‘Thursdays in Black campaign’ and the blackening of the widow’s body: A hermeneutic of suspicion to blackening of the body to resist gender-based violence

Sinenhlanhla S Chisale

doi:10.4102/hts.v77i2.6731

Abstract

Black is used as a colour of darkness, death, evil, bad luck and mourning. Generally, most cultures around the world use black as a colour of mourning, and widows from the African culture, in particular, are expected to wear all-black attire for a year to mourn their husbands. Although this colour is associated with death and mourning, contemporary women’s movements have reintroduced black as a colour of resistance and resilience. This article applies African feminist critical hermeneutics of suspicion to the Thursdays in Black (TIB) campaign and blackening of the widow’s body and attire. The aim is to explore how this campaign is contrary to the blackening of the widow’s body and attire in their cause and how the campaign’s wearing of black is emotionally divorced from the struggles of widows who experience distress, sadness and shame by wearing the black attire.Contribution: The article applies an African feminist hermeneutics of suspicion to the colour black used by the TIB campaign for solidarity with victims of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). It questions the relevance of this campaign to a widow who puts on a black attire for mourning.

Highlights

Colour is very important in African culture and religion and is not taken for granted
A black dress or doek is for a woman grieving her husband or child in most African cultures, Southern Africa
The aim of this article is to highlight if or not women and men who wear black on Thursdays embody true solidarity with widows who wear black for mourning and are victims of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV)

Summary

Introduction

Colour is very important in African culture and religion and is not taken for granted. Black is often used as a colour of darkness, death, evil, bad luck and mourning. A black dress or doek is for a woman grieving her husband or child in most African cultures, Southern Africa. Among traditional Africans in Zimbabwe, this dress or doek is prepared out of cheap, deep black material after the burial of the departed husband and is for the widow to wear, throughout the grieving process. Immediate family members are given small pieces of the same black cloth to pin on their clothes as a symbol of mourning and solidarity with the mourning widow. When a woman’s child dies, the woman does not wear an all-black dress or doek but rather she only puts a black doek on for a year or sometimes 6 months, as a symbol of mourning. During the time of mourning, the woman mourning her husband is not supposed to be seen in public spaces, such as shops, parties or seen celebrating

Objectives

Conclusion