Teaching Masculinities in a South African Classroom

Abstract

In terms of  gender  equity  the  first  two  decades  of  South  African  democracy  have  seen substantial  change –at  least  where  legislation  is  concerned.  In terms of daily  lived  realities however, such change seems to have had little or no impact. South African women continue to  take  primary  responsibility  for  reproductive  work  and  continue  to  dominate  the  ranks  of the poor. Levels of gender based violence remain amongst the highest in the world. The last decade or so has seen scholars offer a range of overlapping and intersecting explanations for the slow pace of change, with some pointing to the lack of significant political commitment and the roles of ‘custom’ and ‘tradition’. Others have suggested that change requires working more directly with boys and men. Despite these observations –and concomitant interventions -movement towards gender  equity remains  slow. In  this  paper I  hope  to  contribute  to  the debate   around   resistance   to   change   by   drawing   on student   engagement   with,  and understandings  of, an  introduction  to  gender  studies  course between  2013  and  2014at  the University  of  the  Western  Cape .In  the  paper  I  reflect  on ways  in  which  teaching  gender through  a  focus  on  men  and  masculinities offers  insights  into  resistance to  gender  equity as well as possibilities for challenging such resistance