Women's Month 2022 - Choosing HerStory
Department of Infrastructure Development (DID)
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South Africa commemorates Women in August. During Women’s Month, we pay tribute to women in the liberation struggle and the women of today. The women of 1956 and countless others set the tone for gender equality and empowerment in a democratic South Africa. Their brave actions inspired women to take their rightful place in parliament, government and civil society. Through their sacrifices, we now live in a country which recognises women as equal citizens, with equal rights and responsibilities. South Africa’s, Constitution and Legislation is recognised as one of the most gender equal in the world, however, societal and cultural practises severely impact on the rights of women. To commemorate Women’s Month, Infrastructure News celebrates the success of women in all spheres of life. We spoke to the Director Communications, Dr Ramona Baijnath at the Department of Infrastructure Development about what drives and inspires her.?
RB: I greatly admire the late Professor Fatima Meer, a formidable social activist and Sociologist, definitely one of the great South African women who have worked to change the course of our history. My mother, Dr Pravina Baijnath, a psychologist, has always challenged me with her curiosity about the world, her limitless empathy, razor sharp mind and tongue and her ability to recognise ordinary everyday magic.
Infrastructure News: Tell us about yourself
RB: I grew up in KwaZulu-Natal in the Durban South basin - this was the territory were the toxic odours of Engen, Mondi and Sapref overpowered the fragrance of curry on the cook.?I am a feminist, a practitioner of African feminisms. I am a biological mother to two mixed race daughters and an additional mother to two sons. I was raised in a family with equally strong parents. My father is the first radical feminist in my life. My parents are intolerant of racial, class and sexual discrimination. I grew up exposed to the recognition of privilege – this has had a strong impact on my identity formulation and sense of social responsibility. My own clashes with patriarchy, have led me to the realisation that I too, must actively reorder history. Motherhood has made my feminism more urgent. I desire equity, visibility and voice for both my daughters and sons. I believe it is my responsibility as a parent to raise conscious young humans that are able to recognise and overcome the perils, prejudice and privileges of this patriarchal world. I am a Storyteller – from my early consciousness, I have loved stories and recognised their power to cement static narratives and to conversely foster narratives of transformation.?
Infrastructure News: Why do you chose to write?
I am a writer and have always been irked by the missing Lioness in history. Reading Chinua Achebe’s insightful work made me uncomfortable. He writes, “Then I grew older and began to read about adventures in which I didn’t know that I was supposed to be on the side of those savages who were encountered by the good white man. I instinctively took sides with the white people. They were fine! They were excellent. They were intelligent. The others were not ... they were stupid and ugly. That was the way I was introduced to the danger of not having your own stories. There is that great proverb—that until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter”. Achebe’s writing does not comfort me,??it is well known that the lioness is the hunter and the lion is the yawning, regal and roaring king. The ultimate symbol of the head of the family. In short, the royalty of patriarchy. I smarted at the erasure of her, the lioness. I knew then that I had to be a writer. I knew then that the single story of Africa was intentional and disruption was necessary. I knew then that I had to be a herstorian. Another prominent advocate?against the single story and the monolithic description of Africa and her peoples comes from the Kenyan author, Binyavanga Wainaina. In his instructive tongue in cheek publication, Wainaina counsels the prospective writer on how to successfully write about Africa, “You must always include The Starving African, who wanders the refugee camp nearly naked, and waits for the benevolence of the West. Her children have flies on their eyelids and pot bellies, and her breasts are flat and empty. She must look utterly helpless. She can have no past, no history; such diversions ruin the dramatic moment. Just call her Mama. Her children are all delinquent”. This reduction of the lives of women in Africa creates a single story of a perceived hegemonic grouping of African women who are unable to move beyond daily strife, unable to pursue universal goals or even to dare fulfil personal aspirations. The acceptance of the single story signifies that there is a universalised African story and that there are simply no more herstories or truths to tell. So, this is how the herstory of the lioness is sanctioned and this is why I chose to focus on writing herstory.?
Book Choices
1.?????Midnight’s Children (All books) – Salman Rushdie
2.?????After the Last Sky – Edward Said
3.?????The Picture of Dorian Grey – Oscar Wild
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4.?????The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
5.?????The God of Small Things, Azadi and the Ministry of Utmost Happiness – Arundhati Roy
6.?????A Change of Tongue – Antjie Krog
7.?????Americanah – Chimmanda Ngozi Adichie
8.?????The Life of Pi – Yann Martel?
9.?????The Dying Animal – Phillip Roth?
10.??Inside Indenture – Ashwin Desai & Goolam Vahed?
Picks for Children
1.?????Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls – Francesca Cavallo & Elena Favilli
2.?????Stories for Kids Who Dare to be Different – Ben Brooks