3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item The impact of migration on Emnambithi households: a class and gender analysis(2010-06-30T10:42:01Z) Fakier, KhayaatAbstract This dissertation is a study of social reproduction in different classes of migrant households in Emnambithi, a town in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It traces the history of households in this community under the impact of racialised dispossession and migration, and illustrates how households were stratified into distinct classes. The three classes identified are a semi-professional, educated class, a migratory working class, and the marginalised, a segment of the “bantustan” population who never had the possibility of working in the capitalist economy during apartheid. The research then focuses on the gendered nature of social reproduction in households in the post-apartheid era, when this community continues to be shaped by migration. The research illustrates that class-based advantage and disadvantage are reproduced in post-apartheid South Africa. The dissertation analyses the different ways in which household members – predominantly migrant and resident women – deal with daily provisioning and consumption, education and care of the dependants of migrants in the absence of some members of the household. The study argues that social reproduction varies significantly in different classes of households. The class-based and gendered nature of social reproduction has implications for an understanding of developmental needs in post-apartheid South Africa, and this research opens up ways in which job creation and social policies could lead to class-based redress and gender equity.Item Gender and HIV in Limpopo Province(2009-11-24T11:43:12Z) Ali, Mohammed AbdoshOBJECTIVE: To explore gender-related differentials of HIV prevalence in Limpopo Province, South Africa. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study, data collected by the Rural AIDS and Development Action Research (RADAR) Program for the purpose of a controlled community trial in Limpopo Province. The study population consisted of 798 young men and 992 young women aged 14 to 25 years old. Subjects were tested for the presence of HIV antibodies and answered structured questionnaires. Logistic regression was used to examine risk factors related to gender differentials of HIV prevalence. RESULTS: The prevalence of HIV infection was 5.8% in men and 12.4% in women. Women often had older partners, while men had much younger partners or partners of a similar age. Men with primary education and reporting as students showed a reduced risk of HIV infection whereas unemployed women showed an increased risk of HIV infection. Sexual debut at the age of ≤ 16 was associated with increased risk of HIV infection among both sexes. A significantly higher HIV prevalence was found in women with more than four lifetime sexual partners, young women having an age difference of three to 9.9 years from their sexual partners, women having non-spousal sexual partners of 22 to 26 years of age, and women reporting no regular financial support. Frequency of sex of six to 20 times was a marker of increased risk of HIV among men. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of HIV infection was higher in young women than in men. The increased risk of HIV infection in women might be explained by social and behavioural factors that lead young women to select older partners, and is perhaps also a result of the biological susceptibility of women to HIV infection.Item A 'coloured' history, a black future: contesting the dominant representations in the media through hip-hop beats(2009-10-08T10:29:44Z) Marco, DerileneThis research will critically analyse “conscious” hip-hop music and the way in which it contests media and mainstream ideas in the media. Conscious hip-hop refers to rap music that critically engages with hegemonic discourses and popular culture. It is framed and named in this manner by both the performers/ artists themselves as well as by leading hip-hop scholars within South Africa and globally. This research uses the music of Godessa and Brasse Vannie Kaap to interrogate representations of Black identities and gender in society.Item Performing manhood and fatherhood : A case study of men/fathers as symbolic mediums(2008-10-20T12:07:54Z) Sigamoney, Veronica LaviniaThe aim of this research is to consider family as a kin network of exchange and to show that manhood and fatherhood is a cultural value transacted within this network. It attempts to also show that such value is variably negotiated as identity is performed in relation to ideological constructs of space. To do this, the physical and ideological space to which kin belong is explored as a cultural borderland, suggesting that men/fathers are able to exceed bounded constructs of identity while also being subject to them. In particular, I try to illuminate some of the dynamics that impact on men’s/fathers’ negotiation of discursive codes of intra-cultural sameness and difference to be valued not only as men/fathers, but as good at being men/fathers. Within this context, some of the symbols of identity that enable a man/father to be good at being a man/father are considered. The ethnography highlights the ways in which men/fathers are able to access and mediate symbolic resources, showing how these processes impact on their positioning on a continuum of self and worth. In this regard, performances of providing in relation to performances of the social and genetic imbrications of kinship constitute a key focus.Item Ethnopoetics and gender dynamics : Identity construction and power relations in Acoli song performance(2008-09-26T13:05:16Z) Okot, Mark BengeThe study explores the intricate relationship between Acoli song performance, gender identity construction and gender power relations. The investigation is guided by the understanding that gender identity construction does not only influence gender power relations but it is also part and parcel of the contextual performance of power relations. The study involves a contextual socio-cultural discussion of the gender situation in Acoli society, and with it the role of the performing arts in the gender identity construction and power relations. Gender performativity theory is revisited in light of the genre-based performance of one’s gender, as manifested in the Acoli song performances. The analysis is guided by the argument that to understand gender one needs to pay attention to the genres through which it is expressed. Despite over a century of gender theorisation, gender theorists are still not agreed on what constitutes power, neither has any offered an irreproachable and convincing conception of power. Given current debates in gender theorisation, the study attempts to make fresh empirical investigation to make valid and concrete entry into gender debates by deriving a situated gender concept of “power” based on field research evidence. By analysing Acoli song performances, the major sites of power in the society are elucidated and the positions of the two genders vis-àvis these sites of power are examined to determine the nature of the gender power relations matrix. Song performance does not only act as a catalyst in gender performativity but it is an integral part of it, as the study reveals; and through song performance the Acoli females have particularly invested in the differential gender notions to make themselves visible and achieve their aspirations as ‘women’.Item Socio-cultural and behavioral determinants of condom use among youths in Limpopo Province, South Africa(2008-07-15T13:38:59Z) Chandiwana, Nomathemba ChiwonesoIntroduction South Africa is one of the countries hardest hit by HIV/AIDS. Of particular concern, new infections among young people, especially young women and girls are on the rise. Despite widespread awareness and prevention campaigns, the prevalence of HIV and deaths caused by AIDS are still on the increase, whereas condom use particularly in rural areas remains low. Consistent condom use is central to the prevention of unwanted pregnancies, HIV and other STIs, yet young men and women alike are hesitant to use condoms because of threats to their relationships, cultural roles and at times economic survival. Purpose The purpose of this study is to identify socio-cultural and behavioral factors that influence condom use among youths in Limpopo province, South Africa. This adds to a growing body of knowledge on the determinants of condom use and how they might shape effective HIV prevention programs. Objectives 1. To conduct a secondary data analysis that examines the determinants of condom use, for men and women separately in relation to the following factors: Socio-demographic characteristics- age, education, marital status, migration and iv socio-economic status Sexual behavior characteristics- partnership type (spousal, non spousal, or both), age at sexual debut, number of lifetime sexual partners, contraceptive use (females only) and HIV-status Socio-cultural characteristics - perceived risk of HIV infection, condom self efficacy (males only), partner communication on sex, condoms, HIV and other STI’s, beliefs on gender norms, attitudes towards gender violence, knowledge on HIV/AIDS and HIV/AIDS related stigma To compare the results of this analysis to other national studies on condom use among young people. To use the results of this analysis to make recommendations to improve HIV control in rural South Africa.Methods This study is a secondary analysis of data collected from a sample of 2236 sexually active young people aged between 14-35 years in Limpopo province, South Africa. The data used in this study is part of a wider public health intervention, the Intervention with Micro-finance for AIDS and Gender Equity (IMAGE) study. STATA 8.0 was used to analyze data in bivariate and multivariate analyses to assess determinants of consistent condom use and condom use at last sex for males and females separately as the patterns of associations are likely to differ between them. Results Overall condom use in this population was low: less than a quarter of respondents used condoms consistently and less than one third of men and women used condoms at last sex. This is especially true of females, married couples and those who have multiple partners. In multivariate analysis, significant predictors of consistent condom use for both sexes included good communication, older age at sexual debut, low risk perception of HIV infection, progressive attitudes towards gender violence and high HIV-related stigma. High condom self-efficacy, defined as the intention to pick up or purchase condoms with the intention of use, was the most powerful predictor of both condom use indices among males. Among females only, having fewer than three lifetime sexual partners was positively associated with using condoms consistently. Lastly, females who used condoms as their main method of contraception were up to 20 times more likely to use them consistently and at last sex. Conclusions HIV prevention programmes in this population should focus on delaying sexual debut, increasing perceived risk of HIV infection, encouraging partner communication, making condoms more easily accessible to young men and addressing gender inequalities. Furthermore, the dual protection offered by condoms against unwanted pregnancies and against HIV and other STI’s should be emphasized in this population as it plays an important role in the prevention of HIV.Item Space, place and identity: political violence in Mpumalanga township, Kwazulu-Natal, 1987-1993(2008-05-15T09:09:52Z) Bonnin, Deborah RosemaryABSTRACT This thesis investigates political violence between the United Democratic Front and Inkatha in Mpumalanga township, Natal. In the early 1980s and early 1990s Mpumalanga was one of Natal’s townships most gravely affected by political violence. I ask and answer four questions: 1. Why and how did the conflict between political organisations in Natal become violent? 2. What forms did the violence take? 3. Why, as a result of the violence did ordinary people with little prior history of political activity come to identify with either the UDF or Inkatha? 4. How were these political identities produced? In order to answer these questions the thesis explores three primary arguments. The first argument is that 1987 represents a severe rupture in the politics of Natal. This rupture is captured in the violent form of political conflict that gripped the province. To understand this rupture the thesis looks back at a complex set of processes that interlocked over space and time. A second major argument of the thesis is that an aspect of the distinctiveness of the violence was its profoundly spatialised form in combination with gendered and generational forms. There were two major shifts in the spatialised form of the violence. The first shift occurred when instead of only attacking individuals, the household and its members also became targets. And then the second shift was when the purpose of the violence was about the pursuit of territory. Boundaries between territories identified who was ‘in’ and who was ‘out’ and all aspects of everyday life became politicised. The third major argument of the thesis is that there was a strong relationship between space/place and political identity. The re-territorialisation of space - iv - during the violence was central to the production of these new identities. Political violence created new spatialities, with space itself acquiring political meaning and identity. The political meanings of these spaces were intense markers of their identity and overrode all other meanings and identities. As the spatial form of the violence shifted it forced people to question their political identities. The lived experience of the politicisation of everyday life by the violence shaped the production of political identities.Item A critical analysis of the iconography of six HIV/AIDS murals from Johannesburg and Durban, in terms of race, class and gender(2008-03-19T13:17:09Z) Khan, SharleneABSTRACT This research report is a critical analysis of the iconography of six HIV/Aids murals from Johannesburg and Durban, in terms of race, class and gender. The six examples are community murals which were used as a social awareness tool to disseminate information on HIV/Aids to a supposedly highly illiterate Black audience public. This research focuses predominantly on the issue of stereotypes, and how certain societal stereotypes of Others are manifested in these HIV/Aids murals. My analysis also tries to make evident, how difficult it is for muralists to visually represent HIV/Aids facts, in addressing ‘high-risk’ groups. This report also tries to show that key issues of HIV/Aids transmission are often overlooked or omitted for various reasons. I argue that, given the importance of HIV/Aids murals as educative tools, muralists have to be made aware of their role in the possible perpetuation of societal racial, gender and class stereotypes, and how such perpetuation of stereotypes can contribute to the continued stigmatization of the disease. The final chapter of this research examines my own practical work that was produced as a requirement for the MA (Fine Art) degree. It analyses my performance-exhibition Walking the Line. My commentary focuses on how the social phenomenon of street trade in the Johannesburg city centre and specifically the ‘refurbishment’ of the Johannesburg Fashion District influenced my art practice. My analysis is further extended to the use of my own body in the performance, to consciously engage notions of hybridized identity.Item Maintenance and changing masculinities as sources of gender conflict in contemporay (sic) Johannesburg.(2008-03-11T13:31:43Z) Khundu, GraceThis study attempts to understand the nature of the state and its relationship with its citizens. It explores this question through the study of one of the state’s institutions – the maintenance system; its conception of gender identities and relationships is examined. Through a close analysis of this system, and its effects on men and women, the thesis explores the making of contemporary gender identities in South Africa. The study also pays particular attention to current conceptions of what it means to be a man. The study examines men’s views of maintenance laws as they experience it, with a focus on the differing conceptions of fatherhood held by a range of men, and how they relate to hegemonic conceptions of masculinity espoused by the maintenance system. The study also looks at how these hegemonic understandings of masculinity limit the chances for men to be ‘successful’ fathers and fulfilled persons. The central premise of this thesis is that masculinity exists outside the realms of the natural and biological. Rather, it asserts that masculinity is embodied in social relations, which are constantly changing and are context-bound. Naturalised definitions of masculinity are limiting to fathers in a social, political and economic context which is shifting. This study is driven by the question: what options and alternatives are available to men and fathers with regards to role formation, especially in their interaction with the maintenance system and their relationships with their children?Item Gender social networks and income generation among Congolese migrants in Johannesburg(2007-02-16T13:29:22Z) Monche, FelixA significant number of refugees and asylum seekers are living in urban areas in developing countries. In addition to the fact that they receive little assistance from international organizations, host government policies represent obstacles to their livelihoods. Generally, the economic behaviour, reasons for migrating and experiences of female migrants often differ from those of male. This research report examines the impact of gender on social networks and how gender might influence access to income. In contrast to other studies on social networks that focus on the social relationships between individuals and communities located in sending and receiving societies, this study produces greater understanding of urban migrants’ livelihoods by exploring how women use social networks to generate income and contrasting these with those of men. This is rooted in the assumption that women refugees are facing additional challenges to livelihood including their social responsibilities and job stereotyping. To document how gender might influence social networks and access to income, qualitative data collected through semi structured, face-to-face, in-depth interviews among Congolese refugees in Johannesburg was used. Findings reveal that gender does not have impact on the nature of social networks used by Congolese men and women to facilitate their access to income generating activities. However, friendships and social relations among Congolese refugees are based on gender and as a result Congolese refugees may be channelled in gender-dominated occupations. Congolese women are facing specific challenges such as domestic labour and child care that may limit their access to jobs and businesses.