Feminism on a war path

Three angry feminists tickled the brains of moms, daughters and husbands at the Feminism Is book launch on a rainy evening at Exclusive Books Ballito Junction last week.

The book is a collection of South African feminist voices talking about anger, motherhood, sex, race, inclusions and exclusions, the noisy protest and the quiet struggle.

Writer, blogger and self-proclaimed complainer Jen Thorpe edited Feminism Is and interviewed two of the contributors, Owethu Makhathini and Larissa Klazinga.

Thorpe said feminism is a lens through which she sees the world.

“We are three angry feminists in a world that says women should not be angry. We should be nice and apologetic,” said Thorpe, who is a former Umhlali Preparatory pupil and now lives in Cape Town.

Writer, digital skills and e-learning activist Owethu Makhathini said she is a bubbling, raging ‘swart gevaar’.

“I am a womanist who upholds feminist ideals.

“Feminism is a way to channel my anger in a productive way that moves things forward. When you are black and a woman it is like a double whammy. I am angry because I care, because I want to be and feel free,” said Makhathini.

Regional policy and advocacy manager for Southern Africa, Klazinga ticks all the controversial boxes.

“I am a Jewish, lesbian, feminist and a vegetarian. Feminism gave me a language to explain what was wrong with the world. I do feminism. It is a verb,” said Klazinga, who was first exposed to the term ‘lesbian’ when she read about the famous gay tennis player Martina Navratilova in a Huisgenoot at the the age of 14.

Since she was the only lesbian she knew of and she was wildly successful, Klazinga proudly told her parents back in 1987 that she too was a lesbian – needless to say, her announcement was not a hit.

“I was a square peg in a round hole and I started telling myself I was a feminist. At university, I joined the ANC and the woman’s group – they all wore black, knitted aggressively and drank wine. We had these angry women conversations and spoke about how men did us wrong.

“I then read Andrea Dworkin’s book Letters from a War Zone – she was not a popular feminist, but she allowed me to ask uncomfortable questions.

“We have to realise that there is a war on women in the world today. More than a 100 million women are currently ‘missing’ in the world,” said Klazinga, who was part of the One in Nine Campaign national steering committee formed in 2006 to support Fezeka Kuzwayo after she filed rape charges against Jacob Zuma.

Feminism Is is available at Exclusive Books and costs R257.

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