IDEOLOGIES AFFECTING UPPER AND MIDDLE CLASS AFRIKANER WOMEN IN JOHANNESBURG, 1948, 1949 AND 1958 by HELEN JENNIFER TERRE BLANCHE submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the subject HISTORY at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: PROF A M GRUNDLINGH JOINT SUPERVISOR: DR D PRINSLOO NOVEMBER 1997 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to record my thanks to my supervisor and joint supervisor who generously gave of their time and knowledge. Prof Albert Grundlingh was unfailingly helpful and patient, and Dr Dione Prinsloo kindly allowed me to make use of interviews she had conducted. Her knowledge of the Afrikaner community in Johannesburg was also invaluable. I would also like to thank my family, my husband, for his comments and proofreading, my mother for the proofreading of the final manuscript, and my children, Sara and Ruth, for their patience and tolerance. I would also like to thank my father for encouraging my interest in history from an early age. Thanks are also due to Mrs Renee d'Oiiveira, headmistress of Loreto Convent, Skinner street, for her interest in my studies and her support. 305.483936068221 TERR UNISA BI8Lf0Tt:;~:: / LIBRARY Class Klas ... Access Aanwin ... 111111111111111 0001705414 Student number: 460-005-3 I declare that "Ideologies affecting upper and middle class Afrikaner women in Johannesburg, 1948, 1949 a.nd 1958" is my own work and that all the sources I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references . .. ;//.-.! ~~~a.~q~~ ......... SIGNATURE DATE (H J TERRE BLANCHE) SUMMARY This thesis investigates discourses surrounding upper and middle class Afrikaner women living in Johannesburg during the years 1948, 1949 and 1958. It uses magazines aimed at upper and middle class women as primary sources and also makes use of interviews with upper and middle class women who lived in Johannesburg during 1948, 1949 and 1958. The thesis uses women's magazines, educational magazines and church magazines, as well as the Vrou en Maeder magazine, mouthpiece of the Suid Afrikaanse Vrouefederasie. Conclusions are drawn about the status and role of Afrikaner middle class women in society, as well as the value systems operating at the time. Differences in discourse and changes over time are accounted for. The thesis also draws attention to the importance of using gender as an historical category, and attempts to broaden the method of history by utilising discourse analysis. Key terms: Ideology, discourse, middle class, Afrikaner, women, Johannesburg, 1948, 1949, 1958, upper class. Table of Contents 1. Preface 1 2. Chapter One - Beauties and the Beast: The theoretical background to Afrikaner women and ideology 3 1. Gender and history in South Africa 3 1.1 Early writing about Afrikaner women 5 1.2 Afrikaner women in history: 1920 - 1980 6 1.3 Contemporary writing about women 8 1.4 Other relevant work 10 2. Ideology as a historical subject 12 2.1 A brief history of ideological analysis 12 2.2 The nature of ideology 15 2.3 Gender and ideology 16 3. The theoretical approach to gender used in this study 18 4. Scope of the thesis 20 5. Sources to be used 21 5.1 Ideology and the Afrikaans press 22 5.2 A history of the magazines used in this study 23 5.2.1 Women's magazines 24 5.2.2 Educational magazines 27 5.2.3 Church magazines 28 5.2.4 Vrou en Moeder 28 6. Method 29 7. Conclusion 30 3. Chapter Two - Goldilocks and the Three Bears: The Construction of Ideology in Afrikaans Magazines 1948- 1949 31 1 Analysis of ideologies in women's magazines 31 1.1 Ideology in Sarie Marais 31 1.1.1 Volksmoeder ideology 31 1.1.2 Religious ideology and moralistic discourses 34 1.1.3 Other ideologies in the Sarie Marais 35 1.1.3.1 Motherhood 36 1.1.3.2 Culture 37 1.1.3.3 Fashion, beauty and marriage 37 1.1.3.6 "Rebellious" discourses 39 1.2 Ideology in Die Huisgenoot and Rooi Rose 40 1.2.1 Die Huisgenoot 40 1.2.2 Rooi Rose 42 2. Education 43 2.1 A brief history of Christian National Education in South Africa 43 2.2 Analysis of ideology in Die Onderwysblad vir Christelike en Nasionale Onderwys en Opvoeding 44 2.3 Helpmekaar school magazines 46 3. Analysis of ideology surrounding women in the church publication Die Kerkbode 49 4. Conclusions 53 4.1 The primacy of Afrikaner nationalism 53 4.2 Concern with moral issues 54 4.3 Women belong in a domestic sphere and are under men's authority 57 4.4 Ideology indicates that there is a growing Afrikaner middle class 58 4. Chapter Three -Alice in Wonderland: An Examination of Ideology in Magazines during 1958 62 1. Introduction: Afrikaner society in 1958- Contrasts, similarity and changes 62 2. Die Sarie Marais 63 2.1 Changes in the magazine 63 2.2 Analysis of ideology present in 1958 issues of Sarie Marais 64 · 3. Analysis of articles in Patrvs magazine during 1958 76 3.1 Background of the magazine 76 3.2 Analysis of articles in the girls' section of Patrvs 76 4. Analysis of articles about women in Die Kerkbode 79 5. Conclusion 82 5. Chapter Four - Alice Through the Looking Glass: Afrikaner Middle Class Women's Organisations and Their Ideologies: 1948 and 1958 87 1. Aims and scope of the chapter 87 2. Placing the discourse in contest: Some background to the Afrikaans community [n Johannesburg 87 2.1 A brief history of Afrikaner women's organisations in Johannesburg up to 1948 89 2.1.1 The Suid Afrikaanse Vrouefederasie 91 2.1.2 The Afrikaanse Dameskring 94 2.1.3 The Maria van Riebeeck Klub 95 2.1.4 The Suid Afrikaanse Vrouesendingsbond 95 2.1.5 The Nasionale Vroue Party 95 3. Analysis of the literature put out by the Suid Afrikaanse Vrouefederasie in 1948 and 1958 96 3.1 The history and composition of the Vrou en Moeder magazine 96 3.2 Analysis of discourses contained in the Vrou en Moeder magazine - 1948 97 3.2.1 Conclusions 102 3.3 Analysis of discourses contained in the Vrou en Moeder magazine - 1958 103 3.3.1 Conclusions 104 4. "Lived ideology" an analysis of interviews with middle class Afrikaner women 106 4.1 Description of the women and their lifestyles 106 4.2 Discourses present in the interviews 110 4.2.1 The volksmoeder discourse 110 4.2.2 The nurturer discourse 111 4.2.3 The working woman discourse 112 4.3 Conclusions 113 5. A tentative portrait of Afrikaner middle class women 114 6. Chapter Five - The End of the Rainbow: Conclusions 116 1. Discourses about Afrikaner middle class women prevalent during 1948, 1949 and 1958 116 1.1 The volksmoeder discourse 116 1.2 The motherhood discourse 118 1.3 The morality discourse 119 1.4 The health conscious caregiver discourse 121 1.5 The cultural carrier discourse 121 1.6 The fashion discourse 121 1. 7 The good wife discourse 122 1.8 The independent agent discourse 123 1.9 Conclusions 124 2. The role of ideology in history: Some comments and observations 126 2.1 Ideology is time and place specific 127 2.2 Ideology has a purpose 128 2.3 Ideology is irrational and contradictory 129 2.4 Ideology both mirrors and contradicts the real world 130 3. The importance of gender as a historical category 131 3.1 The relative importance of class and gender interests 132 3.2 The relationship between gender and ideolo~y 133 3.3 Gender does not indicate a unity of interests 135 3.4 Women sometimes participated in their own oppression 136 4. The end of the rainbow 137 Appendix 138 Bibliography 149 1 Preface This thesis focuses on upper and middle class Afrikaner women living in Johannesburg during 1948, 1949 and 1958. Using magazines as primary sources, the thesis analyses discourses surrounding these women. Discourses from 1948 and 1949 are compared with those of 1958 and changes are accounted for. Discourses in women's magazines, education magazines and church magazines are compared with discourses in the Vrou en Moeder magazine, which was written exclusively by women. The thesis focuses on informal discourses contained in magazines rather than on more formal political documents. It argues that analysis of discourses in itself is a legitimate historical activity, and contributes in a significant way to the historical record through uncovering the norms and value systems current in a society. The thesis utilises discourse analysis, a technique currently popular in the social sciences as a tool, hoping in this way to extend the method of history. Chapter One places the thesis in context through a historiographical survey of existing work on Afrikaner women, and an exploration of the relevant theoretical background. Chapter Two analyses discourses in Die Huisgenoot, Rooi Rose and Sarie Marais 2 during 1948 and 1949. Discourses in Die Onderwysblad vir Christelike en Nasionale Onderwys en Opvoeding, magazines from the Helpmekaar Hoe r Meisieskool and Die Kerkbode are also analysed. Chapter Three analyses discourses in Sarie Marais, Die Onderwysblad vir Christelike en Nasionale Onderwys en Opvoeding, Patrys and Die Kerkbode, comparing them to the discourses of 1948 and 1949. Chapter Four gives a brief history of upper and middle class women's organisations in Johannesburg, and then examines discourses which informed one of these organisations, the Suid­ Afrikaanse Vrouefederasie. In this regard the 1948 and 1958 issues of the mouthpiece of that organisation, the magazine Vrou en Moeder, are examined along with other documents from the organisation.