Browsing by Author "Van der Westhuizen, Christi"

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    Building an inclusive South African society: The position of young, white Afrikaans speaking women
    (University of Cape Town, 2020) Rauch, Lidia; Van der Westhuizen, Christi; Zolfaghari, Nooshin
    Globally, white people enjoy historical, unearned privilege. This phenomenon is known and understood as 'white privilege'. In contemporary South Africa, white privilege stems from colonialism and apartheid. The legacy of colonialism and apartheid is still felt today and has a direct and continuous consequence in the form of racial inequality. This dissertation confronts the legacy of Afrikaner nationalism, which essentially instituted and upheld apartheid and still undergirds white people's privilege in democratic South Africa. Engagements were undertaken with ten white, Afrikaans speaking women between the ages of 24 and 32. Substantive transformation, bringing about the necessary change to racial power relations, has not been realised in contemporary South Africa. The research finds that this phenomenon is a result of a 'reconciliation gap' that was left by the participants' parents' generation. It is argued that reconciliation in South Africa will only be possible if responsibility is taken for the wrongs of the past. A 'responsibility gap', left by the participants' parents' generation, is identified and the research findings suggest that this gap should now be covered by the post-apartheid generation. This generation must cover the gap and shoulder the responsibility that was not taken by their parents' generation. An inclusive innovation praxis model was produced, to suggest practical steps aimed at cultivating positive political agency and to cover the 'responsibility gap' and contribute towards a more inclusive South African society.
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    Identities at the intersection of race, gender, sexuality and class in a liberalising, democratising South Africa : the reconstitution of 'the Afrikaner woman'
    (2013) Van der Westhuizen, Christi; Steyn, Melissa
    This dissertation explores the extent to which the post-apartheid democratic space in South Africa has allowed for the emergence of new identities for Afrikaans women beyond the normative Afrikaner nationalist volksmoeder [mother of the nation] ideal. The study interrogates Afrikaner subjectivities through the interpretive lens of ordentlikheid - an ethnicised respectability - at the intersections of gender, sexuality, class and race. Framed by the theoretical perspectives of Laclau and Mouffe, Foucault, and Butler, the study employs discourse analysis across three phases: Firstly, an analysis of Sarie women's magazine, as an instrument of a culturally-sanctioned, normative discourse; secondly, an analysis of texts generated in focus group interviews with subjects who self-identify as women, white, heterosexual, middle-class and Afrikaans-speaking; and thirdly, an analysis of texts from individual in-depth interviews.
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    In conversation: the politics of sex/the sex of politics
    (2014-06-19) Van der Westhuizen, Christi; Matebeni, Zethu
    How is space in South Africa’s democracy being carved by and for women and men who do not conform to gender ideas inherited from apartheid? Dr Christi van der Westhuizen, feminist, author, award-winning political columnist and research associate with the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice, University of the Free State, engages with Dr Zethu Matebeni, activist, author, filmmaker, curator and researcher on black female sexualities and genders at The Institute for Humanities in Africa, University of Cape Town. They talk about current upheavals in South Africa’s sexual and gender relations, as especially lesbians, but also young heterosexual women present alternatives and challenges to patriarchal norms. These alternatives and challenges have provoked a backlash against women who refuse to be bound by conventional and restrictive gender norms, whether through their dress code or conduct. The speakers also consider the implications of the current wave of moralism and the use and abuse of gender in the national political debate.