Racial difference in South Africa bears a particular importance because of our unique history. The documentary Inja yoMlungu, which in direct translation means a white man’s dog bears significance because it traces one element of racial difference within post apartheid South Africa. The aim of this paper is to map out the various distinctions made by the different ‘races’ when dealing with dogs.
With the arrival of Europeans in South Africa the settlers shaped their identity in opposition to the ‘other’, in this case the Bantu speaking natives. In this way they diminished the culture of the Bantu speaking tribes to that of barbarians, thus lessening their humanity and putting them on the same level as the animals of the African landscape. The colonialists perpetuated this belief since the 1600’s; this idea has remained in circulation with the marginalization of black people in South Africa to the present day.
As the white people formalized their superiority with the Apartheid regime the black people of South Africa played into their supposed inferiority as they were forced into the system, until that of the Black Conscious Movement and other opposition to the regime. But even in this post-Apartheid South Africa some white people still treat their dogs better than they treat the black people that work with and for them. The dogs belonging to white people then find black people antagonistic and therefore bark and sometimes attack them. This is seen in the documentary Inja yoMlungu.
Sipho Singiswa, director of this documentary takes us on an eye opening journey of black/ white dog relationships. During apartheid, dogs were often used to instigate fear amongst blacks during police raids. Movies such as Sarafina, which depicted the 1976 Soweto uprising, illustrated this use of German Shepards to instil fear amongst students. Wherever police congregate, these dogs were sure to be found there. For that reason, among general black population these became known as police dogs. One of our group members verifies this, that in his township, people call all German Shepard’s police dogs. Singiswa delves into this issue; even from the onset of the documentary he shows “police dogs” being trained to attack Black people.
Evidently, the common fear of dogs amongst black folk is not an inherent one but rather one fostered through the times. Most black people during apartheid considered dogs to be the enemy; this was a founded claim as pointed out by Singiswa. For white people the sentiment towards dogs was quite to the contrary, dogs were seen as trusted allies and protectors. Dogs roamed around the yard protecting the homes of white families.
The documentary also tells of how traditionally black people do not keep pets and dogs are seen as wild animals or that of a helper for hunting. They would not keep dogs for no reason other than to be domesticated. They would respect dogs the same they would other animals, if one is kept for hunting the dog would be fed the same as what the people would eat. They would not as some white people do by feeding the dogs meat but not the black workers.
This difference in racial attitude toward dogs has, for obvious reason, trickled down and manifested itself in contemporary racial cultures. Whites predominantly still have dogs as pets and ‘protectors’ against the outsiders. Majority of blacks still have a fear for dogs. These two seemingly stereotypical statements should not be taken in totality, as Singiswa points out that some whites fear dogs and cannot tolerate them whilst some blacks have some of the most endearing relationships with their beloved pets.
Singiswa also looks at the different ways that black and white owners of dogs treat their animals in order to show racial difference. He depicts white owners of dogs to “pamper” their dogs, not only treating them as pets but part of the family: giving them expensive food and letting them sleep on their beds, sit on the front seat of their cars etc. He depicts black owners of dogs to treat their dogs as guards of their homes, and purely as pets, without the extra ‘pampering’. Through various interviews it becomes evident that those living in poor townships, and whom are struggling with their earnings are not willing to spend large amounts on their dogs as white people are, for they are predominantly concerned with feeding their families. Here Singiswa shows evidence of racial difference through circumstantial differences that is imbedded in the power and privilege relations that have been formed by apartheid.
The title of the documentary Inja yoMlungu is classic example of Equivocation. As stated earlier, in pure translation terms, this title means a white mans dog. At a closer look, inja yomlungu is term that was applied to any black man that was befriended by whites. It was a derogatory term that was meant to insult and belittle that person. The implication of this term is that it symbolised the relationship whites were regarded as having with their dogs. Singiswa points out the stereotypical picture of a white man driving with his dog next to him, while the black labourers were in the back of the van. Any black man with a close relationship with a white man was seen as “the dog”. Black people were not understood to have relationships of such extent with their animals.
The old man in the movie whom talks about his relationship with dogs, white people, and of being a South African, speaks about how him and his father had respect for dogs for they where their ‘fellow hunters’. Explaining how they and their dogs would share their food, and hunt together. However, he explains that during apartheid black people relationships with dogs changed as white people started using dogs against them. They were no longer seen as allies, but as threats (as described earlier in this essay).
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Why is “because it’s their culture” not a sufficient explanation for the reasons why HIV/AIDS has spread in Phiri.
Prior to analysis of the question at hand it is of utmost importance to understand the dynamics of HIV/AIDS within South Africa. Phiri is but one of many neighbourhoods that has been hard hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This essay is arguing that the spread of HIV/AIDS in Phiri cannot be attributed to the mentality that “it’s their culture” but that the high spread of HIV/AIDS can be accredited to many other factors.
The documentary by Dumisani focuses on the lives of the various characters within his neighbourhood, with particular emphasis on one High-school student girl. From the onset of the documentary it is evident that Phiri is not a well off neighbourhood. One of the striking comments within this documentary that we will focus this essay on is one made by an elderly woman - “THIS IS A WHITE MAN’S COUNTRY”
There are approximately 5.7 million South Africans living with HIV and Aids (Avert, 2009). Majority of these people can be found living below the poverty line or as lower class citizens. As we are continuously taught in Sociology, correlation between two factors does not necessarily imply that one factor results in the other but begs us to question the deeper rooted inter-play between factors. The high AIDS numbers within South African townships and informal settlements cannot be attributed to single factors such as culture or class position or education or race or creed but rather a continuous inter-play between all these various factors.
The documentary about Phiri does not anywhere state that it is specifically about HIV/AIDS, but gives one an overview of the many different lifestyles and expectations of the different characters portrayed. Through this, one can gain an understanding of the many social influences, constraints, dependencies and power relations that contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS in areas such as Phiri.
The dynamics between the genders within Phiri leads to many of the problems faced. As this is a poor community the males within it use their sexuality to prove their masculinity. In the documentary Dumisani and some men speak about what it is to male. Previously they defined themselves by how much they had suffered during the Apartheid regime, how much they had suffered in prison etc. Within the post- Apartheid South Africa they now define their masculinity around being able to provide for their families, if they are able to give financial support. But within this poor community there is little resources and high unemployment. Most families are broken with many of the men leaving their girlfriends once they fall pregnant or have a baby. Therefore with the demasculization the men have found a new way to prove themselves male, with virility. As one of the men say that there is something wrong with Dumisani because he does not always have a “hard on” and he should see a traditional healer.
“Thus he makes woman into the symbol of his own dependence, and in addition , the further he dissociates himself from her, the more he feels he is his own master; he creates two definitions, feminity and virility, which exacerabate the anatomical differences, increase women’s dependence and concentrate everything that seems to represent human strength in himself.” (Reynaud 2004:142)
One of the constraints that the girls face is if they (the girls) initiate the use of condoms, the girls are seen as being promiscuous. Added to this constraint is that girls carrying condoms are often boxed as being “slutty”. It is clear that many of the girls will take the risk of not using a condom, rather than having these stigmas’s attached to them. There is a great prevalence of male dominance within the society of Phiri, as many girls feel they have to please the men, as they are often dependant on these men both financially and/or emotionally.
Another large issue for both women and men in Phiri is the lack of education and knowledge around sex and HIV/AIDS. One girl tells her story of the first time she had sex; she was with her first boyfriend, and had very little knowledge on the subject. He told her that she would not get pregnant the first time she had sex, and she believed him: she fell pregnant. This emphasises the fact that little sexual education reaches Phiri, it is also worrying that her main concern about having sex was falling pregnant, and not the contraction of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV.
Studies done in the United States and Western Europe show that “public education and the use of safer sexual practices have proven to be the most effective means of limiting the spread of HIV transmission” (Parker, 1999: 261). An increase in sexual education in South Africa would play a large role in the decrease in the spread of HIV/AIDS, however it seems that South Africa does not have all the required recourses to get this information all of its citizens. A man in the documentary whom tested positive for HIV opened a small centre, calling it an AIDS Consortium Workshop, as a support structure for those with living with HIV, and to educate the citizens of Phiri about HIV, and the prevention of it. He felt that if he had more knowledge on the subject of HIV/AIDS he would have been able to protect himself, and may be living today without the disease.
The dynamics within the community affect the spread of HIV/AIDS as it does not seem to be spoken about within the community. The people that Dumisani interviews will only speak about the disease when prompted to, even then they ask to speak about something else. The few people who do speak about the disease are the few individuals who have a support group for those living with HIV/AIDS. There is no talk of treatment for the disease and the only other support the community has (for HIV/AIDS) is situated far from the community itself.
The argument that HIV/AIDS numbers in Phiri can be attributed to cultural norms misses the point completely. It is evident that there are many factors at play as we have pointed out. Firstly masculinities are challenged through women gaining equal roles sexually, but within societies such as these women who take responsibility for their sex lives are often stigmatised. Secondly, of all the women interviewed, none of them were still with their boyfriends after having children with them, thus burdening them with added responsibilities, both financial and emotional. Thirdly education levels within societies such as these is often at times limited to the minimal recourses available, evidence of this is the poor functioning of the Aids Consortium Workshop. The issue of HIV/AIDS is compounded by these various factors that are not at all unique to a specific culture, but rather embedded in various social practices.
Reference:
www.avert.org/aidssouthafrica.htm
Parker, R. (1999). Within Four Walls:Brazilian sexual culture and HIV?AIDS. In R. Parker & P. Aggleton (Eds.). Culture, Society and Sexuality: A Reader. London: Routledge. 253-266.
Reynaud, E. 2004. Holy Virility: The Social Construction of Masculinity in Feminism and Masculinities. Google Books
The documentary by Dumisani focuses on the lives of the various characters within his neighbourhood, with particular emphasis on one High-school student girl. From the onset of the documentary it is evident that Phiri is not a well off neighbourhood. One of the striking comments within this documentary that we will focus this essay on is one made by an elderly woman - “THIS IS A WHITE MAN’S COUNTRY”
There are approximately 5.7 million South Africans living with HIV and Aids (Avert, 2009). Majority of these people can be found living below the poverty line or as lower class citizens. As we are continuously taught in Sociology, correlation between two factors does not necessarily imply that one factor results in the other but begs us to question the deeper rooted inter-play between factors. The high AIDS numbers within South African townships and informal settlements cannot be attributed to single factors such as culture or class position or education or race or creed but rather a continuous inter-play between all these various factors.
The documentary about Phiri does not anywhere state that it is specifically about HIV/AIDS, but gives one an overview of the many different lifestyles and expectations of the different characters portrayed. Through this, one can gain an understanding of the many social influences, constraints, dependencies and power relations that contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS in areas such as Phiri.
The dynamics between the genders within Phiri leads to many of the problems faced. As this is a poor community the males within it use their sexuality to prove their masculinity. In the documentary Dumisani and some men speak about what it is to male. Previously they defined themselves by how much they had suffered during the Apartheid regime, how much they had suffered in prison etc. Within the post- Apartheid South Africa they now define their masculinity around being able to provide for their families, if they are able to give financial support. But within this poor community there is little resources and high unemployment. Most families are broken with many of the men leaving their girlfriends once they fall pregnant or have a baby. Therefore with the demasculization the men have found a new way to prove themselves male, with virility. As one of the men say that there is something wrong with Dumisani because he does not always have a “hard on” and he should see a traditional healer.
“Thus he makes woman into the symbol of his own dependence, and in addition , the further he dissociates himself from her, the more he feels he is his own master; he creates two definitions, feminity and virility, which exacerabate the anatomical differences, increase women’s dependence and concentrate everything that seems to represent human strength in himself.” (Reynaud 2004:142)
One of the constraints that the girls face is if they (the girls) initiate the use of condoms, the girls are seen as being promiscuous. Added to this constraint is that girls carrying condoms are often boxed as being “slutty”. It is clear that many of the girls will take the risk of not using a condom, rather than having these stigmas’s attached to them. There is a great prevalence of male dominance within the society of Phiri, as many girls feel they have to please the men, as they are often dependant on these men both financially and/or emotionally.
Another large issue for both women and men in Phiri is the lack of education and knowledge around sex and HIV/AIDS. One girl tells her story of the first time she had sex; she was with her first boyfriend, and had very little knowledge on the subject. He told her that she would not get pregnant the first time she had sex, and she believed him: she fell pregnant. This emphasises the fact that little sexual education reaches Phiri, it is also worrying that her main concern about having sex was falling pregnant, and not the contraction of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV.
Studies done in the United States and Western Europe show that “public education and the use of safer sexual practices have proven to be the most effective means of limiting the spread of HIV transmission” (Parker, 1999: 261). An increase in sexual education in South Africa would play a large role in the decrease in the spread of HIV/AIDS, however it seems that South Africa does not have all the required recourses to get this information all of its citizens. A man in the documentary whom tested positive for HIV opened a small centre, calling it an AIDS Consortium Workshop, as a support structure for those with living with HIV, and to educate the citizens of Phiri about HIV, and the prevention of it. He felt that if he had more knowledge on the subject of HIV/AIDS he would have been able to protect himself, and may be living today without the disease.
The dynamics within the community affect the spread of HIV/AIDS as it does not seem to be spoken about within the community. The people that Dumisani interviews will only speak about the disease when prompted to, even then they ask to speak about something else. The few people who do speak about the disease are the few individuals who have a support group for those living with HIV/AIDS. There is no talk of treatment for the disease and the only other support the community has (for HIV/AIDS) is situated far from the community itself.
The argument that HIV/AIDS numbers in Phiri can be attributed to cultural norms misses the point completely. It is evident that there are many factors at play as we have pointed out. Firstly masculinities are challenged through women gaining equal roles sexually, but within societies such as these women who take responsibility for their sex lives are often stigmatised. Secondly, of all the women interviewed, none of them were still with their boyfriends after having children with them, thus burdening them with added responsibilities, both financial and emotional. Thirdly education levels within societies such as these is often at times limited to the minimal recourses available, evidence of this is the poor functioning of the Aids Consortium Workshop. The issue of HIV/AIDS is compounded by these various factors that are not at all unique to a specific culture, but rather embedded in various social practices.
Reference:
www.avert.org/aidssouthafrica.htm
Parker, R. (1999). Within Four Walls:Brazilian sexual culture and HIV?AIDS. In R. Parker & P. Aggleton (Eds.). Culture, Society and Sexuality: A Reader. London: Routledge. 253-266.
Reynaud, E. 2004. Holy Virility: The Social Construction of Masculinity in Feminism and Masculinities. Google Books
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