Helman Rebecca, Ratele Kopano
Institute for Social and Health Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa.
Violence, Injury and Peace Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council-University of South Africa, Tygerberg, South Africa;
Glob Health Action. 2016 Jun 9;9:31122. doi: 10.3402/gha.v9.31122. eCollection 2016.
High rates of violence and HIV have been documented within the South African context. Constructions of masculinity and femininity that position men as dominant and highly sexually active and women as subordinate and acquiescent have been found to contribute towards gender inequality. This inequality is in turn related to negative health consequences, specifically violence against women, children, and other men, as well as sexual risk. Within this context it becomes important to explore how problematic constructions of gender are being (re)produced and how these constructions are being challenged. Families have been identified as key sites in which gender is both constructed and enacted on a daily basis and it is within this space that children are first exposed to notions of gender.
This article draws from a study that was intended to expand on the limited understandings of the ways in which gender (in)equality is constructed and conveyed within the context of South African families on an everyday basis.
Children and parents in 18 families from a range of different material and cultural backgrounds were interviewed about the meanings and practices of gender within their homes. Data were analysed using a Foucauldian discourse analysis.
The data reveal how problematic constructions of masculinity and femininity are (re)produced but also challenged within a range of different families. Gender and gender (in)equality are therefore routinely accomplished in complex ways.
These findings have important implications for promoting gender equality and therefore for disrupting violence and sexual risk as gendered health issues.
南非国内暴力和艾滋病毒感染率居高不下。研究发现，将男性定位为主导且性活动频繁、女性定位为从属且顺从的男性气质和女性气质观念，加剧了性别不平等。这种不平等反过来又与负面健康后果相关，特别是针对妇女、儿童和其他男性的暴力行为以及性风险。在此背景下，探讨有问题的性别观念是如何被（再）塑造以及这些观念是如何受到挑战变得至关重要。家庭被视为性别观念每日得以构建和践行的关键场所，正是在这个空间里，儿童首次接触到性别观念。
本文源自一项旨在拓展对南非家庭日常背景下性别（不）平等构建和传达方式有限理解的研究。
对来自不同物质和文化背景的18个家庭中的儿童和家长进行访谈，了解他们家庭中性别观念的意义和实践。采用福柯式话语分析法对数据进行分析。
数据揭示了男性气质和女性气质的有问题观念是如何在一系列不同家庭中被（再）塑造的，同时也受到了挑战。因此，性别和性别（不）平等通常以复杂的方式得以实现。
这些发现对促进性别平等具有重要意义，进而对消除作为性别化健康问题的暴力和性风险也具有重要意义。
