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Psychology, patriarchy and a politics of men and masculinities : reading inequality in three South African texts

Dissertation (MA (English))--University of Pretoria, 2019.

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Other Authors: Medalie, David
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2024
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Medalie, David
author_browse Medalie, David
author_facet Medalie, David
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2021 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MA (English))--University of Pretoria, 2019.
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:36:21.928Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2024
publishDateRange 2024
publishDateSort 2024
publisher University of Pretoria
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spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/97731 Psychology, patriarchy and a politics of men and masculinities : reading inequality in three South African texts Medalie, David katlehisosixam@gmail.com Sixam, Katlehiso UCTD Masculinity Patriarchy Politics of Men Reading inequality Unchartered territory Dissertation (MA (English))--University of Pretoria, 2019. After the 27th of April 1994, South Africa entered an unchartered territory, turning its back on a long history of segregation and of inequalities. With the new democratic government having assumed office, many were right to hope for a better future: better employment opportunities, better education for the previously disadvantaged, better racial integration and equality across racial groups, genders, and sexual preference and/or orientation. However, inequality continues to be invasive in many facets of post-apartheid life. An observation of inequality in the country using the Gini index showed a rise between 1991 and 2001 from 0.68 to 0.77. Masculinity unlike maleness is ideological rather than biological, therefore it follows that context would naturally play a significant role in informing ideologies that dominate in such environments. It also follows that inequality like other social phenomena influences masculinity as an ideology and a set of practices. This dissertation explores how inequality affects and influences a politics of men and masculinities in South Africa. This is investigated in three South African texts namely The Smell of Apples (1995) by Mark Behr, Ways of Dying (1995) by Zakes Mda and The Quiet Violence of Dreams (2001) by K. Sello Duiker. These three texts lend themselves to an exploration of inequalities in the country in relation to South African men and masculinities during specific historical and political contexts. The Afrikaner ideology which enforced a militaristic kind of masculinity as the most dominant type through its State/Patriarchy/Hegemonic masculinity pact is discussed in relation to The Smell of Apples and how such a pact is shown in the novel to affect boys and men. Following through on this thread is an investigation of black township and informal settlement masculinities as represented in Ways of Dying. That chapter focuses on the South African interregnum and how toxic and violent masculinities are subverted in the novel by the self-marginalisation of the protagonist from the construct of masculinity itself. Finally, what follows is a discussion of masculinities in South Africa as represented in the most recent text, The Quiet Violence of Dreams. The text shows how since the 1994 political transition, it is no longer easy to distinguish between the oppressor and the oppressed. The chapter investigates how, in Duiker’s representation of these issues, the ideology of masculinity manifests itself in an environment that assumes equality for all but in which stark inequalities persist. English MA (English) Unrestricted Faculty of Humanities SDG-05: Gender equality SDG-10: Reduces inequalities 2024-08-20T07:15:55Z 2024-08-20T07:15:55Z 2020-04 2019 Dissertation * A2020 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/97731 en © 2021 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Masculinity
Patriarchy
Politics of Men
Reading inequality
Unchartered territory
Psychology, patriarchy and a politics of men and masculinities : reading inequality in three South African texts
title Psychology, patriarchy and a politics of men and masculinities : reading inequality in three South African texts
title_full Psychology, patriarchy and a politics of men and masculinities : reading inequality in three South African texts
title_fullStr Psychology, patriarchy and a politics of men and masculinities : reading inequality in three South African texts
title_full_unstemmed Psychology, patriarchy and a politics of men and masculinities : reading inequality in three South African texts
title_short Psychology, patriarchy and a politics of men and masculinities : reading inequality in three South African texts
title_sort psychology patriarchy and a politics of men and masculinities reading inequality in three south african texts
topic UCTD
Masculinity
Patriarchy
Politics of Men
Reading inequality
Unchartered territory
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/97731