‘The piety of Afrikaner women’: In conversation with Prof. Christina Landman on the piety of Afrikaner women

Selaelo Thias Kgatla

doi:10.4102/hts.v75i1.5427

Selaelo Thias Kgatla

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v75i1.5427

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Abstract

In conversation with Prof. Christina Landman’s analysis of the piety of Afrikaner women, this article explores the role patriarchy and misogyny played in subduing and silencing Afrikaner women from revolting against their male counterparts in the midst of male domination in the 19th and 20th centuries in South Africa. It asks questions around whether or not concluding that Afrikaner women remained silent and accepted male domination because of their conservative religious beliefs is oversimplification. This article further attempts to offer a deeper version of why white Afrikaner women did not protest against the patriarchal system that denied them their full humanity and freedom. The study starts by proposing a theoretical framework within which research on the subject of the Afrikanerdom’s and the Calvinism Reformed Churches’ treatment of women evolved, all the while in conversation with Prof. Landman on her thesis that Afrikaner women’s silence in patriarchal hegemony was a result of conservative Calvinism and sin–soul–salvation piety.

Highlights

The argument in this article is that as much as Calvinism played a fundamental role in shaping the religious outlook of Afrikaner women as far as their emancipation from male dominance was concerned, it is an overstatement to conclude that their piety – rather than the result of their manipulation from outside their bodies – was solely responsible for their complacency
The article was an attempt to converse with Prof. Landman on her scholarly work on piety and Afrikaner women. It tried to articulate the role of patriarchy, misogyny and sexism as the logic behind Afrikaans women’s docility towards politics and patriarchy as clandestine in creating conformity to maleengineered structures in order to control women in society
In conversation with Landman, the article tried to pinpoint some salient points not fully actuated in her work, as she attempted to locate the role piety played in the lives of Afrikaner women in remaining silent about their rights in male-dominated society

Summary

Introduction

This article argues that patriarchy, sexism and misogyny have shaped political, social and economic controls and have rendered Afrikaner women in South Africa numb when it comes to feminist issues. The argument in this article is that as much as Calvinism played a fundamental role in shaping the religious outlook of Afrikaner women as far as their emancipation from male dominance was concerned, it is an overstatement to conclude that their piety – rather than the result of their manipulation from outside their bodies – was solely responsible for their complacency Such a conclusion is tantamount to blaming the victims for the crime committed against them. Women can internalise misogyny to the extent that they frown on other women who resist the system of their subordination (Landman 1994:3)

Conclusion

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