The role of men during #16Days (South Africa)

[ismnotwasm]

I was shocked to see a tweet by controversial South African blogger Sentletse Diakanyo on the first day of 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence in South Africa. In the tweet Diakanyo says that: “We must not ignore the slaughter of unborn babies during this 16 Days of Activism.” He went on to have more tirades about how “life begins at conception” and that even if women conceived children under “violent circumstances” it’s still unacceptable for women to “slaughter” “innocent life”. His main premise being that during 16 Days women should not look at gender-based violence but also at murder women commit to “unborn babies”. He further likens abortion to rape and says both should be “equally condemned” as they are “criminal”.



What triggered me as I read these tweets was not the inaccuracy of the statements made by Diakanyo but the extent to which he successfully managed to derail the conversation from 16 Days to a conversation where many people had to move from sharing about gender-based violence to correcting the misinformation he was sharing. Yes, scientific evidence indicates that life does begin at conception, but personhood/humanness only begins after birth. So, in fact, women are not slaughtering babies when they terminate pregnancy. Yet Diakanyo concludes “we will condemn criminal acts [of abortion] regardless of what feminists think”. This is despite the fact that abortion is legal in South Africa.

Many people have noted that Diakanyo gets pleasure from triggering and making others angry, especially if they respond to his ignorance. This is what has made writing this post difficult as I wondered: How do I respond to this bigotry without giving so much meaning to the patriarchal garbage spewed by Diakanyo? I further thought: What is my role as a man living in a violently patriarchal society like South Africa? And lastly I wondered: What is my role during this 16 Days campaign?

In the chapter “Is Paris Burning”, African-American feminist and cultural critic bell hooks notes that many heterosexual identifying black men living in white supremacist cultures like the United States (and South Africa I would argue) always behave as if the primary “evil” of racism is the “refusal of the dominant culture to allow them full access to patriarchal power” and hence they continue to exhibit “a phallic misogynist masculinity [that is] rooted in contempt for the female”. This is the way I choose to read Diakanyo. In many of his writings Diakanyo appears to challenge white supremacy and white capitalistic forces in South Africa and globally, and yet instances like these show us that he is not driven by an attachment to justice and overcoming global systems of oppression but a concern with having what white patriarchal men have in South Africa. This is not only in reference to economic power and material ownership but also the full patriarchal dividend that will allow him full ownership and control of the female body.

http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/gcobaniqambela/2013/11/27/the-role-of-men-during-16days-2/

[xulamaude]

1. Didn't click through but

that was interesting. Thanks

[nomorenomore08]

2. And he's all about fighting injustice... Yeah, sure, whatever...

*Edit: I meant Diakonyo, just to clarify. Not the author.