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Asian or other minority group person in the feminist movement in
countries such as Zambia and Zimbabwe. Where they are present,
it is on governing bodies of organisations, where their role is more
supervisory. These placements are themselves telling, and insinuate
that women from minority groups are above feminist and rights
issues. Women from minority groups prefer to remain on the sidelines
where they can ‘contribute silently.’ This has implications in
terms of representation and perception: Black African women
continue to be associated with violation, poverty and abuse, a
trend that saw its birth during slavery, was perpetuated during
colonialism and that continues to be sustained through the media
and other means. Interestingly, this same media is predominantly
white-owned with little if any representation by women. Where
women are represented it is in non-decision-making positions. In
fact, the proportion of male to female representation in the media
remains skewed both across racial and gender lines.
Another area of inequality is in the portrayal of women in the
media. There is a tendency to associate particular racial groups
with particular stories. For example, black women have been
associated with violence and whites with luxury and non-violence.
As a consequence, the false notion of white supremacy continues.
The ‘freeness’ of white and other minority non-black groups is
upheld and the image of the enslaved black woman perpetuated.
The resultant belief therefore is that gender is not an issue among
minority racial groups.
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The absence of minority groups from the feminist activist table can
in part be due to the colonial history that accorded human rights
according to race. All the four countries of focus – Botswana,
Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe have some history of colonialism
which saw white women being considered superior to black
people. White women’s participation in the feminist activist agenda
today would compromise that position of power. In effect, the
absence of white women from the feminist activist discourse has
enabled them to maintain the position of power they wielded