https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/6 2026-04-10T12:16:13Z 2026-04-10T12:16:13Z Matiza Vimbai Moreblessing https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/6653 2025-07-28T10:42:11Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The quest for women's agency: An Africana Womanist's perspective of gender involvement in global pandemics, the case of HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe Authors: Matiza Vimbai Moreblessing Abstract: The paper is a qualitative exploration of the role and involvement of women in global pandemics, especially HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe. Women are regarded as a biologically weak species yet so important that a family cannot run without them, thus the African proverb 'musha mukadzi' (A home can only be called a home with a woman around). Their gender makeup deprives them of so many opportunities, and it often makes them susceptible to being regarded as the 'other' compared to their male counterparts. Granted their central role in the home, let alone in responding to a global pandemic like HIV/AIDS, need not be overemphasized. Noteworthy, African culture and religion have given women the power to be at the center of their homes despite the patriarchal system that characterizes most African societies. Women in African culture play a central role by virtue of their connection with the Earth as healers and nurturers of life. Socially, politically, and economically, the centrality of a woman cannot be overlooked; hence, her participation in the global pandemic of HIV/AIDS has given impetus to this research. Using Zimbabwe as a case study, the research purposively selected women and girls in Gweru urban whose families have been affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic to assess their responsibilities and roles in handling the situation. Guided by the Africana womanist perspective, an African-centered paradigm on gender, the article argues that locating women's agency in the face of global pandemics gives them the respect that they deserve, hence the researcher's motivation to delve into the issue of gender participation in that regard. Thus, in the quest for women's agency, the paper gives African women the mandate to be at the helm of the family in the face of HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe. Their role positions them as an important supporting system in communities that sometimes denigrate them.

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z Matiza Vimbai Moreblessing Vimbai Moreblessing Matiza https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/5995 2024-03-27T09:06:43Z 2021-02-15T00:00:00Z

Title: Women in newspaper cartoon straps during the ‘Operation Restore Legacy’ in The NewsDay and The Chronicle Authors: Vimbai Moreblessing Matiza Abstract: There is an existing trend of negativity in the portrayal of women through cartoons in local newspapers. This has led to the perpetuation of gender stereotypes against women aimed at demeaning and degrading the social status of women. Cartoons as works of art are expected to reflect on issues as they are happening in the societies. The two newspapers under study are The Chronicle and The News Day which are government owned and private owned respectively. The paper analyses these two newspapers in the manner in which represent women in cartoons and further interrogates circumstances surrounding such portrayal. The period under study is between November 2017 and April 2018. This is the period when Zimbabwe underwent leadership change, after thirty-seven years under one leader. Guided by the Africana womanist perspective the article concludes that women and men are given the same opportunities but if not disciplined women sometimes abuse their position.

2021-02-15T00:00:00Z Vimbai Moreblessing Matiza Sindile Dlodlo https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/5992 2024-03-27T08:56:03Z 2021-02-15T00:00:00Z

Title: Articulation of Women’s Empowerment Through Poetry: A Critical Perspective Authors: Sindile Dlodlo Abstract: This is a literary study which analyses poetic works produced by Zimbabwe Women Writers. It seeks to establish the position of women as far as articulation of their emancipation and empowerment is concerned. This is done in the light of the fact that Zimbabwe Women Writers is an organisation which represents both the achievements of women and an arena for women to speak out. The Ndebele anthologyInkondlo (1998) is analysed and in the course of the analysis, Spivak’s (1988) argument of the woman being a subaltern who cannot speak is interrogated. It is the author’s submission that contributions in the anthology Inkondlo actually deconstruct the feminist way of thinking which guides the publisher

2021-02-15T00:00:00Z Sindile Dlodlo Ronard Mutusva Sindile Dlodlo https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/5988 2024-03-27T08:45:02Z 2021-02-12T00:00:00Z

Title: ‘Ngena ku Smart’: Implications of Medical Male Circumcision on the Xhosa Custom of Ukusoka in Zimbabwe. Authors: Ronard Mutusva; Sindile Dlodlo Abstract: This study brings out circumcision dilemmas and conflicts among the Xhosa people of Lortondale area in the Matabeleland North province of Zimbabwe. The problem befell this community immediately after 2009 when Zimbabwe adopted results from Kenya, Uganda and South Africa in Orange farm that circumcision can curb HIV transmission by 60% from female to male and thus attention was given to medical circumcision, which is known as ‘smart’. Family disunity and disintegration are some of the results of conflicts, within some families whose members shunned the traditional practice. Interviews and focus group discussions were employed in gathering primary data for this study. They allowed access to first-hand information from the Xhosa people themselves. On the same note, one of the researchers has worked closely with this community for a year in other HIV/AIDS programs. This counteracted the element of secrecy associated with the subject of circumcision among the Xhosa people which a number of scholars and news reporters fail to tackle and finally produce general results. Finally, a synergy is proposed as a way that restores peace and order in the society under study.

2021-02-12T00:00:00Z Ronard Mutusva Sindile Dlodlo