Kubatana.net ~ an online community of Zimbabwean activists

Author Archive

Sexism in the media

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Thursday, June 24th, 2010 by Leigh Worswick

Scanning The Herald newspaper today, I noticed how women hardly feature and when they do, they’re generally criticised. We live in a such a man’s world. A world where the emphasis is all on men. Women are still treated as inferior beings whether it be in the classroom, office, or on the sports field. In society women are often treated as if they are a piece of meat. A lot of women are harassed and treated disrespectfully by men. They are whistled at and flirted with constantly.

This disrespectful treatment is extremely evident in the case of sport and particularly in the case of sports magazines that feature half naked women in bikinis. Women let themselves down by allowing themselves to be exploited for a male dominated market where sex sells. Let’s see some actual sports women on the cover of Sports Illustrated, instead of wafer thin super models with bleached blonde hair.

In October 2009 Sports Illustrated featured an article in which they suggested “Sports men who score the most  . . . talent for the game leads to spotlight of fame. Fame leads to money. And money leads to . . . honey” – sports stars get the hottest dates. Fact. Those who score on the field usually score off it too . . .who is complaining?”

I am.What message are they trying to put across? Women are simply regarded as an accessory. What is this saying to the youth of today? It portrays women purely as sex symbols and nothing more .

Then when Sports Illustrated finally features an article on an actual sports woman, its high jumper Blanka Vlasic winner of the gold medal at the world championships in Berlin and she is given absolutely no recognition for her true talent and ability but rather credited as “hottie of the year”.

I find this completely demeaning.

Proudly Zimbabwean

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Thursday, June 24th, 2010 by Leigh Worswick

Today I met a man fixing leather shoes on the side of the road and stopped for a chat and a quick photo session. All this man had was his work bench on the side of the road, his tools and his bicycle but he still had a smile on his face and a friendly manner. It is people like this that make me feel Zimbabwe can, and will make it. He’s not hanging around begging for money; instead he is getting out there and using the skills he has to make a living.

Struggling to survive

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Thursday, June 24th, 2010 by Leigh Worswick

Being back in Zimbabwe has made me realise what a desperate situation people in Zimbabwe are in. Every day is a struggle for survival for the average Zimbabwean. Degrading poverty has driven people to the point of vending anything and everything in an attempt to make a living.

While out taking pictures this morning vendors offered me the opportunity of taking pictures of them in exchange for money. Some men fixing a broken drain in the street asked me if I was going to pay them for the pictures I was taking.

Yesterday my mother paid a visit a to the Avondale flea market and while she was browsing through the DVDs the man selling them begged her to buy a DVD that she already owns. When she explained to the man that she already had the DVD so there was no use in buying it he implored, “madam I am so hungry, I don’t have any money to buy lunch, please buy this DVD for $5 so that I can have lunch.”

While the constant harassment and hounding by vendors aggravates me immensely, it is a reflection of the current state of the country and evidence that there is still a long way to go in the stabilising of the economy.

Zimbabwe’s being buried under rubbish

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Thursday, June 24th, 2010 by Leigh Worswick

Everywhere you look Zimbabwean streets are littered with rubbish. The vlei in Newlands looks as if it is actually a dump. In the shopping centre you see bins with more rubbish around them than in them. To be quite frank, the streets are filthy.

Something needs to be done. In Zimbabwe we have an extremely high level of unemployment. Is it too much to ask the municipality to employ people to clean the streets?

Seeing as the various authorities responsible for removing the waste are incapable of doing so, the ball is now in our court.

“Rotary is organizing a Clean Up Harare Campaign, set for July 3 2010.  They are in need of “big black dust bin bags”. A roll of 20 costs between US$3 and US$5 in the shops.  If there is anyone who is keen to donate a roll” your co-operation will be appreciated”.

This was a call to action that we included in our last Kubatana newsletter.

There are many different methods we can use to draw attention to this issue. One of which is a peaceful march or protest. We could take to the streets with banners and signs expressing our grievances. Another form of protest against these unacceptable conditions could be the use of a bulldozer or some sort of “earth moving equipment” (that the municipality seems incapable of using) to remove the rubbish and dump it right outside the municipality. I am aware that this is not a solution to the problem however I do feel it will certainly get the municipality to take our grievances seriously.

Another form of protest that may be effective is if we all went on strike and instead of going to work we could clean up all the rubbish ourselves. Once all the rubbish is collected we could then march with our large plastic bags full of rubbish and dump it all outside the municipality.

The responsibility is on YOU, on ME, on US, to write letters to the municipality and various other authorities complaining about the lack of service in regard to the removal of rubbish. Many people walk past this filth everyday and do nothing. Sometimes they even add to the litter!

Do you want your country to look like a wasteland? The onus is on us; the people, to make sure that those in positions of authority fulfil their responsibility to the community. Do not sit there and complain – instead, do something about it, because it is very clear that if we sit around waiting for the municipality to do something it will not get done.

One of the problems with Zimbabwe is that we are far too tolerant, we do not complain, we do not go on strike, we accept these inadequate services. The time has come for us to stop tolerating this “RUBBISH” (excuse the pun) and do something!

Zuma and his HIV status

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Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010 by Leigh Worswick

In April 2010 the  President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, announced to the public that he is HIV negative.

“By publicising the results of his test, Mr Zuma said he hoped to promote openness, and to eradicate the silence and stigma that accompanies this epidemic.”

During  his 2006 rape trial he admitted to having unprotected sex with an HIV positive woman. He then explained  he had a shower afterwards “thinking this would reduce the risk of being infected”. While I admire Zuma’s openness and willingness to get tested in order to promote his “campaign” to “get 15 million people tested during the next year, and provide drugs to 80% of those needing them”, I still feel that the message he is sending out, perhaps unintentionally, is: lead a promiscuous life, have unprotected sex and at the end of the day your HIV test will be negative. While Zuma’s public campaign against the prevention of  HIV may be admirable, I feel his personal conduct totally contradicts and undermines his campaign. What message is he trying to send  to the public?

Condom with a bite

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Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010 by Leigh Worswick

Living and studying in South Africa at the moment, I have realised that there is a huge problem with violence and especially violence of a sexual nature such as rape. Thousands of women are raped each year in South Africa and it is quite clear that something needs to be done.

About two months ago, my friend and I were running in Grahamstown South Africa. We run the same route every day; it is an 8km route around Grahamstown and is the prescribed running route for all the schools in Grahamstown. As it was Saturday my friend Jenna and I decided to run later and have a bit of a lie in. We started our run at 7am and were coming to the end of our run when we were attacked by a man with a knife. The man got on top of me with the knife and proceeded to rummage through my pockets for valuables.  It was clear that neither me nor my friend had any valuable possessions on us. But still this man continued to hold me down with the knife and that is when I seriously believed I was going to be raped or murdered. Eventually we were able to get  free and run away. This incident occurred less than a ten metres from a main road and less than a hundred metres from St Andrews school in an upper class residential area in broad daylight. When are you safe? Never.

I believe that the concept of the “female condom with teeth” does not solve the problem of rape. When do I wear this condom? I could be raped anywhere at any time. Every time I go out I would need to wear this condom, because to be quite frank there is a high chance of being raped in South Africa regardless of the time or place. The idea is good but it creates more problems for the victim because not only is she being raped by a man but she is stuck to him until the police or medical services remove the condom. She is completely at the mercy of a man who is likely to be extremely angry and as a result act in vengeance.

Also, this female condom with “teeth” does not address the issue that many women are in fact raped by lovers or potential lovers.

But at least someone is trying to find a solution to this problem. Since the incident I experienced I run with a taser and pepper spray, and this helps me feel not completely defenceless as I previously was. If the female condom with teeth helps to make some women feel safer, then let them wear it.