In every social climate on earth, there is a dominate and a submissive.

The dominate
takes the role of leader and makes absolutely certain that all things done are for the betterment of
themselves. In the case of South Africa, the dominate is the man and the submissive, or a more
fitting term being subjugated, is the woman. In the most basic sense, a South African mans only
need from a woman is for her to bear his children and keep the house in order. In this essay I will
be discussing the male dominate country of South Africa and the social roles in which the two
genders obtain.

For men, the word exploitation is only an action that they themselves partake in, however
for women it is the backbone of every facet of their lives. For example, the act of procreation is
in most cases viewed as the job of women because, women can have babies and men can only
help them (etu.org). Women have accepted this fatal role of mother for life in part by the
collapse of apartheid, a social system based solely upon segregation of whites from 1948 up until
1994. Shaina Hutson, the author of Gender Oppression and Discrimination in South Africa,
wrote on how the men, played such a crucial role in the collapse of apartheid. Showing the
woman saw men as their own liberation therefore granting men social status above women
(Hutson 85). Nevertheless, there is a far graver consequence that South African women are
dealing with.

HIV is a sexually spread disease that plagues both men and women all across the world.
However, in South Africa, the spread of HIV is in part due to gender inequalities and how
unprotected sex spreads from that fact. Hutson concludes that, an estimated 1 in 10 uninfected
young women in South Africa can expect to become infected each year, visualizing the rapid
increase of diseased women every year. The reason for this stat is because of men pushing for
unprotected sex, therefore spreading the disease even further. Due to the fact that womens rights
are taken as less than a mans, a woman is in no position to say no to man because if she does
then the man will rape her. South Africa has the highest rate of rape and wife battering in the
world. A recent study showed that one out of every four women is beaten by their partner and
every minute at least one woman is raped, concluding that one third of all women are raped in
their lifetime. (etu.org). In the life of a South African woman, the constant fear of rape and
infection is profusely shoving them in the lower social spectrum and allowing for men to
continue their reign as the superior sex.

Throughout our world there is bias and prejudice, however what is going on in South
Africa is downright inhumane. Women are being forced into a corner by men and given 80% of
whatever a man receives (etu.org). Men are viewed as heroes while women are view as slaves to
do their bidding. This inequality of the social roles is clear and apparent; thus it must be changed
for good. For rape, disease and slavery to cease, someone must take a stand and say enough is
enough. Therefore, I call to all who seek out injustice to look upon South Africa as a prime
example of a society that needs saving.
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Mantell,J.E.,Needham,S.L.,Smit,J.A.,Hoffman,S.,Cebekhulu,Q.,AdamsSkinner,J.,...
Milford,C.(2009,February).GendernormsinSouthAfrica:ImplicationsforHIVand
pregnancypreventionamongAfricanandIndianwomenstudentsataSouthAfricantertiary
institution.RetrievedFebruary21,2017,from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2782559/

Hutson,S.(n.d.).GenderOppresionandDiscriminationinSouthAfrica.RetrievedJanuary01,
2007,fromhttp://dc.cod.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1026&context=essai
Hajarelfatihi,%.(2011,October31).GenderrolesandSouthAfrica.RetrievedFebruary21,
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