Essay Sample on Gender Construction in Kaffir Boy

Introduction

Growing up in South Africa Mark Mathabane was born into the era of the apartheid, where life was not easy. Not only was there severe racial segregation, but the African cultures were also strong and this was visible with how Marks father treated the mother and how the society, in general, expected Mark's mother to behave. This gender roles and issues and are what the following essay is based on, discussing how gender is constructed in 'Kaffir Boy', in relation to reading lessons from Scott Carpenter.

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According to the reading lessons from chapter five, there is more to gender roles than the usual categories used to describe different genders. This means that gender roles outgrow biology, anatomy, sexual orientation and behaviors, speech and mannerisms. Traditionally gender roles have been enforced on people, believing that as long as you are born with certain physical physiques then that automatically condemns you to act and behave in a certain manner (Purvis 138).

Chapter five, however, is an eye-opener, providing different and new models that help people understand gender better and also more broadly. With the introduction of this new models' people is given choice, people become more open-minded on the importance of seeing gender outside the box of the traditional norms. Viewing gender in this way helps people see certain behaviors and decisions as being less monstrous and begin seeing them as being very natural roles. The traditional views and roles, however, are hard to outgrow because every day they are constantly being reinforced by major social institutions like by use of religion, the law and to some extent the media.

Gender issues in relation to Kaffir boy can be seen throughout the book beginning with how Marks mother was treated by his father. First and foremost, we see how Mark's mother, Magdalene struggles to raise her children because her household is dictated by a male presence and in actual sense, it is like she has no authority in that house. In as much as she is providing for her family and supporting them when her husband is in prison that has no significance to her husband, Jackson (Mathabane 76).

This just shows the traditional gender roles where the woman is always there to be seen and not really heard. In as much as she would love to make decisions for her family, we see the gender constraints restricting her from doing that. Her husband limits her from making any decisions regarding the family and the children, even though she has the best interest in heart for her children's success and future. However, the husband cannot be blamed for this behavior because that was the norm for the village families at that time.

Hence with reference to chapter five we see that the wife was not given the chance to choose her gender roles because they were already defined by her anatomy, that is being a woman and possessing the XX chromosome. The traditional roles hinder a lot of opportunities especially when it comes to defining gender roles, and to some extent the woman is treated like a slave at home and her opinion is never taken seriously.

In addition to that, Mark was curious as to why her mother and her other siblings could not go and live with their mothers' relatives and she told him that according to the tribal custom marriages, her husband's relatives could not allow her to go back to her people because she was their 'property'. This is very sad because a human being is treated as an object, a human being who should have the right to choose is treated like she cannot. This meant that no matter what Magdalene did, she would never gain her independence because she was tied down by the harsh gender rules the tradition had set.

This explains why even though Jackson was in prison they still had to stay in his home until the day he would return even if it took an eternity. This goes to show that a woman is not supposed to take up any position of authority even in the absence of her husband because society does not allow it. Women in this era are therefore useless without their men by their sides to speak for them. The traditions assume that a wife is a trophy acquired and not a partner to share one's life with. This is the reason why they are expected to always do whatever the husband tells them without questioning it.

Furthermore, there is a case of physical abuse where Jackson leaves his mother bruised up after beating her ruthlessly. When Mark inquires why the father beat his mother up like that, she tells him that it was because she took him to school that morning something that his father had forbid. This goes to show that the father feels like any form of disobedience from the wife is punishable even though what she did is not a crime, as long as it was done without his approval then it was a mistake.

Magdalen tries to justify why she decided to take Mark to school that but instead she is met with a beating. Women in this culture are believed to be fragile according to the sex and hence the husband believes that he can beat her up because she would not raise a hand to try and resist the beating. Another sad show of how gender roles were oppressing women at that time ( Mathabane 131).Moreover, in the book, there is an incidence where the father asks Mark in a harsh tone to tell him who is the ruler of the house and Mark terrified cries out that it is his father. When his father also asks him who he is the son he quickly responds that he is his son. This act of intimidation just shows how men seek validation to always be the head of the family as an act of superiority. Mark cannot answer that he is the son of both his mother and father because it is believed that the son belonged to the father completely ignoring the fact that the mother raised him and gave birth to him.

Jackson shows Mark that he is everything that his father is regardless of whether he believes in the same things. It is a form of dictatorship based on the fact he is the male in the family and he is the only one who should be looked up to for anything. Furthermore, when Magdalene shows that she is tired of being ruled by Jackson, he threatens to chase her away from their home and go marry another wife who would be submissive because that's how women are supposed to be.

Conclusion

Jackson above all, was against the idea of her wife working because he believed that he owned her and she had no right to work while living at his house. The saddest part is that he did not consider his wife as the family but instead treated her like some form of property he could manipulate how he wanted. Even the beliefs that the wife had were all ignored and she had to believe in whatever her husband did. In conclusion, Kaffir Boy shows how women were treated in the traditional custom setting and how there was no consideration for gender roles because women were not allowed to voice their opinions.

Works Cited

Purvis, June. "Feminist theory in education." (1994): 137-140.

Mathabane, Mark. Kaffir Boy: The True Story of a Black Youth's Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa. New York: Macmillan, 1986. Print