Aidan Rowohlt

Mrs. Lucarelli

Honors World History Perspective On The Past

23 April 2018

TCA 3 Issue Portfolio

Yesterday :

Women in South Africa have gotten no recognition in the several few decades about

their rights. Their struggles for freedom from oppression, for community rights and, most

importantly, for gender equality, was largely ignored in history texts. Women at the time in South

Africa were seen as a lower class or subordinate to men. Women were seen as the family

caretakers, by doing domestic activities such as taking care of the kids and making sure the

family is healthy. According to www.sahistory.org states, “Motherhood, was women's primary

role. They had to raise children, care for the home and see to the needs of the family. In African

societies, women were expected to undertake agricultural tasks as well to help feed the family.

Others took in laundry to provide extra income while some entered the labor market as domestic

servants. In settler society too, it was not considered feminine to work outside the home,

although some women did so to supplement the family income and help put food on the table.”

In the mid 20th Century there were pushes to get women more rights in the country, but

they were pushed aside. These movements got little attention from the government, and the

people of South Africa and women were still seen as subordinate to men for this time in South

Africa. Overall until the 21 Century, the respect and rights given to women in South Africa were

little to none.
Today :

Today women are getting lots more attention than they did in the 20th century; however,

women are still struggling in South Africa. One of the main problems women face in South

Africa is poverty. According to www.one.org, “However almost everyone in the country is faced

with poverty, but the women population is the most challenged population to escape poverty

because of their rights and few job opportunities. In the

fight against poverty, African Women and girls are the

most affected population with fewer tools and

opportunities to escape poverty. No matter how it is cut

– socially, economically, legally – girls and women in the

poorest countries get a raw deal; for the girl child who is

denied education or forced into marriage, or for the

mother who risks death when she gives life, or the farmer prevented from owning the land she

works on.” As you can see in this quote, it says how women can’t own land in South Africa just

because they are females. Furthermore, it states there is also an education problem in South

Africa because it states “for the girl child who is denied education”; this means that not all

women are getting a proper education in South Africa. Also, women have little rights because it

states, “forced into marriage” which shows that they have such little rights they cannot even

choose who they want to spend their life with.

In recent years, however, there have been many successful pushes to get women rights

and education. One of the most notable people on that list is Oprah Winfrey. Oprah made the

Oprah Winfrey’s Leadership Academy For Girls. Oprah stated, “I hoped that I would give them

an opportunity to see the best of themselves reflected through an open mind, an open heart, to

what is possible,” says Winfrey. “And I can honestly say I have achieved that.” The school was
“founded in 2007 by Winfrey to serve the needs of underprivileged girls living in nine provinces

across South Africa, the boarding school has transformed the lives of hundreds of students in

grades 8-12, providing them with the educational and emotional tools to realize their dreams of

pursuing careers in such illustrious fields as medicine, public service, and architecture.

(​www.Variety.com​)”

Also in 2014, 254 billion dollars was put into helping get women enrolled in schools,

receive a proper education, and build new facilities to house all the students. This push for

better education for women has made women smarter which will help them hold government

positions and other senior-level types of employment which were unheard of before; all thanks

to the progress of the new education system unfolding. After the 2014 elections, women

occupied 43% of Cabinet posts, and 46% of Deputy Minister Positions, and 41% of

parliamentary seats. Also having more women in government positions will help prioritize

women’s rights in the future years.

Overall the women of South Africa face many problems today such as proper education

and equal rights. However, in the recent years, there has been more insight on the women in

South Africa, and it is catching the public eye. Now more people are seeing the challenges

these women face and are trying to help them out by giving them better education and better

representation in the South African Government. Overall in the recent years, life for women in

South Africa are being improved but still face challenges such as domestic violence,

discrimination in the workplace, illnesses, crime against them and poor government

representation.
Future :

The women of South Africa has had some hard times in the past 200 years. However, in

the most recent years, the women are getting more recognition and guidance to becoming less

subordinate to men of South Africa. If the pushes for equal women rights in South Africa

continue then they will become similar to the South African Men in the next 50 years.

The African Union stated, “declared 2015 as the Year of Women Empowerment and

Development towards Africa’s Agenda 2063. The declaration is a display of AU’s renewed

political commitment and support for the women’s empowerment and the gender equality

agenda. While this is a welcome move, it is important that African states must go beyond talking

and match its words with concrete action and allocate appropriate resources if there is going to

be any meaningful change in the lives of African women and girls. This will require a change

from simply adopting policies to fully enforcing existing pro-women policies and initiatives.”

This shows how the government is also giving recognition to the women of South Africa

and how they are giving efforts so that in 50 years women will have had an increase in rights.

However, it will not be easy to provide these equal rights such as education because in 50 years

the population of Africa is going to be much more than it is now, therefore, there will be fewer

job opportunities making poverty greater. I believe that if the women of South Africa continue to

keep pushing for equal rights, then they will get there in 50 years because the women in South

Africa during the 20th Century was making little to no progress but they kept pushing for equal

rights, and now they are finally getting the recognition they deserve.

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Sources :

UTC, 26 August 2015 10:23AM. “Join the Fight against Extreme Poverty.” ​ONE​, 26 Aug.

2015,​www.one.org/africa/policy/status-of-women-and-girls-in-south-africa/#​.

Sahoboss. “History of Women's Struggle in South Africa.” ​South African History Online​, 17

Nov. 2017, ​www.sahistory.org.za/article/history-womens-struggle-south-africa​.

Saval, Malina. “Oprah Winfrey's Leadership Academy for Girls Marks 10 Years.” ​Variety​, 4 Aug.

2017,

variety.com/2017/biz/news/oprah-winfrey-leadership-academy-for-girls-10-year-annivers

ary1-02510605/.

Senthil, Suba. “Africa Unit Project.” ​Pinterest​, 28 Apr. 2016,

www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/105764291228058609/?autologin=true.