Rights vs. Lived Realities: Women’s Views of Gender Equality in Relationships in Rural South Africa

Abstract

Abstract South Africa’s constitution is among the world’s most ambitious in promoting gender equality, but the country continues to be marked by inequality and gender-based violence. Given this context, we analyze 43 interviews with Black women aged 18–55 in rural South Africa to explore how the constitutional ideal of gender equality—or “50/50”—has been interpreted and applied in women’s intimate relationships. Overall, we found that inequality and gender hierarchy were common in relationships. Women relied on two logics to explain the persistence of inequality in their relationships. First, women offered ideological support for gender norms supporting hierarchy by linking 50/50 to the abandonment of culture, tradition, and respect. Second, women viewed reaffirmation of gender inequality within relationships as a pragmatic way to avoid men’s violence and infidelity, thus protecting women from abandonment and HIV. Women’s views about equality in relationships were shaped by dominant gender norms, precarity in the local political economy, and the risks of violence and HIV/AIDS. Our findings expand theories of social change by highlighting how longstanding social norms, but also local political-economic and health conditions can influence views of equality and, ultimately, the local adoption or dismissal of international standards of rights and equality.