Township economies and feminist hierarchies: a family conversation between two black feminists from KwaLanga

abstract

What role have black women from poor black townships of South Africa played in African or black feminism? To ask this is to open up Pandora’s box about our denial of the homogeneity of black middle class feminism in South Africa. Black feminism is invoked as though black women are devoid of class/sexuality/gender/educational differences. To ask what role black feminists from the township play requires us to examine the shape that black feminism takes in the black townships of South Africa.

This paper takes the form of a transcribed interview with my aunt and black feminist scholar, Wanelisa Xaba. In the interview, I locate myself as a ‘township feminist’ and reflect on what this identity means in post-apartheid South Africa. Much needs to be explored about the disjuncture between middle class black feminism and the lived realities of poor black African women on the ground. Informed by Crenshaw’s theory of intersectionality, the transcribed interview between Xaba and me reflects on the dynamics of gender/class/education ‘privilege’ in our family. During the interview, we explore the politics of a university education as a legitimiser of feminist ‘credibility’ and how ‘university privilege’ is a form of structural violence perpetrated against black feminists outside of the academy. We further explore how Xaba (a feminist who went to university) experiences privilege within the family while my feminism remains marginalised. Taking a closer look at our childhood, Xaba and I further explore the gendered extra labour we have had to undertake in order to ‘hold down the home’. This speaks to a broader issue: when the state fails to liberate black people from poverty, the girl child is tasked with the extra burden of providing. This we mirror against prevalent traditional Xhosa values that assert that ‘men are providers’. We juxtapose this view with the actual situation in which black women are the actual providers and pillars of township communities. This interview aims to illuminate an intergenerational conversation between family members about privilege, power, socialisation and reclamation of black township feminism.

Keywords:

• township feminism
• masculinity
• blackness
• socialisation
• privilege

Notes

1 Throughout the article we refer to education using inverted commas to illustrate that we are critical of colonial education being the only qualifier of whether a black person is educated or not. We view education through a broad lens to encompass indigenous and embodied knowledges beyond a university degree.

2 Matric(ulation) refers to South Africa’s final secondary school qualification.

3 Financially, funerals can cost around R50 000 in the black community and therefore to be able to bury a loved one (especially when you are not well off) is seen as a huge responsibility. I took on this responsibility and laid my grandmother to rest in dignity and I think this is a huge accomplishment.

4 Ulwaluko is the right of passage from boyhood into manhood in the Xhosa culture.

5 The word ‘overfunction’ refers to family dynamics where women usually overextend themselves while the men do not pull their weight.

6 https://twitter.com/ChickenLickenSA/status/1132885392863236098.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nomxolisi Albert

Nomxolisi Albert is a feminist from Langa, Cape Town. She attended Peak View High and works as a customer care agent in Cape Town. She is a proud single mother who aims to raise a socially conscious son in a patriarchal world. She is invested in deconstructing violent masculinities and making feminism accessible to women in the townships who do not have access to academic spaces and literature. Email: [email protected]