2'7 GENDER, POVERTY AND RECREATION IN LENASIA: AN AGENDA FOR CHANGE by ZULEYKIA ADAM DISSERTATION in partial fulfillment of the requirem~nts for the degree of Master of Arts in Sport Management in the Faculty of Arts at the Rand Afrikaans University Supervisor: Prof. C. Burnett· Co-supervisor: Prof. W. J. Hollander May 2000 DecLARATION I declare that the contents of this dissertation are original except where due references have been made. It has not been submitted before any degree to any other institution. ZULEYKIA ADAM ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Professor Burnett and Professor Hollander's insight and meticulous supervision has ensured the completion of this research, I am deeply grateful to them for the opportunity and support. To my dear friend Brenda Weimers lowe so much. Without her persistence and perserverence I would never have embarked on this journey on which we discovered that what we missed during the years of marginalisation was in fact what made us who we are. I thank my colleagues Shaida Mohammed and Sheila Dorsammy for their assistance and moral support. I am grateful to all the women at the Protea Recreation Centre for placing their trust in me. iii "We need to understand that there is no formula for how women should lead their lives. That is why we must respect the choices that each woman makes for herself and her family. Every woman deserves the chance to realize her God-given potential. We also must recognise that women will never gain full dignity until their human rights are respected and protected." Hillary Clinton, 5 September 1995, Beijing. iv ABSTRACT This research report seeks to examine and analyse the role of recreation and leisure in improving the quality of life of women. The critical areas of poverty alleviation and the engendering of self sufficiency and empowerment through appropriate and goal directed programming and strategies will be investigated. Gender relations and hegemonies that govern women's choices will be critically explored with the assumption that women's participation and enjoyment of leisure are dependent on economic capacity and decision making freedom. The underlying aim of recreation is seen to provide an avenue for women to address these inequalities, find means to alleviate poverty, and learn skills for personal growth and enhancement of quality of life. The perceptions that women have of their leisure needs and the constraints to realising those needs are reflective of the amount of, freedom of choice that women are able to exercise. The relationship between freedom to experience leisure and social and ideological constraints to other social aspects of women's lives are important considerations. This research argues that lack of participation in recreational activities is indicative of a range of inequalities experienced by women. Data for this research has been collected from questionnaires and focus groups and contextualised within a feminist framework with a view to effect change in the understanding of recreation's role in the empowerment of women and the establishment of programmes that address inequalities and social problems. v This research presents a case study involving African and Indian women residents of Lenasia to illustrate the significance of recreation as a potential site for change. An examination of the leisure perceptions of historically disadvantaged women reinforced the assumption that socio-economic factors as well as tradition and culturally held beliefs impact on women's choices. The most critical constraint to women's recreation is their dependency and lack of access to adequate resources. Addressing poverty and improving women's status may lead to an improvement in their enjoyment of leisure. vi LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES TABLE 4.1 THE POPULATION OF LENASIA 69 TABLE 5.1 QUESTIONNAIRE SAMPLE DETAILS 74 TABLE 5.2 PERCEIVED CONSTRAINTS 81 FIGURE 5.2 DISCRETIONARY FUNDS AVAILABLE TO WOMEN 76 FIGURE 5.3 CREATIVE RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES 78 FIGURE 5.4 SOCIAL RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES 78 FIGURE 5.5 PASSIVE RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES 79 FIGURE 5.6 EXERCISE ORIENTED RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES 79 FIGURE 5.7a FREQUENCY OF PARTICIPATION 80 FIGURE 5.7b FEELING WHEN BUSY WITH ACTIVITY OF CHOICE 80 FIGURE 5.7e PARTICIPATION OF HUSBAND IN LEISURE ACTIVITY 80 FIGURE 5.7d PARTNER RESTRICTION IN LEISURE 80 vii GLOSSARY OF TERMS ANC African National Congress CGE Commission for Gender Equity FRA Federation of Rate Payers NOCSA National Olympics Council for South Africa NSC National Sports Council NUSAS National Union of South African Students SACOS South African Council of Sport SANGOCO South African Coalition of Non-Governmental Organisations SISA Sports Information and Science Agency viii TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Declaration I Acknowledgements ii Quotation iii Abstract iv List of Tables and Figures vi Glossary of Terms vii Chapter One: Recreation as a site for women's empowerment 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Recreation as a potential site for change 5 1.3 The research problem 8 1.3.1 Sub-problems 8 1.4 Research Methodology 9 1.4.1 Questionnaires 10 1.4.2 Focus groups 10 1.4.3 Delimitation 13 1.5 Key Concepts 13 1.5.1 Gender 14 1.5.2 Gender Relations 14 1.5.3 Empowerment 15 1.5.4 Recreation 16 1.5.5 Leisure 18 1.6 Current Status of South African women's participation in recreation and sport 19 1.7 Conclusion 20 Chapter Two: Women's leisure experiences: A feminist perspective 2.1 Introduction 21 2.2 A feminist contextualisation of the leisure experience 22 2.3 The leisure family conflict 28 2.4 Work and leisure 31 2.5 Conclusion 34 ix Chapter Three: Charting gender development in South Africa 3.1 Introduction 35 3.2 The colonial period 37 3.3 Race and gender relations 39 3.4 The period of transition (1990-1994) 42 3.5 Povertyaruiineqtlality-__ 43 --~-~~~--~~""~,~-_ ..._.~,-..-....-.~--........._--~-~ 3.6 Gender violence 46 3.7 Culture and Gender 48 3.8 Conclusion 51 Chapter Four: Lenasia: a community profile 4.1 Introduction 52 4.2 A brief historical overview 52 4.3 Apartheid legislation 56 4.4 Lenasia: a community profile 58 4.5 Social implications 62 4.6 The women of Lenasia 61 4.7 Demographics 68 4.8 Conclusion 70 Chapter Five: Recreational constraints and opportunities for women in Lenasia 5.1 Introduction 71 5.2 Recreational patterns and perceived constraints 71 5.3 Research Methodology 72 5.4 Focus Groups 82 5.5 Conclusion 94 Chapter Six: An agenda for change 6.1 Introduction 97 6.2 Conclusions 98 6.2.1 Global strategy 98 6.2.2 Implementation and infrastructure 99 6.2.3 Women's burden 99 6.2.4 Patriarchy 99 6.2.5 Social Action 100 6.3 Strategies for change 100 x BIBLIOGRAPHY 102 Appendices A. Questionnaire 108 B. Photographs 109 Chapter One Recreation as a site for women's empowerment 1.1 Introduction The United Nations' proclamation of women's decade (1975-1985) drew attention to the situation of women in industrialized as well as postcolonial emerging democracies. At the Conference on Population Development held in Cairo in 1994 women's empowerment was identified as essential to sustainable development. Historically women in developing countries were affected negatively by development programs. The IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the World Bank have pursued trade liberalisation and privatisation that has resulted in higher prices, higher unemployment and more poverty.] [Many women were compelled to leave rural communities to enter the labour market in under-remunerated and under valued 'NOrk.' Boserup (1970) showed that 'NOmen were losing their right to O\lVll land, the relative productivity of their labour and their decision-making authority within the family as third 'NOrld economies teetered and became indebted to donor agencies and structural adjustment. The rapid process of change from colonialism to democracies led to an expansion of "unspeakable poverty" (Beijing Platform of Action, 1995: 4). Of the more than 1 billion people living in abject poverty, 'NOmen became an overwhelming majority. Economic recession, ethnic strife and political 2 upheavals impacted adversely on women, particularly in developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. ~ As globalisation intensifies, free trade has resulted in economic growth at the cost of job losses, retrenchments and increasing unemployment; ~evels of poverty have instead risen. Substantial economic transformation never affects everyone equally and women bear a disproportionate share of the cost resulting. Increasing male unemployment has forced women to work harder and longer, reforms have led to removal of food subsidies leading to a deterioration in food intake for women who eat less and last, this in turn has increased their susceptibility to diseases (Sparr, 1994; Women's Health, 1999). The feminisation of poverty surfaced as directly related to socially ascribed gender roles and women's efforts at combating poverty were obstructed and limited by lack of access to training and productive resources (Beijing Platform , of Action, 1995). Women bear a disproportionate burden in the household and workplace making access to education, training, economic power, critical factors in eradicating poverty and ensuring sustainable development and consequently social development and gender equity. Women's well being is both absolutely and relatively lowered by economic and cultural bias (Aslanbeigui et al., 1994; Beijing Platform of Action, 1995; Sparr, 1994). [South Africa's post-apartheid constitution in it's commitment to address the needs of the previously disadvantaged, by ensuring a more equitable 3 distribution of wealth and use of resources places a strong emphasis on improving the quality of life of the general population. The empowerment of women and improvement of their status are important ends in themselves and are essential for the achievement of sustainable development (Stucky, 1999:; ~ 1).