THEME 2: HELMAN & RATELE 2016:
EVERYDAY INEQUALITY AT HOME: GENDER IN SA FAMILIES:
GENDER, VIOLENCE & HIV/AIDS WITHIN THE SA CONTEXT:
-Much research has focused and sought to explore the specific factors that shape these
epidemics.
-Specifically, how masculinity & femininity, and gender power inequality shape practices of
violence (intimate partner violence & rape) as well as the feminization of HIV.
-Dominant constructions of masculinity that center on men’s power, control over others and
sexual entitlement = Scaffold men’s use of violence towards women and children.
-The use of violence represents an attempt to secure a position of status and is tied to
the social expectations of manly behaviour.
-Gender construction and inequality have also been related to high rates of HIV infection.
-Female sexual passivity and ignorance and men’s overpowering sexual desires = Make
it difficult for women to negotiate safe sex and also place men at risk of HIV.
-Men’s gender power over women is also associated with women’s chances of contracting HIV.
-These constructions create a context in which these unequal relations come to be understood
as ‘normal’ and ‘natural’.
-Gender inequality is also an important health issue (violence and sexual risks)
REPRODUCTIONS OF GENDER INEQUALITY:
-Children are aware of gender from the age of 2.
-Constructions of masculinity and femininity fundamentally shape young people’s notions and
experiences of sexuality.
-Many feminist scholars have argued that families operate as gender mills, in which hierarchical
gender relations are reproduced.
-Many discourses can be seen be seen to position men and women in unequal ways (e.g.
‘natural mothering’.)
-Position women as possessing innate nurturing capacities.
, -Men are exempt from caring activities by virtues of their positions of providers,
protectors, and disciplinarians.
-Parents also send very clear messages to their children about gender (buying particular toys
and clothes)
-Children’s views about gender are often correlated with those of their parents.
CATEGORIES OF FAMILIES:
-It was initially thought that there are 2 categories of families;
>Egalitarian/Feminist
>Patriarchal/Traditional
BUT this does not accurately capture the way that gender is constructed.
-An accurate way of categorizing families is on a spectrum.
-From more patriarchal/less egalitarian to less patriarchal/more egalitarian.
-There are 3 broad themes of gender construction;
-Reproduction of problematic constructions of masculinity and femininity
-Disruptions of problematic constructions of masculinity and femininity.
-Non-binary constructions of gender.
1. Reproductions of problematic constructions of masculinity and femininity:
CALEB: ‘Coz they… they the girl. They must know better. They must do more chores than boys.’
-Caleb makes a direct connection between female sex (‘they the girl’) and female nature (‘they
must know better’).
-Here he can be seen to be drawing on an essentialised biological discourse that positions
‘femaleness’ as fixed and inextricably linked to the female body.
EVERYDAY INEQUALITY AT HOME: GENDER IN SA FAMILIES:
GENDER, VIOLENCE & HIV/AIDS WITHIN THE SA CONTEXT:
-Much research has focused and sought to explore the specific factors that shape these
epidemics.
-Specifically, how masculinity & femininity, and gender power inequality shape practices of
violence (intimate partner violence & rape) as well as the feminization of HIV.
-Dominant constructions of masculinity that center on men’s power, control over others and
sexual entitlement = Scaffold men’s use of violence towards women and children.
-The use of violence represents an attempt to secure a position of status and is tied to
the social expectations of manly behaviour.
-Gender construction and inequality have also been related to high rates of HIV infection.
-Female sexual passivity and ignorance and men’s overpowering sexual desires = Make
it difficult for women to negotiate safe sex and also place men at risk of HIV.
-Men’s gender power over women is also associated with women’s chances of contracting HIV.
-These constructions create a context in which these unequal relations come to be understood
as ‘normal’ and ‘natural’.
-Gender inequality is also an important health issue (violence and sexual risks)
REPRODUCTIONS OF GENDER INEQUALITY:
-Children are aware of gender from the age of 2.
-Constructions of masculinity and femininity fundamentally shape young people’s notions and
experiences of sexuality.
-Many feminist scholars have argued that families operate as gender mills, in which hierarchical
gender relations are reproduced.
-Many discourses can be seen be seen to position men and women in unequal ways (e.g.
‘natural mothering’.)
-Position women as possessing innate nurturing capacities.
, -Men are exempt from caring activities by virtues of their positions of providers,
protectors, and disciplinarians.
-Parents also send very clear messages to their children about gender (buying particular toys
and clothes)
-Children’s views about gender are often correlated with those of their parents.
CATEGORIES OF FAMILIES:
-It was initially thought that there are 2 categories of families;
>Egalitarian/Feminist
>Patriarchal/Traditional
BUT this does not accurately capture the way that gender is constructed.
-An accurate way of categorizing families is on a spectrum.
-From more patriarchal/less egalitarian to less patriarchal/more egalitarian.
-There are 3 broad themes of gender construction;
-Reproduction of problematic constructions of masculinity and femininity
-Disruptions of problematic constructions of masculinity and femininity.
-Non-binary constructions of gender.
1. Reproductions of problematic constructions of masculinity and femininity:
CALEB: ‘Coz they… they the girl. They must know better. They must do more chores than boys.’
-Caleb makes a direct connection between female sex (‘they the girl’) and female nature (‘they
must know better’).
-Here he can be seen to be drawing on an essentialised biological discourse that positions
‘femaleness’ as fixed and inextricably linked to the female body.
