Electronic Theses and Dissertations (Masters)

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    Moving in Between Choices and Conflicts: Grandmothers and Granddaughters’ Intergenerational Narratives of Embodied Gender and Race
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Rasodi, Relebogile; Kiguwa, Peace
    The legacy of colonialism and apartheid in South Africa has complicated the construction of racial and gender identities of Black women in this country. Grandmothers play pivotal roles as matriarchs of the family by helping to raise their grandchildren and significantly influencing the transmission of family history, culture, and religious values. Granddaughters then make use of these family narratives to construct their identities as Black women. This study explored the intergenerational narratives of embodied race and gender between grandmothers and their granddaughters to explore the continuities and changes around narratives of Black womanhood pre- and post-democracy. A narrative and Feminist theoretical framework was adopted to guide the interpretation and analysis of the interviews with the cohort of 6 grandmother-granddaughter pairs located in Gauteng. The study reported on the choices that empowered participants to access more opportunities for agency and included narratives about education and careers. The conflicts that participants encountered were primarily in managing their mental health and navigating racism which related to the continuities in the narratives about experiencing adversity. The findings suggested that to navigate these choices and conflicts, the participants shared narratives of evolving womanhood based on traditional and contemporary religious and cultural notions of womanhood. Ultimately, from these narratives, we learn that the construction of the racial and gendered identities of Black grandmothers and granddaughters continue to be significantly impacted by systematic racial and gender discrimination including intergenerational trauma, however, grandmothers and granddaughters embodied resilience, resistance, and agency in pursuing self- determination and changing intergenerational cycles.
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    It’s not you that needs to change, it’s the system that needs to change” – The narratives of South African women professionals working with Gender-Based Violence
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Ramlucken, Roxanne; Kiguwa, Peace
    Professional South African women who encounter gender-based violence in their field have important and potentially transformational experiences to share on addressing this issue. These professionals have experience and in-depth knowledge of the realities of working with gender- based violence. They can use their expertise to conceptualise and explain this phenomenon. They understand how gender-based violence is presented in society and their recommendations are informed by pragmatic reasoning. This study utilised a qualitative research method to obtain the narratives of these women that work in psychology, community health work, social work, legal work and journalism. This paper used a combination of three theoretical frameworks: narrative theory, post-structural feminist theory and African feminist theory. The synergies between these three theories prioritised the voice of the participants and allowed for a critical engagement with the narratives. The use of multiple professions accounts for the complex and multidimensional elements that contribute to the levels of gender-based violence in South Africa. The findings suggest the cultural acceptance of violence and patriarchal values are ingrained into the fabric of society. Gender-based violence is a systemic issue that prevails through insufficient implementation of legislation and the lack of accountability by official personnel.