Posted on by ijeomaopara

Demystifying Gender Politics: A Lexicon for Empowerment

Bridging the gap between academia and the real world is so important. For starters, if our work is not impacting the communities we write about or the world we live in, then what is the point? In my discipline of political science (and especially in gender politics), there is a lot of confusion about the terms that are used. If political science is the study of the world we live in, and gender studies is the study of gendered dynamics in the world we live in, gender politics brings together the opportunity to study what happens in the world with a consideration of gendered power dynamics. There may be some terms that you recognise, as they have made their way into mainstream language. As a result, it becomes difficult to separate fact from fiction when originally academic terms become part of the everyday lexicon. This blog will be decoding eight terms within gender politics (with some others sprinkled in between!). The hope is that this can help foster a deeper comprehension of critical issues at the heart of these areas.

1. Gender: Gender is the expression, behaviour and identity through which you experience the world. The genders that society is often familiar with are ‘man’ or ‘woman’, but there are a plethora of genders that people identify with (or don’t identify with e.g. non-binary people/gender non-conforming people). It is essential to know that people’s gender expression (through clothes, hair, behaviour, voice) is not the same as gender identity (which has to do with self-identification), or sexual orientation. Within feminist scholarship, there are also those that challenge the idea of gender being a separate categorisation, they state that a binary understanding of the body is a product of social-cultural realities.

2. Feminism (feminist theory): Depending on where you get your information from, the term feminism can be defined on a wide spectrum. But is there a ‘right’ definition of feminism, and what would an accurate example of feminism be? This is a difficult question to answer in a straightforward manner. According to UN Women, feminism is “a movement advocating for women’s social, political, legal and economic rights equal to those of men.” Feminist theory is different in that it is a way of thinking and understanding how gender affects people’s lives. Examples of prominent feminist theorists include Sara Ahmed, Judith Butler, bell hooks and Ama Ata Aidoo.

3. Neo/liberalism: Within the discipline of political science, liberalism refers to a specific school of thought. Liberalism refers to the ideology of individual autonomy against state intervention. Over time the term evolved to also include protection against private businesses. However, in mainstream media, liberalism often refers to being a ‘liberal’, which is different from leftist ideals. Neoliberalism refers to the economic policies that highlight the political ideology of liberalism i.e. minimal state intervention, a competitive trade market and the principle of self-efficacy.

4. Patriarchy/Toxic Masculinity: Patriarchy can be defined as a system or hierarchy in which gender inequality is perpetuated through the unequal distribution of power that favours men and oppresses women. Toxic masculinity is a result of patriarchy, whereby the attitudes and behaviours of men towards women create a sense of entitlement towards violence and dominance. A popular example of toxic masculinity is the TikTok famous social media personality Andrew Tate, whose views and beliefs on men’s and women’s places in society have had a massively negative impact on young men.

5. Intersectionality: The term ‘intersectionality’ was created by Kimberlé Crenshaw in the 1980s, which was meant to highlight the intersecting ways in which differences (race, class, gender) amongst groups of people showcase imbalances in the legal context of the USA. However, intersectionality went mainstream around the mid-2010s, and the conservative backlash to the term created a fear-based idea about who deserves to be a victim, and who does not. At its core, intersectionality functions as an observation of power imbalances in varying socio-political contexts and is a tool through which said contexts can be examined and dismantled.

6. Cis-hetero patriarchy: There are three different terms in this one word, namely; cis-gendered, heteronormative and patriarchy. We know that patriarchy is a system that prioritises men by valuing behaviours, attitudes and systems that oppress women. Heteronormativity is the assumption everyone is ‘naturally’ heterosexual (romantic/sexual attraction to people of the opposite sex i.e. heterosexual men are attracted to women, and vice versa). Cisgender is the gender identity of a person who identifies with the gender they were assigned at birth. Therefore, when we put it all together, cis-hetero patriarchy is a “system of power based on the supremacy of cis-gendered heterosexual men through domination and exploitation of women and other marginalised genders/gender nonconforming identities.

7. Gender Equity/Gender Equality:

8. LGBTQIAP++ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, Pansexual, and more): This is an acronym that has changed over time to reflect other identities not included. Although it is shortened to LGBT, this can have different implications for those who do not identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Trans. The earliest use of the term LGB was in the 1990s when lesbian, gay and bisexual activists adopted the acronym for the community they were part of.

Maybe other terms came to mind when reading through this that you’d like to understand more about. Also being aware, there are different implications for these definitions when applying them to different contexts and examples. Let me know in the comments below!

Posted on by Lonwabo Makapela

Thursday chit-chat: Remembering your ‘why’

Let’s have a chat. So, I recently had a very unexpected and disappointing experience in my PhD journey. So much so that I contemplated quitting my PhD. You thought I didn’t have moments like that? Well, you thought wrong, my friend. Though I might not go into too much detail on the specifics of this particular matter, I will give you enough to work with 🙂

Previously, I’d say there has only ever been one instance where I contemplated quitting my PhD. This was during my first year in the PhD learning programme, and to give some context, I began the PhD programme in the thick of COVID-19, where I found myself moving to Pretoria, attending seminars from my tiny studio apartment, having to get through multiple readings weekly, writing a thought paper based on the readings, and preparing for lengthy discussions within a PhD cohort of only two; life as I knew it and the PhD programme felt profoundly isolating. I felt like I was thrown into the deep end. As the year progressed, I felt myself getting stretched thinner and thinner as I had to prepare for seminars, ready for the long drawn 48hour exams (if you know, you know), and prepare my research proposal, all while I was applying to the highly competitive Fulbright programme, which comprised of a lengthy application process, having to write personal statements and motivations, preparing for interviews, prepare for exams such as TOEFL and GRE. But the questioning related to the continuation of my programme was primarily based on questioning whether I was cut out for this and whether I had the resilience to do a PhD. The imposter syndrome was jarring and relentless, but I have since realised that it is part and parcel of the PhD experience, so I will say that I have learned to keep pushing despite it.

Now, having returned from my Fulbright award in the U.S., many might assume that the last thing on my mind would be to quit my PhD. Well, Surprise!! It was indeed during my first few weeks back in South Africa that I was unexpectedly confronted with those thoughts. The feeling was much stronger than the previous time because it wasn’t due to doubting my abilities this time, but due to something I would have never expected, interpersonal conflict. Indeed, it is bold of me to think I wouldn’t experience conflict with those overseeing my research, and one might even say that it is inevitable to have interpersonal challenges during your postgraduate studies because research is, in fact, a collaboration. Still, having watched as many YouTube videos as I could at the beginning of both my master’s and PhD programmes to ensure that I maintained respectful and healthy relations with those I have the privilege of receiving assistance from, I’d say the hard reality I had to accept is that sometimes expectations do not align. Subsequently, your expectations of having good working relations may not be met, but this is not the end of the world.

This may have stung so much more because when I left for the U.S., I struggled with communicating my boundaries, particularly my capacity to do more than I could physically, mentally, and emotionally. This time, the burnout I was experiencing forced me to speak up, to say I could not put anything more on my plate than what I currently have. And while on such a mentally and emotionally taxing journey as a PhD, it is crucial to surround yourself with people who will understand that. Reminiscent of the disproportionate amount of Winter I experienced over the last 12 months, as mentioned in my previous blog, I left for the U.S. towards the end of our academic year in South Africa, lived in the U.S. all through their academic year only to return to South Africa halfway through our academic year again. To say that I am still exhausted would be an understatement.

Nonetheless, many lessons to learn while pursuing your postgrad have nothing to do with your degree. And these lessons come during different process phases. The lesson of my current stage is knowing and staying connected to why I started. Simon Sinek, author of the book ‘start with Why’ describes the ‘why’ as the purpose, belief or cause driving you, because knowing why you started helps you to remain loyal to the cause.

Here are a few tips I’ve learnt from life coach and YouTuber Brendon Buchard that have been helping me stay connected to my ‘why’.

1) Keep emotionally connected with what you want through daily visualisation. Do not only visualise the end goal but also what you would do if things don’t go according to plan; how do you regain the momentum?

2) Conduct weekly check-ins with yourself and score your performance and progress every week. This will help you align closely with your goals.

3) Get social support involved in what you are planning to achieve. Find people you trust and who are in your corner that you can fill in on what you plan to do, when you plan to achieve it and keep them posted on your progress. This will help to keep you accountable and to feel supported.

Ultimately and amongst other things, such as my closest people, it has been the SAYAS blogging community and a beautiful SAYAS blog post that helped me stay afloat and encouraged me to continue. I hope this chit-chat will inspire someone to stay connected to their ‘why’.