like to marry her. This in my opinion is a barbaric act that qualifies as kidnapping and later on statutory rape. As far as I know, this isn’t happening anymore and I thank God for that; this just reminds me of the hardship that women have had and still continue to endure in the hands of men. In all fairness I guess, they too (men) were brought into a society that treats women like objects for men’s entertainment. This does not qualify as an excuse because there will forever be a difference between right and wrong!

The previous and perhaps current mistreatment of women has prompted for emancipation and righting of previous wrongs. This however poses a question, is it possible to fix the ills of the past? If yes, then can this be done without infringing or walking all over the rights of men?

Being a previously disadvantaged race in South Africa, I would like to think I understand emancipation a little bit. I think that perhaps the road to establishing equal playing ground in the research field should start with emancipation, but unlike forcing women to conform to men’s standards, this would create a medium where women can establish themselves in the work/research field. There’s no doubt that this would be deemed unfair to men who will who may feel forced to take the back seat with regards to research funding and capacity development, but in the long run it will be worth it for everyone.

 

…but before that happens, I believe men need to be aware of their sins and atone. Some of the sexism and gender discrimination that we are fighting against is inherent of societal norms in the name of culture and tradition. Examples of this would be for a man in the African culture being allowed to take more than one wife or in other cultures where women cannot go to school, work or even drive a car. We cannot try to eradicate any form of sexism or discrimination if we don’t first change our traditions and cultures that are inherently sexist and discriminatory in nature.

Trying to treat women like men according to me is still not enough, in fact it changes nothing. It changes nothing because women in this regard are still being forced to conform and leave up to the standards of men, as opposed to them being allowed to form their own identity and coexist with men in society as equals. We can never take away the fact that men and women are different and trying to compare or treat them the same way would be a travesty to feminism or women’s rights.

I hope that one day we can live in a society that embraces women and men as dynamic equals; Instead of advocating for the world to treat women like men. A society that embraces gender differences, as well as the benefits that those differences bring towards research findings and life in general. Being friends with women who passed their MSc degrees with cum laude honours and having an exceptional supervisor who happens to be a woman, has shown me that women can perform and excel in science – the idea that there is a biological reason why women can’t exceed is just a cultural bias.

My conclusion is that men and women are different and they should be treated as such. The mistake would be for one gender to assume dominance over the other. Our differences are what make us humans special, at the end of the day that’s what we are, HUMANS!

Posted on by Odi · 2 Comments

Confronting the Imposter in the Mirror

This season of my life has been particularly challenging; not only was getting my manuscript out of the way difficult, but also establishing myself as a researcher has been frightening.   Part of my problem is feeling like a fake and as if I don’t really belong.

As I mentioned in SAYAS profile, I took time to be a homemaker for a few years before deciding to embark on my doctorate and I felt that I was re-entering the field on the back foot. To be honest, the processing of getting a supervisor who believed in my project was gruelling, as most people I approached were put off by the fact that there was such a large gap in my resumé. The look on the faces of several illustrious professors when they found out that I was actually a stay-at-home parent was indescribably disheartening. Many a time I was ready to give up. My lowest moment came when I was outright rejected by my intended supervisor without him even asking about my proposed project or even reading a single thing I wrote. I eventually found someone who was willing to take me on but that was just the first part of the several hurdles I would have to face — the largest being my own insecurity.

Gill Corkindale describes the imposter syndrome as being “as a collection of feelings of inadequacy that persist despite evident success”. I think her definition is pretty accurate but doesn’t capture something that is making academia a particularly unfriendly environment – the academy as a whole does not easily accommodate outsiders. And women are still the primary outsiders. I say this because I realised over the years that as a woman, you are constantly trying to prove your intelligence in male-dominated fields, and in a millisecond, the value of your contribution can be diminished by a senior male colleague making careless statements such as “the doors would fly open because there are few women in the field” or “we need a female to meet our gender requirement”. Such remarks lessen the value of your contribution and creates the impression that the only reason that you are there is because you happen to be a woman and not because you are capable. Moreover, if you are not careful, such insidious remarks bury themselves deep in your psyche and you begin to doubt your ability.

I believe the academy at times frowns on outliers. Even though universities are the supposed homes to critical thinkers, I have personally seen higher education institutions repeatedly shoving people into epistemic and behavioural boxes. It is only when you have a truly progressive dean or head of department, that you are able to explore your research and self-presentation from non-traditional angles. Without such overt support, your self-esteem will be further eroded: at the best of times it’s difficult to think in a new way, and critical thinking needs nurturing.

I recently had to present my paper to a room full of academics and policy practitioners and I spent days hoping that I would fall sick so that someone else read my paper. Luckily, I came across TED talk on YouTube by Professor Amy Cuddy titled “Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are”. She basically argued that how you carry yourself affects not only how you feel about yourself but also your ultimate performance. In the remaining 48 hours before the talk I decided to put some of her suggestions into practice, I worked on some of the power poses that she suggests and I must admit that I felt very authoritative (but still a tad nervous) when the day came. I was confident on the podium, and for the first time in a long while I felt as if I belonged. And I started to see a change in myself.

I know it will be a while before my new-found confidence will become truly part of me. But right now I’m walking the walk, and it’s really boosting my self-esteem. Call me an optimist but I do believe that there will be a future in academia where women  will not have to pretend confidence in the face of constant micro-aggression and bias. Change starts with refusing to suffer in silence.