The first stop in the journey through South Africa is related to the gender roles that exist in this country. I will also compare these gender roles to the ones that can be found in colombian culture.
Gender roles are usually based on several factors such as how the culture has traditionally enacted gender roles through formal (law, policies) and informal institutions (religion, individual and collective beliefs). These roles often persist for generations, because they are an essential part of what defines us as society: our placement in the system and, therefore, our interactions within.
In South Africa, many racial and ethnic groups have maintained traditional gender roles, and some of these are very similar to the ones in Colombia, in which women usually have less power than men. Women are also perceived as the weak gender, primarily because these cultures believes we are defined by our emotions and we have no control over them.
Although nowadays men have come to fulfill many women roles, the expectations towards women are higher both in South Africa and Colombia. For instance, women are now expected to work outside, but not stop their domestic job. They get home to cook, clean, get the children ready, among other things.
In a study by the Human Sciences Research Council regarding gender roles in South Africa, the burden is unbalanced. Women are expected to take care of their house and also contribute to the welfare of their family. As shown in the figure, the disparity remains even though the conventional model of men as breadwinners and woman charged with raising children and doing household work has begun to change.
The study shows that there was near universal agreement (88%) that both men and women should contribute to the household income, with no gender differences evident in this opinion. But, there’s still a 46% of the adult population that believes that a man’s primary role in the household is to earn money while a woman’s chief role is to look after the home and family, and both men and women were likely to hold this belief. It also shows that less than 40% agrees that family life suffered when the woman had a full-time job. This proves the unbalance between the expectations held for men and women in this Country.
A study by Bain & Company shows that gender roles impact social life in South Africa, resulting in women experiencing more negative events than men (Fajardo and Erasmus, 2017). As shown in the figure, these events also happen to men but on a smaller scale. These results can be felt on other places, including Colombia, where women feel insecure and generally in disadvantage in relation to men.
Also, women make up just over half of the population in South Africa and Colombia, but when one examines the population in the poorest areas like rural areas and informal settlements there are always many more women than men. Over half of all the women that live in these rural areas live in extreme poverty, mainly in single family households. In Colombia, the so called “madres cabeza de hogar” are augmenting. Both here and in South Africa, access to land and support for small-scale farming is a major problem for women. This may be due to the believe that women don’t do well on economics, that this role of owner or producer belongs to men.
One of the differences between South African and Colombian women, is that the latter achieve a higher education level. Most South African women have grade 7 or less education and many no schooling at all. In South African culture, education is often a luxury among people with lower incomes and men are priority because they are more likely to get a job that sustains their family, meanwhile women, because of the roles they’re assigned, are prone to get an underpaid job/position.
Another thing that has impacted South African women is Apartheid. The visible discrimination against black people in this country has caused an even worse condition for black women. In Colombia, there is discrimination but not as radical as in this african country. The Apartheid is still felt in every sphere of life: politics, economy, law and social life. Seeking for a job in South Africa being a woman is harder than in Colombia. In 2017, 31% of South African companies have no female representation in senior leadership roles.
In conclusion, gender roles are still a problem for women in South Africa and in Colombia. In both country, they represent more obstacles in the day-to-day life and also in the long run for women. There are differences, but one can say that men still hold the power in both countries, as women are still considered the “weak gender”.
Traveling guide to South Africa 