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Item Open Access Medieval images of womanhood: the construction of Mary of Nemmegen(University of the Free State, 2002) Raftery, Margaret MaryEnglish: The late-medieval English prose text Mary of Nemmegen (c 1518) relates the tale of a girl who spends seven years with the devil but is ultimately miraculously saved. In the context of Chaucer’s Wife of Bath’s textualisation of female experience versus male authority, this feminist study problematises the orthodox interpretation of the exemplum as a quintessentially medieval tale of the triumph of Good over Evil by offering a “resisting” reading of the text’s constructions of Good/Evil, the church, and female identity. It does so by means of an investigation into the “authoritative” textual and iconographical sources of medieval images of womanhood — their nature and their coercive power in the construction of female identity, both generally and in the specific context of the operation of their discourse in Mary of Nemmegen. The text’s culminating dream is also read “resistingly” as unmasking the falsity of these images of womanhood by liberating the text to interrogate and deconstruct its own key terms, notably the binary Good/Evil and the medieval church’s construction of God.Item Open Access The sexual politics of the head: the legal history of the veil(University of the Free State, 2002) Nel, PhilipEnglish: To trace the origins of legal provisions pertaining to the veiling of women, Mesopotamian legal documents of the early second and first millennia BCE are scrutinized in order to determine their first entries regarding the veil, the specific intentions of the legislator, and the cultural background of the legislation. Were the investigation to reveal only the material detail of the first legislation on veiling, the historical impact of patriarchy would remain obscure. Consequently the introduction of the veiling laws is evaluated against the background of a tradition of patriarchy which had a total disregard for the equality of women and reified their sexuality. The importance of this aspect lies in the fact that this inculcated degradation of women persists, even without the veil, in contemporaneous patriarchal societies. However, marked changes in the “sexual politics of the head” are currently discernible nationalist movements within Muslim countries and communities.Item Open Access Fighting from within: gender equity at the University of the Free State(University of the Free State, 2002) Pretorius, Engela; De Villiers Human, Suzanne; Niemann, Rita; Klinck, Elsabe; Alt, HeinrichEnglish: This study sets out to assess the extent to which gender equity has been mainstreamed at the University of the Free State (UFS). The external environment is briefly discussed in terms of the policy framework within which the institution operates. This is followed by a gender analysis of the institution. It is first compared with other universities. Data are then presented in respect of the position of women academics at the institution, as well as of their experience of and reaction to the organisational culture. Several employment barriers are identified and the relevant legal implications of the Employment Equity Act are indicated.Item Open Access Redress and empowerment for gender equity in South African education(University of the Free State, 2002) Niemann, RitaEnglish: This study subjects gender equity in the South African education sector to scrutiny by focusing on gender domination, empowerment and redress in order to offer guidelines for effective movement towards gender equity. The education system is the single largest organisation in the country and could thus make a major contribution to the establishment of gender equity, if all forms of sexism and discrimination could be eradicated and if the necessary redress and empowerment were achieved. This study investigates sexism and discrimination, management, the school and the classroom as areas in urgent need of redress and then provides guidelines for rectifying the existing imbalances and for creating a foundation for sound gender relations.Item Open Access Fractious holism: the complex relationship between women and war(University of the Free State, 2002) Hudson, HeidiEnglish: Feminists have agreed to disagree on the interaction between women and war. This is elucidated by means of a critical assessment of the various positions of feminists regarding comprehensive human security in general and military security in particular. It is argued that a feminist perspective has the potential to raise consciousness and contextualise women’s insecurity by employing gender as a principle of social organisation. This argument is supported by the contention that the relationship between women and war may be characterised as a fractious holism dominated by difference and multiplicity rather than harmony and stability. Such an imperfect holism gives rise to a plurality of ambiguities and complexities in relation to globalisation, militarism, combat and the broadly conceptualised notion of gender violence.Item Open Access Sexual harassment in South African and American law(University of the Free State, 2002) Snyman-Van Deventer, Elisabeth; De Bruin, JacoEnglish: Sexual harassment in the workplace is a grave problem and a significant obstacle to access to many sectors of the labour market. The number of sexual harassment complaints increases dramatically every year, although researchers estimate that 80 to 90% of such cases go unreported. Despite the high figures, few South African court cases and little of the legal literature deals with sexual harassment. The reason for this is that few victims of harassment report it for fear of losing their jobs or being ridiculed. Sexual harassment is an infringement upon a person’s personality and thus an iniurandi. Negligence never suffices to prove liability. The South African Constitution determines that no-one shall be discriminated against and this provision includes a person’s right to work without harassment or discrimination. It is therefore essential that all employers ensure all employees of a safe environment without discrimination. Employers must adopt a policy on sexual harassment, communicate it to all employees and ensure that it is adhered to. If harassment does take place, the procedure and disciplinary process prescribed in the policy must be enforced.Item Open Access Gender issues in housing delivery in the Free State since 1994(University of the Free State, 2002) Marais, LochnerEnglish: Although policies have become far more gender-sensitive there is still no guarantee that females and males have ‘comparatively speaking’ the same access to housing opportunities. In South Africa (specifically the Free State), although the housing policy has no discriminatory clauses it does not necessarily impact positively on the living conditions of women. While specific attempts are being made to increase the role played by women in the construction of houses, the power dynamic is overwhelming against women. More attention needs to be paid to understanding gender issues and effectively integrating their implications into policy.Item Open Access Reception, deception, illusion and magic: feminism and theoretical practice(University of the Free State, 2002) De Villiers Human, Suzanne; Visagie, JohannEnglish: This article is an exploration of the relationship between ideology theory, feminism and “theoretical practice”. It is an attempt to formulate a “figurative semiotics” in which theory is “seen” to be done. There is a tendency within feminist art whereby, as a strategy to address “actual readers” and to concretely affect the “real” world, artists humorously exploit the association of art, magic, illusion and deception in order to shock, move or activate their audiences. We argue that such feminist art, which humorously enhances art’s potentially carnalising impact on a gendered spectator, can be linked to a longer tradition of ideology-sensitive picaresque art which humorously keeps alive an awareness of art’s power to deceive.