The personal is political: articulating women's citizenship through three African feminist blogs

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dc.contributor.advisorEvans, Marthaen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorCarelse, Aimeeen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2017-08-17T14:18:20Z
dc.date.available2017-08-17T14:18:20Z
dc.date.issued2017en_ZA
dc.description.abstractMediated public spaces both on and offline privilege the educated male elite, and thus cannot address the specific needs of women (Huyer and Sikoska, 2003:2), or their points of view. This study aimed to explore the extent to which three African feminist blogs realise the democratising potential of the blogosphere as well as the ways in which they articulate the concerns and perspectives of women whose vantage points are often silenced by mainstream discourses of citizenship. As a specifically gendered platform within a feminist public sphere, these blogs offer insight into the fluidity of the private/public dichotomy in online media spaces, and how this determines particular discourses of citizenship both on and offline. Using a qualitative-quantitative content analysis of 45 blog posts across three African feminist blogs (Adventures from the Bedrooms of African Women, Her Zimbabwe, and MsAfropolitan) during July and August 2016, this study investigated how women's engagement with feminist issues is enabled by alternative online media spaces, and in what ways blogs offer African women a relatively democratic space for sharing and discussion. Through an analysis of blog content, the study revealed that contributors deploy particular communicative strategies such as first-person narration, reflection of personal experience in relation to broader social, economic and political issues, and a confessional intimacy that altogether prioritise women's voices and personal lived realities. The topics discussed in the content of blogs cut across public and private life, testifying to a need to move away from ideological conceptualisations of public engagement that delegitimise women's participation in the public sphere. It also makes a case for the reconsideration of the terms "public" and "politics" and what counts as both in a technologically dynamic society in which marginalised groups are continuing to explore alternative avenues for communication and self-expression.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationCarelse, A. (2017). <i>The personal is political: articulating women's citizenship through three African feminist blogs</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Centre for Film and Media Studies. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24893en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationCarelse, Aimee. <i>"The personal is political: articulating women's citizenship through three African feminist blogs."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Centre for Film and Media Studies, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24893en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationCarelse, A. 2017. The personal is political: articulating women's citizenship through three African feminist blogs. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Carelse, Aimee AB - Mediated public spaces both on and offline privilege the educated male elite, and thus cannot address the specific needs of women (Huyer and Sikoska, 2003:2), or their points of view. This study aimed to explore the extent to which three African feminist blogs realise the democratising potential of the blogosphere as well as the ways in which they articulate the concerns and perspectives of women whose vantage points are often silenced by mainstream discourses of citizenship. As a specifically gendered platform within a feminist public sphere, these blogs offer insight into the fluidity of the private/public dichotomy in online media spaces, and how this determines particular discourses of citizenship both on and offline. Using a qualitative-quantitative content analysis of 45 blog posts across three African feminist blogs (Adventures from the Bedrooms of African Women, Her Zimbabwe, and MsAfropolitan) during July and August 2016, this study investigated how women's engagement with feminist issues is enabled by alternative online media spaces, and in what ways blogs offer African women a relatively democratic space for sharing and discussion. Through an analysis of blog content, the study revealed that contributors deploy particular communicative strategies such as first-person narration, reflection of personal experience in relation to broader social, economic and political issues, and a confessional intimacy that altogether prioritise women's voices and personal lived realities. The topics discussed in the content of blogs cut across public and private life, testifying to a need to move away from ideological conceptualisations of public engagement that delegitimise women's participation in the public sphere. It also makes a case for the reconsideration of the terms "public" and "politics" and what counts as both in a technologically dynamic society in which marginalised groups are continuing to explore alternative avenues for communication and self-expression. DA - 2017 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2017 T1 - The personal is political: articulating women's citizenship through three African feminist blogs TI - The personal is political: articulating women's citizenship through three African feminist blogs UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24893 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/24893
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationCarelse A. The personal is political: articulating women's citizenship through three African feminist blogs. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Centre for Film and Media Studies, 2017 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24893en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentCentre for Film and Media Studiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherMedia Theory and Practiceen_ZA
dc.titleThe personal is political: articulating women's citizenship through three African feminist blogsen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMAen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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