Without a Name.Eachhasbeen shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers Prize, andthe last won the Zimbabwe Book publishers Award in 1995. A recent news report from Harare - these daysthe source of much of the worst newsabout Africa - detailed that no lessthan one in twoZimbabwean women is a' victim of family abuse. The worst kind is Vera's focus here. It is committed precisely by a returning war hero and father, and on his 10-year-old daughter. Incest is the unsayable word, kept beneath the tongue. As Zhizha expres$es it, but only to herdef in hbr deepest interior rnonologue: "He puts mucusbetween my legs". To protest aboutit. say it out loud, is taboo. About those long- suffering women who could but sit out the war, in a rare passage of authorial clarification Vera says : "ln manywaysthey wereconvicts of a belief which has told them that to be merely luman was enough. Few understood what maxims madeliving wholesome.', What the rest of the narrative says is that,be it in a townshipin what was then the Umtali district or be it in all of Zimbabwe todav. the ceasefire should havemeant just that - end of hostilities, women and childrenincluded. Last obsQrvation: in Vera, Zimbabwe has at last found its only too disturbing andplangent chronicler and critic. (Source: Mail and Guardianvia MISANET) Wonos TO LEAR momentous - somethingthatis very important, often because of the effect that ir will havein the future. venturesomeness - the ability to do somethingnew and different that may involve risks. harrowing - a disturbing situation or event. incest - sexualintercourse persons so closelyrelated that are forbidden by law to malry. convicts - people who are in prison. maxims - rules for good often in the form of proverbs or sayings. plangent - having a loud and echoing sound, having an expres- sive quality: get. j EIorq beha ort towrl and SoI Vision of the new.millenium? Will the no_nonsense tank girls of tomorrow coltectively free themselves f rom sexual harassment? Soxual Harassrnont: building solidaritg amOng rnon at I wOrnon'g 0xp0ns0 By Jette Hopf Since the age of thirteen, I have experienced sexual harassment. Almost every time I walk alone in the street men yell after me, calling me ,,darling,,,^babe" of "sweetheart'2. Sometimes, I get sickening offers invitations. Most of the time I do not know how to reacl. There is a fear in me that makesme silent because I do not know what they Will do if I swear at them or
Transcript
Without a Name. Each has beenshortlisted for the CommonwealthWriters Prize, and the last won theZimbabwe Book publishers Awardin 1995.
A recent news report from Harare- these days the source of much ofthe worst news about Africa -detailed that no less than one intwoZimbabwean women is a'victim of family abuse. The worstkind is Vera's focus here.
I t is committed precisely by areturning war hero and father, andon his 10-year-old daughter. Incestis the unsayable word, keptbeneath the tongue. As Zhizhaexpres$es it, but only to herdef inhbr deepest interior rnonologue:"He puts mucus between my legs".
To protest about it. say it outloud, is taboo. About those long-
suffering women who could but sitout the war, in a rare passage ofauthorial clarification Vera says :"ln many ways they were convictsof a belief which has told them thatto be merely luman was enough.Few understood what maximsmade living wholesome.',
What the rest of the narrativesays is that, be it in a township inwhat was then the Umtali districtor be it in all of Zimbabwe todav.the ceasefire should have meantjust that - end of hostilities, womenand children included.
Last obsQrvation: in Vera,Zimbabwe has at last found itsonly too disturbing and plangentchronicler and critic.
(Source: Mail and Guardian viaMISANET)
Wonos TO LEARmomentous - something that isvery important, often because ofthe effect that ir will have in thefuture.venturesomeness - the ability todo something new and differentthat may involve risks.harrowing - a disturbing situationor event.incest - sexual intercoursepersons so closely related thatare forbidden by law to malry.convicts - people who are inprison.maxims - rules for goodoften in the form of proverbs orsayings.plangent - having a loud andechoing sound, having an expres-sive quality:
get. jEIorqbeha{
orttowrlandS o I
Vision of the new.millenium? Will the no_nonsensetank girls of tomorrow coltectively free themselvesf rom sexual harassment?
SoxualHarassrnont:
building solidaritgamOng rnon at
IwOrnon'g 0xp0ns0
By Jette Hopf
Since the age of thirteen, I have experienced sexualharassment. Almost every time I walk alone in thestreet men yell after me, calling me ,,darling,,,^babe"of "sweetheart'2. Sometimes, I get sickening offersinvitations. Most of the time I do not know how toreacl.
There is a fear in me that makes me silent because Ido not know what they Will do if I swear at them or
back. Another part of medoes not want to remainsilent. Often I ignore theoffensive behaviour, butthat only makes me feelworse. I want to show theharasser that what he isdoing is wrong andinsulting and that I am notsmall and helpless.
Unfortunately, theverbal assaults are not theworst treatment you canget. I am also used tomore severe fbims ofbehaviour.
One day I walked intotown, it was a nice dayand I was in u good moocl.So I ignored the first f'ew men whocrossed my path with their stupidgreetings. Looking around, Inot iced the lwo men comingtowards me. Too la(e I recognisedthe dirty grin which appeared ontheir faces when they saw me.When one of them walked up tome and, without saying a word,pinched my breasts, I coLrld notreact f'ast enough.
It fi l led me with enormous angerand f'eelings of discrimination. Stillstruggling with my emotions Ifinally turned around, shouted andran after them. They just laughed,and walked faster. Their laughtermade me feel worse. They hadachieved exactly what they wantedwith their assault.
It was then that I decided I don'twant to f'eel helpless anymorewhen some man feels my boobswhile telling me that my bra is notin the right position. So I havestarted to inform myself aboutf ight ing sexual harassmenl. Talkingto other women about the subjectshowed me that most women reactthe same way I have. They try toignore the harasser, leaving thefield wide open for further attack.
Many women I talked to agreedthat sexual harassment often goeshand-in-hand with racial aggres-sion. Black men try to provokewhite women and white men take
on black women. This is notexactly helplul fbr good comnuni-cation between people of difl 'erentcolour. Thele is no l l rw lrgr.r i r rst
sexual harassment in publicplaces. And women say theyare scared of men. Men areseen as having the authority.They are perceived as beingstrong and always right.Unfofiunately, this is whattradition feaches men as wellas women.
Many "macho" men seem tothink it is normal to harasswomen, because to themwomen are inf'erior creatures.Perhaps they do not evenknow what sexllal harassmentis'l What do you think? Whatare your experiences? Haveyou developed any strategiesfbr dealing with the insulting
behaviour of men on the street'/ Ii r rn wlr i t ing to herrr success stor iesof how women have fought backagairrst sexual harassment in publicplaces.
uouThe man who had harassed her- three piece suit, some juniorexecutive type - didn't even tryto deny it. Everyone knew hishand had been exactly whereshe said it was. He turned
I did it, so canI'm twenty-tbur and work in
the city. During one of thosehot days last summer I was onthe bus heading home. Theweather was hot and sticky andpeople stood shor"rlder toshoulder. I think lots of womenhave had the experience ofmen using that kind ofcrowded situation to f-eel usup: Once a guy slid his handr-rp under rxy skirt, real qr-rick. Iwas so shocked I just stoodthere. But this time, the mostamazing thing happened. A woman about four f-eet in fiont of me suddenlyreached behind her. She was completely calm, but she gripped this guy'sarm, held his hand up in the air, and in a loud, commanding voice she said,"What was this hand doing on my ass'?" She held on to his arm, held hishand right up there.
The man who had harassed her - three piece suit. some junior executivetype - didn't even try to deny it. Everyone knew his hand had been exactlywhere she said it was. He turned bright red, looked guilty as hell, andjumped off the bus at tlre first stop.
The women on the bus loved it. I thought, "Wow, that's terrific. I knowwhat I'm going to do fiom now on! I bet he thinks twice before he feels upanother woman." (excerytt from Back O.ff! - How to confront cmd stopsexual harassment and hcLrassers)
