Questioning Gender

This book explores how colonial, patriarchal norms have influenced modern-day representations of African women. As colonial discourses of femininity serve to ‘other’ those who don’t possess one or more of the qualities deemed “feminine” – it is expected that a women of power would be scrutinized closely, critiqued and, often, outcast. Race is a contributing factor to this ‘othering’ – a black woman of power is not seen as normal at all! It is this patriarchal, racist representation of a particularly powerful Caster Semenya that has catalyzed the need for this book. Using the spectacle created of the 19th Century figure, Sarah Baartman, this book explores Semenya’s humiliation at the hands of modern media. It is a powerful study into how modern media has not moved towards making any changes to systems of power and still rely on a Western, patriarchal mode of representation.