Black Women In South Africa Research Articles

Contribution of Social Media in Shaping Self-Perceptions: A Case of Black Women

Purpose: This study aimed to explore how social media representations of Black women’s hair shapes their sense of identity, self-concept and hair care practices. Methodology: A qualitative cross-sectional approach was employed, with a sample size of five Black women in South Africa between the ages of 20 to 29 years old. Semi-structured interviews were conducted online with research participants that were purposively selected from social media platforms Twitter and Instagram. The use of these platforms to select participants also offered convenience to the researcher as these participants were readily available because they are already active in social media. Thematic analysis was used in data analysis while the Social Identity Theory (SIT) was utilised as the theoretical framework to interpret the findings. Findings: Four themes were used to cluster the findings, namely self-categorization, social identification, perceived positive social identity and self-esteem restoration. The findings highlighted the role of social media in perpetuating the stereotypes which is traced to the slavery; and then highlight how the social media is used to reverse the systematic oppression of the Black women based on their hair. They also revealed that positive representations of Black hair on social media creates an attitude of self-acceptance and empowerment among Black women. Similarly, social media provides a space for Black women to connect, discuss their hair and share hair care tips, fostering a sense of belonging within the community. However, this study identified a gap in representation, as there tends to be an overrepresentation of one specific hair texture, leaving some Black women with limited or no representation, mainly those wearing dreadlocks. Unique Contribution to the theory, practice, and policy: The research makes a unique contribution by highlighting the importance of diverse representation in South African advertisements and social media marketing for hair products, as Black women’s hair textures and journeys are not a monolith. The findings concomitantly highlight the role of social media celebrities and/or social media influencers in the social media regarding the matter under investigation from the perspective of South African women. The study also noted the need for awareness and education about the cultural and historical significance of Black hair to reduce cultural appropriation. The findings further highlight the human rights element regarding the discrimination faced by Black women due to their hair texture, this knowledge may contribute to creating inclusivity in both society and social media spaces.

Cervical cancer screening in a population of black South African women with high HIV prevalence: A cross-sectional study.

Cervical cancer is largely preventable through early detection, but screening uptake remains low among black women in South Africa. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and factors associated with cervical cancer screening in the past 10 years among black African women in primary health care (PHC) clinics, in Gauteng Province, South Africa. This was a cross-sectional study involving 672 consecutively recruited black women at cervical cancer screening programs in PHC clinics between 2017 and 2020. An interviewer-administered questionnaire covered socio-demographics, HIV status, sexual history, cervical cancer risk factors knowledge, and screening behaviours in the past 10 years. The mean age of participants was 38 years. More than half (63%) were aged 30-49 years. Most completed high school education (75%), were unemployed (61%), single (60%), and HIV positive (48%). Only 285 (42.4%) of participants reported screening for cervical cancer in the past 10 years. Of participants that reported receiving information on screening, 27.6% (n = 176) and 13.97% (n = 89) did so from healthcare facilities and community platforms respectively. Participants aged 30 years or more were more likely to report for cervical cancer screening as compared to other categories in the past 10 years. The study found low cervical cancer screening prevalence. This calls for health education campaigns and prevention strategies that would target individual patients' contexts and stages of behavioral change. Such strategies must also consider socio-demographic and clinical correlates of cervical cancer screening and promote better integration into PHC services in South Africa.

The Rise and Normalisation of Blessee/Blesser Relationships in South Africa: A Post-Colonial Feminist Analysis

Since 2015, young urban black women in South Africa have been posting images of luxury items on social media platforms such as Instagram. These women claim that their luxury items are gifts from their ‘blessers’/wealthy men in exchange for sex and companionship. This has led to the rise of the ‘blesser culture’ on social media and the prevalence of transactional sex for upward mobility and status. This article provides a post-colonial feminist evaluation of 10 young black women from northern Johannesburg. It examines their motivations for engaging in these relationships. It draws from Stoebenau et al.’s (2016) theoretical framework that describes the three paradigms of transactional sex, ‘sex for basic needs,’ ‘sex for upward mobility and status’ and ‘sex and material expressions of love’ as a continuum of deprivation, agency, and instrumentality. This analysis challenges research frameworks that limit transactional sex to matters of HIV/AIDS transmission, and the framing of women as powerless victims of men. The article reveals these women seek blessers based on relative deprivation, to access a more high-status lifestyle and upward social mobility and from a position of agency. They view blesser relationships as a mutually beneficial exchange that allows them to give sex to access the commodities of modernity.

Technologies of Visibility

Technologies of Visibility

Embroidered Voices: Exposing Hidden Trauma Stories of Apartheid

For many Black South African women, speaking about the gruesome and demeaning treatment they experienced during Apartheid is not easy. Silence became normalized due to the unspeakable nature of what many of the women went through. They struggled to find a way to express their traumas and many lived and continue to live with these hidden transcripts of their lives. For some, shame and lack of safe spaces or platforms to speak/express their traumas contributed to this silence. Indeed, many women continue to struggle to find the language to express their traumas. This paper engages how, through visual narratives such as embroidery, women become active actors in the telling of their lived realities. Drawing from a qualitative approach and using visual narratives in the form of embroideries, the paper offers insights on how unspeakable lived experiences of trauma can be expressed. The paper further highlights ways in which embroidery can be used to connect both the personal and collective stories of Black women in South Africa and to show how suffering is an interpersonal experience. Finally, the possibilities and potentials of visual artwork, as a canvas that offers space for expressing stories of trauma, survival, and healing, are addressed.

Speaking in stitch: the Keiskamma Altarpiece as testimony to women’s experience of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in South Africa

ABSTRACT Black women in South Africa (SA) face multiple and interlocking systems of oppression every-day; among them gender-based violence, economic marginalization, and the legacy of racialized and gendered subjugation under centuries of colonization, followed by the apartheid regime. On the heels of South Africa’s transition to democracy in 1994, the HIV/AIDS pandemic quickly overwhelmed health and social support systems, resulting in the highest AIDS incidence in the world, to this day. This article engages with a monumental artwork called the Keiskamma Altarpiece, which was created by a group of (mainly) women in a rural area of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. I “read” the Altarpiece as testimony and storytelling against the shaming and silencing of women’s lives and experiences in South Africa, and argue that it calls us to become response-able to its witness. Using discourse and esthetic analysis, informed by post-colonial memory studies, I argue for better memory practices and increased awareness of the legacies of disease, and engage with Roger Simon’s concept of remembering otherwise.

Women and mine closure: A case study of policy in South Africa

The social aspects of mine closure remain a challenge to the mining industry. Its tendency to deal with problems towards the end of a mine's life cycle, rather than planning for them from the start, is partly responsible for the gendered impact of mine closure. Using documentary evidence, the literature on how mining affects women, and the history of discrimination against black women in South Africa, we examine South African policy on women in mining and how mine closure affects them. The paper contributes towards a more nuanced understanding of the social aspects of mine closure. We recommend a more comprehensive policy focus on the local and regional social consequences of mine closure for women.

#ModernBaartmans: Black Women’s Reimagining of Saartjie Baartman

The purpose of this study is to understand Black women’s recollection and representation of Saartjie Baartman in comparison to their own body image, while also aligning their interpretation of Baartman’s legacy through contemporary reflections of themselves and others. Interviews with 30 Black women in South Africa ( n = 15) and the United States ( n = 15) reveal that accurate knowledge and perceptions of Baartman’s experience varies; Baartman’s body is remembered as trope and ideal object to compare; however, Black women find resilience and positivity in Baartman’s story. These findings although some consistent with previous literature, some are inconsistent. Considering the Black women in this study did not thematically discuss experiencing dissatisfaction, self-objectification, or self-surveillance. It is important to recognize Black women’s perceptions of their bodies as resilient and positive rather than dissatisfied. This research provides important information for the furtherance of positive body image and Black women relative to the curvaceous ideal.

The Effect of Proverbs and Portrayal of Women by Society

The aim of this study is to investigate how culture and tradition can bring a unity or disunity and perpetual disintegration and the renewal to people. Traditionally, women were portrayed by society through the use of proverbs as tools and submissive to men. For example, women were abused undermined and dominated by men through the name of culture and tradition that resulted to stereotype behavior. To be clear, in the use of proverbs there is no classification of women in the portrayal by society such as class, age, ethnicity, sexuality and ability. This classification of women in proverbs is of more important to address the ethnic mosaic and expectations by society. Setswana proverbs struggle to imagine the lives of a single women or mature divorcees who fall under the societal women. The paper argues that proverbs are used on various experiences as a means of social control and represent life lessons and accumulated events that make up conscious of a nation or humankind in general. Most of the proverbs and sayings are directed mainly to women with the intention of teaching women and young girls how to behave and take care of themselves but most proverbs that touches on women contains negation of the value of women in society. The purpose is to show that cultures do not remain the same, they change over time through interaction with other cultures and to find out whether in contemporary society is it possible for the proverbs to change. Thus, the study recommends the need for change of mind set and designing appropriate intervention mechanisms focus on cultural beliefs and values. In contemporary times there has been a turn-around on the lives of women where urban/rural women are no longer submissive to men. This shows that women change but proverbs do not change. The common problem of portrayal of black women is cultural pluralism. In this paper a qualitative approach is used to explore and discuss the cultural expectations and portrayal of black women in South Africa. This paradigm is explored through the use of feminism approach and post-modernity theory. Secondary method of collecting data is being used to gather more information about the use of proverbs in the South African perspectives.

Why is Covid-19 different to other pandemics? Assessing the gendered impact of Covid-19 19 on poor black women in South Africa

The COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa is part of the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (Odometers 2020). On 5 March 2020, Minister of Health, Zweli Mkhize, conrfimed that the virus spread to South Africa, with the rfist known paetint being a male ciztien who tested posivtie upon his return from Italy (Department of Health 2020). On 15 March, the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, declared a naotinal state of disaster, and announced measures such as immediate travel restricotins and the closure of schools from 18 March (Ramaphosa 2020). On 17 March, the Naotinal Coronavirus Command Council was established, “to lead the naotin's plan to contain the spread and migtiate the negavtie impact of the coronavirus” (Ramaphosa 2020).

Rural Zulu women's knowledge of and attitudes towards Pap smears and adherence to cervical screening.

BackgroundCervical cancer is the most common form of cancer in black women in South Africa and has almost a 60% mortality rate. However, adherence to cervical screening programmes of black women living in rural South Africa is not universal.AimThe aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of rural Zulu women’s knowledge of and attitudes towards Pap smear tests, and their reasons for participation or non-compliance with cervical screening.SettingThis study was conducted at the gynaecology and antenatal clinics in a secondary referral hospital in rural KwaZulu-Natal.MethodsA hospital-based cross-sectional study was undertaken in the form of a semi-structured patient questionnaire survey with open and closed questions. The responses to the open-ended questions were manually analysed by the authors using a thematic approach. Outcome measures included whether the woman had a previous Pap smear, her understanding of the cervical screening programme and causes of cervical cancer.ResultsThis study included a total analysis of 234 responses. The mean age was 29 years (s.d. = 8.3 years). Overall, 32.5% of women had previously had a Pap smear. Among the responders, 33.3% were human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive and 53.0% were HIV-negative. Only 19.2% of women understood that a Pap smear was related to screening for cervical cancer.ConclusionsThis study illustrated a poor understanding of cervical screening, which may result in the low level of uptake of Pap smear reported; this is particularly concerning in HIV-positive women, who are at higher risk of developing cervical cancer. Urgent and extensive public health campaigning is required within rural South Africa to improve cervical screening uptake and decrease cervical cancer mortality.

Maternal and neonatal vitamin D status at birth in black South Africans.

Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) in pregnant women has been associated with adverse pregnancy and neonatal outcomes. 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels are affected by numerous factors, including vitamin D intake, skin pigmentation, latitude and season of the year; they therefore vary by race and country. Vitamin D status in pregnant women and their offspring in South Africa (SA) is not well established. To assess vitamin D status by measuring serum 25(OH)D in pregnant black SA women and their offspring in Johannesburg (latitude 26°S) and to assess whether vitamin D status is affected by maternal HIV infection. We prospectively enrolled pregnant women and their healthy neonates, and measured 25(OH)D in maternal and cord blood at delivery. Pregnant women were stratified by their HIV status. Predictors of maternal and neonatal VDD (levels <30 nmol/L) were assessed using multiple logistic regression analysis. A total of 291 pregnant women and their healthy neonates were enrolled over a 21-month period. Mean (standard deviation) maternal and cord blood 25(OH)D levels were 57.0 (29.7) and 41.9 (21.0) nmol/L and the prevalence of VDD was 15.9% and 32.8%, respectively. On average, concentrations of 25(OH)D in cord blood were ~80% of those in the mother. There was no association between cord 25(OH)D and gestational age, but levels were associated with birth weight (p<0.001). There were no differences in maternal or cord blood 25(OH)D levels between those HIV-infected or uninfected. The predictor of VDD in mothers was giving birth in winter (odds ratio (OR) 2.87, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.47 - 5.61), and in neonates the predictors were maternal age (OR 16.5, 95% CI 1.82 - 149), being born in winter (OR 3.68, 95% CI 2.05 - 6.61), being born by caesarean section (OR 4.92, 95% CI 1.56 - 15.57) and being of low birth weight (OR1.99, 95% CI 1.13 - 3.50). Among black SA women delivering in Johannesburg, about one in six mothers and one in three neonates have 25(OH)D levels indicative of VDD. Maternal HIV status appears not to affect levels of 25(OH)D in either the mother or her neonate. Research on the effects of VDD on the outcomes of pregnancy and the best methods to combat the high prevalence of VDD in women of childbearing age in the SA context is required.

THE BIBLE AND WOMEN: BLACK FEMINIST HERMENEUTICS

The paper focuses on Black feminist hermeneutics. Principles for a feminist hermeneutics are discussed. The situation of Black women in South Africa is discussed. As the most marginalized of all people, with patriarchy as a most serious enemy, particularly as it manifests itself in the Bible, these women need appropriate approaches to the reading of the Bible in order to achieve their liberation.

A Gaze at the Place of the Female Figure in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Case of Zukiswa Wanner’s the Madams

The black race was severely disadvantaged in apartheid South Africa. Specifically, black women were doubly disadvantaged; first by the color of their skin, and secondly, by lack of tangible income. History has shown that many black women in South Africa ended up working as maids in the white suburbs. This paper examines how Zukiswa Wanner, in The Madams, imagines new life for the female figure in post-apartheid South Africa, regardless of their race. The main argument in the paper is that, literature is used as a revolutionary tool in The Madams to imagine new South Africa and to propose ways of revising social injustices of the past. I examine the kind of characters that Wanner creates, the conditions under which these characters work, and the way she fashions a new conducive environment for survival in post-apartheid South Africa. Wanner demonstrates that the color divide has crossed a new bridge; resulting to new opportunities, new relations and new outlooks for the female figure. This therefore provides new insights in understanding the place of the female figure in the 21 st century South Africa, and in African literature in general.

Adiposity Mediates the Association between the Dietary Inflammatory Index and Markers of Type 2 Diabetes Risk in Middle-Aged Black South African Women.

The dietary inflammatory index (DII®), a validated tool used to measure the inflammatory potential of the diet, has been associated with metabolic disorders in various settings, but not in African populations. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the DII is associated with markers of type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk, and if this association is mediated by adiposity and/or low-grade inflammation, in black South Africa women. Energy-adjusted-DII (E-DII) scores were calculated in 190 women (median age, 53 years) from the Birth-to-Twenty plus cohort using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Fasting glucose, insulin, HbA1c, and inflammatory cytokines were measured, and an oral glucose tolerance test performed. Basic anthropometry and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry-derived body fat, including estimate of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) area, were measured. E-DII scores were associated with all markers of T2D risk, namely, fasting glucose and insulin, HbA1c, HOMA2-IR, two-hour glucose and Matsuda index (all p < 0.05). After adjusting for age, measures of adiposity, but not inflammatory cytokines, mediated the association between E-DII and markers of T2D risk (p < 0.05). Measures of central obesity had proportionally higher (range: 23.5–100%) mediation effects than total obesity (range: 10–60%). The E-DII is associated with T2D risk through obesity, in particular central obesity, among black middle-aged South African women.

Fat redistribution and accumulation of visceral adipose tissue predicts type 2 diabetes risk in middle-aged black South African women: a 13-year longitudinal study

BackgroundCross-sectional studies in South Africa (SA) have shown that black SA women, despite being more insulin resistant, have less visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and more subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) than white women. This study aimed to investigate whether baseline and/or change in body fat and its distribution predict type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk in middle-aged black SA women, 13 years later.MethodsWe studied 142 black SA women who are the caregivers of the Birth-to-Twenty plus cohort, and who had normal glucose tolerance (NGT) at baseline. At baseline and follow-up, fasting blood samples, basic anthropometry and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry-derived body composition were measured. At follow-up, an oral glucose tolerance test was completed. The WHO diabetes diagnostic criteria were used to define NGT, impaired fasting glucose (IFG)/impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), impaired glucose metabolism (IGM) and T2D.ResultsAt follow-up, 64% of participants remained NGT, whereas 25% developed IGM, and 11% developed T2D. The IGM and the T2D groups were combined for statistical analyses. At baseline, trunk fat mass (FM), VAT but not SAT (measures of central FM) were higher in the IGM/T2D group than the NGT group (p < 0.0001). In contrast, the IGM/T2D group had lower leg %FM at baseline than the NGT group (p < 0.0001). Baseline trunk FM (Odds ratio per 1 kg increase (95% confidence interval, 1.95 (1.43–2.67))), and VAT (OR per 10 cm2 increase, 1.25 (1.10–1.42)), and the change in VAT (1.12 (1.03–1.23)) were associated with greater odds of developing IGM/T2D, whereas baseline leg FM (OR per 1 kg increase, 0.55 (0.41–0.73)) were associated with reduced IGM/T2D risk at follow-up (p < 0.05).ConclusionsRelative fat redistribution, with VAT accumulation, predicted the development of IGM/T2D 13 years before its onset. Prevention of central obesity is a key factor to reduce the risk of developing T2D among middle-aged urban black SA women.

The Politics of Memory in South African Art

ABSTRACTThere is a saying attributed to Winston Churchill that goes, “History is written by the victors,” indicating that all histories are subjective and biased in some way. This was certainly true for South Africa under the Nationalist regime where the exploits of Afrikaner colonialism were glorified, and the majority of the population were mere “bit players” at best and vilified as savages at worst. Such traumatic histories have been interrogated by Penny Siopis in her “History Paintings” made in the early post-apartheid era which consider the residual effects of a dominant patriarchal and colonial discourse on the lives of black women in South Africa. Like Siopis, Paul Emmanuel and Diane Victor engage with the biased nature of history and memory in the light of post-apartheid dispensation in South Africa and the continuing after effects of our fraught past. This article considers the way these three artists engage with the inherent fragility and bias of memory through the materials they employ as much as the content of their works. I consider selected works by these artists and investigate how they engage with the politics of memory to expose fabrications and redress lacunae in the continuum of contested South African histories. I suggest that their works demonstrate how memories have been manipulated in service to a dominant ideology; in other words, they expose the “politics” of memory by using reconstituted/reworked memories to revisit and restore histories that might otherwise be lost.

A CRITICAL RACE FEMINIST READING OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN PROPERTY LAW

The European colonial invasion that birthed apartheid rule resulted in black women being the most vulnerable group to land dispossession.1 This vulnerability has been exacerbated by the ineffective measures of the law that, in an attempt to redress these past injustices, fail to afford adequate recognition to the racial, gender and socio-economic marginalisation of black women in the regulation of land issues.2 This essay essentially aims to highlight the intersectionality between the oppressions of gender, racial and class based discrimination, which black women in South Africa are afflicted by in relation to land ownership and the security of land tenure. This essay further illuminates how there is a crucial necessity for the decolonisation of the South African property law system as a whole, in order to address the problem of black women being the most vulnerable group to land dispossession in this democratic era. This evaluation is conducted by providing a critique of the Extension of Security of Tenure Act 62 of 1997 (‘ESTA’) in light of the Critical Race Feminist theory and with reference to various South African case law, in order to expose how issues of race, gender and class intersect within the context of land dispossession. Moreover, the essay progresses to explain the manner in which the interpretation of the South African property laws such as ESTA, positively transform legal knowledge. It should be noted that the legal transformation is not enough to address a dispossession of land from black women. Consequently, this essay argues that what is necessary in a South African context is the entire decolonisation of the property law system, which can serve as the appropriate measure for remedying the vulnerability of black women to land dispossession in this post1994 era.

The Attraction and Retention of Black Woman Actuaries

The STEM disciplines are characterized by a shortage of women and actuarial science is no exception. This phenomenon is even more prevalent where black women are concerned. The purpose of this study was to investigate the internal and external factors that contributed to black women in South Africa choosing mathematics in school and actuarial science at university, and ultimately qualifying and persisting in the field. This multiple case study investigated the experiences of six black women qualified actuaries in South Africa. Narratives and interviews were used to collect data detailing experiences in three phases: choosing mathematics in school, choosing actuarial science at university and persisting with their studies, and persisting in the field. Thematic analysis was conducted. The results indicate that there were multiple external factors that had contributed to their choices, but the greatest determining internal factor was self-efficacy. Aspects that enhance self-efficacy are discussed from which management practice recommendations are made.

Accuracy and determinants of perceived HIV risk among young women in South Africa

BackgroundHIV risk perceptions are a key determinant of HIV testing. The success of efforts to achieve an AIDS-free generation – including reaching the UNAIDS 90–90-90 target – thus depends critically on the content of these perceptions. We examined the accuracy of HIV-risk perceptions and their correlates among young black women in South Africa, a group with one of the highest HIV incidence rates worldwide.MethodsWe used individual-level longitudinal data from the Cape Area Panel Study (CAPS) from 2005 to 2009 on black African women (20–30 years old in 2009) to assess the association between perceived HIV-risk in 2005 and the probability of testing HIV-positive four years later. We then estimated multivariable logistic regressions using cross-sectional data from the 2009 CAPS wave to assess the relationship between risk perceptions and a wide range of demographic, sexual behaviour and psychosocial covariates of perceived HIV-risk.ResultsWe found that the proportion testing HIV-positive in 2009 was almost identical across perceived risk categories in 2005 (no, small, moderate, great) (χ2 = 1.43, p = 0.85). Consistent with epidemiologic risk factors, the likelihood of reporting moderate or great HIV-risk perceptions was associated with condom-use (aOR: 0.57; 95% CI: 0.36, 0.89; p < 0.01); having ≥3 lifetime partners (aOR: 2.38, 95% CI: 1.53, 3.73; p < 0.01); knowledge of one’s partner’s HIV status (aOR: 0.67; 95% CI: 0.43, 1.07; p = 0.09); and being in an age-disparate partnerships (aOR: 1.73; 95% CI: 1.09, 2.76; p = 0.02). However, the likelihood of reporting moderate or great self-perceived risk did not vary with sexually transmitted disease history and respondent age, both strong predictors of HIV risk in the study setting. Risk perceptions were associated with stigmatising attitudes (aOR: 0.53; 95% CI: 0.26, 1.09; p = 0.09); prior HIV testing (aOR: 0.21; 95% CI: 0.13, 0.35; p < 0.01); and having heard that male circumcision is protective (aOR: 0.38; 95% CI: 0.22, 0.64; p < 0.01).ConclusionsResults indicate that HIV-risk perceptions are inaccurate. Our findings suggest that this inaccuracy stems from HIV-risk perceptions being driven by an incomplete understanding of epidemiological risk and being influenced by a range of psycho-social factors not directly related to sexual behaviour. Consequently, new interventions are needed to align perceived and actual HIV risk.