Different shades of patriarchy in the South African political domain

The central argument of this article is that the South African political domain is largely patriarchal. It is patriarchal in the sense that men and a certain kind of masculinity tend to be privileged. The privileging of men, as in all patriarchal instances, goes with disadvantaging of women and a certain kind of femininity. In the political domain patriarchy works in different, yet interconnected, ways to disadvantage women. One of these is through subtle articulations that are intended to characterize women as hypersexual beings who have no place in formal politics. In the South African context, the article argues, the idea of who belongs and who does not, and who is hypersexual and who is not is still largely informed by the racial past that continues to be part of the nation. For this reason, the article makes use of Black feminist theoretical lens to advance its central argument. The article further argues that the 2024 national elections possibly renewed or further entrenched patriarchy within the country’s politics. Hence as much as the 2024 elections are largely celebrated as a testament of a matured or maturing democracy, the outcome of those elections failed to dismantle patriarchy in the political domain. Patriarchy, as a result, continues to be sustained as a norm in the country’s political sphere.