Gender Components: what is life like for men vs. women? How does safety play into this? Objectificat

I’ve been thinking a lot about gender since coming to this city. As a young female, it has always been something that has been on my mind, unfortunately, because of the society that I have grown up into. Since coming here though I have been hyper-self aware as to my place as a woman.

I am taking two classes that focus specifically on gender, which have been really informative on the gender components here in Cape Town. Through class as well as just my everyday encounters of life, it’s quite obvious that life differs so greatly for men vs. women here.

As a women, walking down the street I am more intensely objectified than I have previously experienced in the States. Cat calls, whistles, howls, comments and purrs are common occurrences when walking on a busy road. I do my best just to continue on and minimally acknowledge their presence, but it is very frustrating that this is something that needs to always be on my radar. Most of the objectification I have received has been from black males. While we have these problems in the states, here there is much of a bigger problem with domestic violence and rape. Since coming to UCT there has been 13 rapes near campus. It is really a terrifying thing to think about.

The word ‘rape,’ is used so loosely in rhetoric. The university will send out emails after emails about the problems and it almost desensitizes us to it. When it’s used so commonly one doesn’t full acknowledge the physicality of the meaning of the word. The best way that I protect myself from this is just using my common sense and head. I never walk alone at night, stay away from dangerous areas and do my best to be aware of my surroundings at all time.

The differences of gender components though are not always negative. There is most definitely still a high level of respect held for women when taken in a different context. Yes, we live in a traditionally patriarchal society, but women are still playing important roles just like in the states. Here at UCT a lot of women actually hold high academic status and in the three different schools where I am taking classes all of the deans are women, which is obviously a positive thing. I find that interesting because it seems at USC a lot of the deans are males. Men though are still making more money in South Africa just like in the US. According to a study completed by the Gender Statistics Center of South Africa, the mean hourly earnings are higher for men than women across all population groups. The male–female differential is largest for white employees, followed by colored employees. The male-female gap is relatively small for the black African and Indian/Asian population groups. White male employees earn nearly four times as much per hour, on average, than black African male employees, while white women earn almost three times as much per hour, on average, as their black African counterparts. Race and gender go hand in hand with each other.

Being an older women comes with stereotypes typical of femininity. In my experiences I have seen older women be offered a seat on a bench, over an older man. I have seen, at my market, an older man be spoken to or asked a question to, over an older women. It just shows that life as a female is still hard as you age, even in a place like Cape Town. There are huge strides that need to be made in terms of equality for women. I know they are happening, and its exciting to think about a world where the value of a woman is equal to one of a man, but there seems to be a lot of work to be done.