My personal journey: Being a black woman student activist on Tshwane University of Technology Soshanguve Campus

Abstract

abstractHere I reflect on my personal journey at what I call “the most disadvantaged university campus in South Africa” – Tshwane University of Technology Soshanguve Campus. I want to explore what makes it appear to be more violent than all the other higher learning institutions, why there is so much student protest, the gender roles in student protest, and protesters’ view on feminist theory. I also want to reflect on my introduction to feminism and how I learnt to embrace the word. To me feminism means that as a Black woman no one should dictate on how I am to live my life or how I must behave, because that is what my gender requires or entails of me. It means that the society can never expect me to carry myself to fit their expectations. At this age I still find the term ‘gender roles’ so foreign.Feminism has been influential to my activism. I discovered that all the student protest that takes place there is led by male students and student organisations are dominated by males; in all the meetings we hold males are always more opinionated than female students, and male students continue to be in more powerful positions than women. Me being so outspoken and taking the forefront when protesting is seen as a taboo; I am labelled as an ‘attention seeker’ and as very disrespectful towards men just because I can stand up for myself and the other women. Some females also view me like that. In this perspective piece I seek to write about my journey in student activism and learning more about the feminist theory.