The following excerpts from article in Zmag.org may be of interest. Although the article is not about African languages, it suggests more use of them in meetings of community organizations in order to facilitate more effective participation by women. As such it raises the gender dimensions of language use and who benefits from use of what language(s). (Ref. to this article was seen in Pambazuka News 191; see http://www.pambazuka.org/). DZO
"Women Pushed Aside As Men Seek Power" http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=2&ItemID=7069 by Dawn Paley January 20, 2005 �Black women need space, and Black women are the majority in social movements. In meetings, the women who dominate are white women. In their communities, it is still Black women who are leaders. Black women need to have the power and, with no compromise, they need space.� - South African women�s rights activist, Makoma Lekalakala My excitement upon arriving at a large weekend workshop of the Anti-Privatization Forum (APF) in South Africa and seeing a room filled with community activists, more than half of whom were women, was abated as the workshop progressed and I realized that most of the women were not participating. It was men�s voices that overwhelmingly dominated the comments from the floor. Of the women who did participate, it was primarily women with lighter skin, for whom English is their primary language. This experience has led me to question how is it that Black women can make up the bulk of the membership of the movements against neo-liberal policies and be so marginalized in the functioning of these organizations? ... According to a presentation by the ANC to the United Nations, �there is no doubt that the overt leadership has been dominated by men, while the seemingly unacknowledged and informal segment of society controlled by women has been the key to many of the most significant mass movements in modern South African history.� Social movements that have arisen since the ANC government took power in 1994 have tended to replicate these power relations, �[continuing] with the old fashion� according to Lekalakala, as male leaders have been dominant and women�s participation is not recognized and encouraged as it should be. As new social movements look forward, the question of strategy is central to the course of actions that will be taken in the coming years. The APF has recently released a platform on the upcoming federal elections, after months of internal debate and discussion regarding the tactics of APF participation in the parliamentary system. If the same amount of energy were invested within the organization to encourage women�s participation and leadership, could this not be seen as a strategic move organizationally and functionally? Lekalakala believes so. �If women have the support of the new social movements, we can change this country in five years,� she says, demonstrating revolutionary optimism in the face of the beast of international capital and a neo-liberal ruling government. If it can be agreed that increasing women�s participation is a positive strategy for social movements, there are real and immediate steps that can be taken to do so. One is to ensure that speaking African languages is normalized in mass meetings, because women are often less comfortable speaking in English than men and this is a barrier to their participation. According to Mphenyeke, �Women are intimidated by the need to speak English. More of our [meetings and workshops] should be conducted in our own languages so that more women participate.� Two, a strong network of women�s organizations needs to be forged across the country, and the creation of space for women to discuss and learn together must be prioritized. Three, new social movements must encourage women to take up leadership positions. Four, women need technical skills and training, in terms of technology and media production, accounting and organizational skills, and knowing and interpreting their legal and constitutional rights. These ideas represent the first concrete steps that can be taken, and do not constitute an exhaustive list. Looking at gender alone will not be enough to encourage Black women to participate in South African social movements. As Motsemme points out, �Black feminists and womanists insisted on... interrelated ways of how discourses such as race, class and gender simultaneously shape experience.� A move towards looking at gender and race, within the context of social movements whose discourse is based around class might be a way to start constructing a new practice of inclusion of the most marginalized members of the new social movements. Dawn Paley is an intern with Alternatives currently living in Johannesburg, South Africa. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> In low income neighborhoods, 84% do not own computers. At Network for Good, help bridge the Digital Divide! http://us.click.yahoo.com/S.QlOD/3MnJAA/Zx0JAA/TpIolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AfricanLanguages/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
