Magona's Children Feminism

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Feminism is a political ideology that pushes for gender equality by ridding society of gender roles and giving women the ability to have autonomy in their lives. In Sindiwe Magona’s book, To My Children’s Children, Magona describes the hardships of Magona’s life during the apartheid era is South Africa as a black woman and how this intersectionality affected her life. While most of her life was under apartheid, it was not the main focus of her story and became only a backdrop to her journey of awareness of the systems of oppression her race and gender subjected her to. Magona’s memoir emphases on the cataclysms of womanhood as it dives into gender roles, body image, journey of motherhood and domestic life, and career prospect. Her narrative identifies with the political ideology of feminism as Magona triumphs in independently forging a life for herself and eventually gaining freedom from the limitations of a woman. …show more content…
One example was when she describes her celebration of womanhood where she was given items “to affirm, protect and enhance [her] womanhood, guaranteeing [her] fertility and safety during childbirth” (Magona pg. 64). Additionally, she was given advice on how “a good daughter pleases the parents…a good wife is a like a good daughter to her husband. She is also like a loving mother to him” (Magona pg. 64). While her father called it a celebration of her womanhood, it was actually a patriarchal ceremony that instills the idea that her existence is for other people: her parents, her husband, and her

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